2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Serbia |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
The 2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship will be the 37th running of the tournament. It will be held in Belgrade, Serbia.[1]
Host selection
[edit]Belgrade was given the hosting rights on 13 May 2022.[1]
Qualification
[edit]Sixteen teams will be able to compete at the main event. They are broken up as follows:
- The host nation
- The top seven or eight teams from the 2024 European Championship not already qualified as host nation
- Final seven or eight from the qualifiers.
| Event | Date | Location | Quotas | Nation(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host | 13 May 2022 | – | 1 | Serbia
|
| 2024 European Championship | 29 August – 10 September |  Croatia
|
7 |  Spain Croatia Italy Hungary Greece Montenegro Romania
|
| Qualifiers | 9–11 June 2025 |  Kranj
|
2 | |
 Istanbul
|
2 | |||
 Tbilisi
|
2 | |||
 Gzira
|
2 |
Summary of qualified teams
[edit]| Team | Qualification method | Date of qualification | App | First | Last | Streak | Best placement in tournament | Rank[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serbia |
Host nation | 13 May 2022 | 11th | 2006 | 2024 | 11 | Champions (2006, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018) | TBD |
| Croatia |
Top eight in 2024 | 8 January 2024 | 17th | 1993 | 17 | Champions (2010, 2022) | TBD | |
| Hungary |
36th | 1926 | 30 | Champions (Thirteen times)[A] | TBD | |||
| Italy |
35th | 1927 | 34 | Champions (1947, 1993, 1995) | TBD | |||
| Spain |
31st | 27 | Champions (2024) | TBD | ||||
| Montenegro |
10 January 2024 | 10th | 2008 | 10 | Champions (2008) | TBD | ||
| Greece |
11 January 2024 | 21st | 1970 | 19 | Fourth place (1999, 2016) | TBD | ||
| Romania |
27th | 1954 | 14 | Fourth place (1993, 2006) | TBD |
Venue
[edit]Similar to 2016, the Štark Arena will be used for the entire competition.[3]
| Belgrade | ||
|---|---|---|
| Štark Arena | ||
| Capacity: 18,386 | ||
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| ||
