The 2024 Women's European Water Polo Championship was the 20th edition of the tournament. It was held in Eindhoven, Netherlands from 5 to 13 January 2024. It was scheduled to be held in Netanya, Israel, But the competition was taken away from Israel for security reasons after the Gaza war commenced. This edition was the first one to be played by 16 teams.
The Netherlands won their sixth title, after a finals win over Spain, while Greece captured the bronze medal and qualified for the 2024 Olympics.
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, Eindhoven and Zagreb were reported as possibly interested in hosting the championships.
On 17 November, Eindhoven was announced as the host city for the tournament. The last time Eindhoven hosted the event was in 2012.
Expansion During the 2022 European Championships, Israeli media said that the 2024 edition would expand to 16 teams.https://www.israelhayom.co.il/sport/other-sports/article/13061869 On 31 March 2023, LEN officially announced the expansion to 16 teams, alongside the format change.https://www.israelhayom.co.il/sport/other-sports/article/13417639
Format This was the first edition where the teams were 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 to the quarterfinals, while the other teams met the top-two sides from each group of Division 2 in a play-off round. After that, a knock-out system was used.
Qualification
16 teams were able to compete at the main event. They were broken up as follows:
The host nation The top seven teams from the 2022 European Championship not already qualified as host nation Final eight from the qualifiers.
All 12 that participated in 2022 qualified. Of the beneficiaries of the expansion, Bulgaria made their debut. Of the returnees, Czech Republic, Great Britain and Turkey returned after last qualifying in 1997, 2014 and 2018 respectively.
As of 2026, this was the last time Bulgaria and Czech Republic qualified and the last time Portugal and Switzerland failed to qualify.
+EventDateLocationQuotasNation(s)Host13 May 2022 – 12022 European Championship29 August – 10 September Split7Qualifiers23–25 June 2023Various8
Venue Similar to 2012, the Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion was used for the entire competition. EindhovenPieter van den Hoogenband ZwemstadionCapacity: 2,065
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. Pot 1Pot 2
Preliminary round The schedule was announced on 24 November 2023.
All times are local (UTC+1).
Division 1 Group A
Group B
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 Greece qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics as the highest ranked team not yet qualified for the event. Greece, France and Great Britain secured the three remaining European tickets to the 2024 World Aquatics Championships.
RankTeam45678910111213141516
Qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics and the 2024 World Aquatics Championships Qualified for the 2024 World Aquatics Championships
2024 Women's European Water Polo Championship NetherlandsSixth title
Awards and statistics Top goalscorers +RankTop scorersNameGoalsShots1 Rita Keszthelyi21 44 48 Alina-Ioana Olteanu 48 44 Belen Vosseberg 37 574 Kübra Kuş20 46 43 Ana Milićević 39 516 Maria Bogachenko16 35 46 Toula Falvey 28 57 Krisztina Garda 27 59 Monika Sedlaková 28 57 10 Jelena Butić 15 50 30
Awards The awards were announced on 13 January 2024.
Position Player Best goalkeeper Laura Aarts Most Valuable Player Beatriz Ortiz
References
External links Official website Dutch official website