The Men’s European Water Polo Championship is currently taking place in Croatia, but that wasn’t the original plan. Winners of the competition in 2022 hosted on home soil in Split, Croatia – quite inadvertently – became the first nation to host the contest back-to-back. Initially intended to be staged in Tel Aviv, the tournament was forced to relocate due to the conflict in the Middle East.
The championship was therefore moved to Dubrovnik and Zagreb, with the first four of its eight quarter-finalists decided so far. Spain and Italy, as well as 2022 runners-up Hungary and victors Croatia, await the results of the final group stage games (and the subsequent play-off rounds) to discover who will challenge them for a spot in the semi-final.
With a penalty defeat against Montenegro in the final game of their group, Croatia were knocked from pole position but still managed to secure second place following prior victories against Spain and France.
If Croatia are to secure back-to-back championships, they’ll need big performances at the Mladost pool in Zagreb where the remaining major games take place. Their quarter-final game is on January 12, the semi-final on January 14 and final on January 16. Losing teams play off for minor places at the Gruž pool in Dubrovnik. Many fans are travelling down from Hungary and across from Italy.
An overall victory for Croatia would give them their third European title after wins in 2010 and 2022, the previous ones also won on home territory.