The draw for the Division 1 and Division 2 of the 2025 World Cup has taken place today.
As we mentioned earlier, the competition format has changed. Only eight teams will compete in Division 1: the top seven teams from the World Aquatics Ranking as of September 30, 2025, along with the winner of the 2025 Division 2.
All other nations have the opportunity to compete in Division 2. There will be 24 teams in men’s Division 2 and 16 in women’s Division 2.
From both the men’s and women’s Division 1 tournaments, five teams will qualify for the World Cup Final in Sydney (scheduled for July 22 – 26). Additionally, the top two teams from both Division 2 tournaments will also qualify, joining Australia, which has already secured qualification as the host nation.
World Men’s Cup
Division 1 (Alexandropouli, Greece, April 6 – 12)
All medalists fro the European Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, Hungary, and Greece will play in Group A. Spain, the winner of the 2025 World Cup and the world champion, was drawn into Group A
Group A: Serbia, Netherlands, Hungary, Greece
Group B: Italy, Spain, Croatia, USA.
Each team will play six games at the tournament.
After a three-day round-robin competition in Groups A and B, two new groups will be formed.
The top two teams from Groups A and B will play in the group for 1st – 4th place, and the remaining four will play in the group for 5th – 8th place. The teams in these new groups will play a full round-robin tournament. Points from Groups A and B will not carry over to the new groups.
Considering that the five teams will qualify for Sydney, the top two teams from Groups A and B will secure their places at the Final Eight after the first group phase, while the teams in the lower group will battle for the last available spot.
Men’s Division 2 (Malta, April 7 – 13)
Participating teams: Montenegro, Australia, Japan, France, Brazil, Romania, Canada, China, Germany, Argentina, Georgia, Singapore, Malta, South Africa, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Ukraine, Turkiye, Great Britain, Independent Athletes (Russia), Poland, Hong Kong, and Slovenia.
Twenty-four teams will play in Division 2. They are not split into several groups.
During the first three days of the tournament, each team will play three matches (the schedule was determined based on the World Aquatics World Rankings and the draw). Following that, the knockout phase will start.
Women’s Division 1 (Rotterdam, Netherlands, May 1 – 6)
Group A: USA, Hungary, Japan, Spain
Group B: Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Australia
Women’s Division 2 (Malta, April 21 – 26)
Division 2, participating teams (16 teams): China, Canada, Great Britain, Croatia, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Singapore, Germany, Israel, Turkiye, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Slovakia, Independent Athletes (Russia), Malta.
The competition format in both divsions in the same as in the Men’s World Cup.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: total-waterpolo.com
