The 2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship was the 36th edition of the tournament, held in Dubrovnik and Zagreb, Croatia from 4 to 16 January 2024. Originally, Israel had been selected as host and the competition was slated to be held in Netanya, from 3 to 16 January 2024. Due to security concerns after the breakout of the Gaza war, LEN announced the Championship would be hosted elsewhere.
Host selection The championship was originally going to be held in Tel Aviv, Israel between 7 and 21 October 2023 (although it would still be called the 2024 European Championship). But on 31 March 2023, it was moved to the Israeli city of Netanya and rescheduled for 3 to 16 January 2024 at the Wingate Institute Olympic swimming pool. This decision was made to reduce the travel costs for the participating teams and make sure there was only one stoppage during the season instead of two (due to the 2024 World Aquatics Championships being held in February 2024).
However, after the Gaza war broke out, LEN said they would monitor the situation on 12 October. But on 2 November, LEN announced that the tournament would not be hosted in Israel.
After that announcement, Budapest, Belgrade, Berlin, Romania (city not known) and Zagreb had been reported as possibly interested in hosting the championships Croatia was announced as the host on 17 November, with Dubrovnik and Zagreb as venues. Croatia became the first country to host the men's championships twice in a row.
Format This was the first edition with teams sorted into two Divisions, based on the last edition and the qualifiers. The top eight teams made Division 1 and the other eight teams Division 2. Both divisions were split into two groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group of Division 1 advanced directly to the quarterfinals, while the other two teams from each group played against one of the top two sides from each group in Division 2 in a play-off round. Starting with quarterfinals onward, the regular knock-out system was used.
Qualification
Sixteen teams competed at the main event.
The host nation The top eight teams from the 2022 European Championship not already qualified as host nation Final seven from the qualifiers.
All sixteen teams from 2022 qualified again.
As of 2026, this is the last time Germany qualified for the European championship and last time Turkey failed to qualify.
+EventDateLocationQuotasNation(s)Host13 May 2022 – 12022 European Championship29 August – 10 September Split8Qualifiers23–25 June 2023Various7
Venues This tournament marked the first time that the championships was held in more than one venue, with Dubrovnik and Zagreb hosting games. The latter hosted the games from the quarter finals onwards. Dubrovnik Zagreb Bazen u GružuCapacity: 2,500 Bazen MladostCapacity: 2,000
Draw The draw was held on 12 September 2023 in Netanya, Israel.
Division 1
The pots for Division 1 were decided by the rankings of the 2022 European Championship Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4
Division 2
The seeding for Division 2 was decided by who finished first and second in the qualifiers (excluding Israel). Pot 1Pot 2
Squads
Preliminary round The schedule was announced on 24 November 2023.
All times are local (UTC+1).
Division 1 Group A
Group B
Division 2 Group C
Group D
Knockout stage Bracket
Playoffs
13–16th place bracket
13–16th place semifinals
15th place game
13th place game
9–12th place bracket
9–12th place semifinals
Eleventh place game
Ninth place game
Quarterfinals
5–8th place bracket
5–8th place semifinals
Seventh place game
Fifth place game
Semifinals
Third place game
Final
Final standings Spain qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics as the highest ranked team not yet qualified for the event. Croatia, Montenegro and Romania secured the three remaining European tickets to the 2024 World Aquatics Championships.
RankTeam45678910111213141516
Qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics Qualified for the 2024 World Championships
2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship SpainFirst title
Awards and statistics Top goalscorers +RankTop scorersNameGoalsShots 1 Nikolay Bonev 25 40 62 2 Álvaro Granados 21 47 45 3 Dušan Mandić 19 34 56 4 Konstantinos Genidounias 17 29 595 Lars ten Broek16 30 53 Marko Radulović 33 48 Denis Strelezkij 47 348 Mart van der Weijden15 26 58 Vince Vigvári 38 39 Vlad Georgescu 39 38 Jake Muscat Melito 44 34
Awards The awards were announced on 16 January 2024.
Position Player Best goalkeeper Marko Bijač Most Valuable Player Nikolay Bonev
Marketing On 7 December 2023, the Croatian Water Polo Federation announced the logo for the event. Logo was inspired by Croatian interlace and slogan of the championship was: "Waves of Unity".
References
External links Official website