The 2023–24 LEN Challenger Cup was the 2nd edition of a water polo competition organised by the Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN). It acts as the third tier, below the LEN Champions League and the LEN Euro Cup. The reigning champions are GS Apollon Smyrnis, but they won't defend their title due to their involvement in this season's Champions League and Euro Cup.
Galatasaray won the competition, beating Slovenian side, Triglav Kranj, in the final. They become the first men's water polo team from Turkey to win a European title.
Format This is the first season under the new changes made by LEN. 19 teams are grouped into 4 pools, three with five clubs, and one with four clubs. The pools are held by one of the clubs. The top 2 from every pool advances to the quarter-finals, followed by semi-finals and finals.
Rankings Only teams below the top 12 can enter the competition.
RankAssociationPointsTeams1 Italy118,76502 Hungary91,047.53 Spain75,387.54 Serbia68,902.55 Greece64,3756 Croatia56,0657 France47,207.58 Germany41,6609 Romania19,80010 Montenegro17,70011 Georgia11,24512 Russia10,49013 Netherlands5,005
RankAssociationPointsTeams14 Turkey4,807.5315 Slovakia1,870116 Bosnia and Herzegovina1,41517 Portugal1,385318 Switzerland1,210219 Slovenia1,160120 Israel860021 Poland63522 Denmark56023 Lithuania515124 Malta43524 Ukraine4350
RankAssociationPointsTeamsNR Belgium01NR Bulgaria0NR Cyprus01NR Finland0NR Great Britain02
Teams The team were announced on 8 September 2023. Starting this season, no countries ranked in the top 12 of the LEN men's club rankings can take part in this tournament.
+Participating teams Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois VK Banja Luka KVT Komodor APOEL Nicosia Cetus Espoo Polytechnic Water Polo Club City Of Manchester Water Polo Club EVK Zaibas Valletta Vitória Sport Clube Clube Fluvial Portuense Sporting Clube De Portugal KVP Novaky Triglav Kranj SC Kreuzlingen Carouge Natation Galatasaray ODTU Sport Club Enka Istanbul
Schedule
Rounds and dates
Phase Round Round date Qualification round 19–22 October 2023Quarter-finals First leg 25 November 2023 Second leg 9 December 2023Semi-finals First leg 9 March 2024 Second leg 23 March 2024Final First leg 6 April 2024 Second leg 27 April 2024
Qualification round Draw The draw was on 11 September 2023. H indicates which club is hosting the groups. Teams in bold advanced to the quarter-finals. The seeding was decided by as follows: The new LEN club rankings. LEN country club rankings. LEN men's national team rankings.
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot 5 Vitória Sport Clube Galatasaray (H) Enka Istanbul Carouge Natation Triglav Kranj VK Banja Luka KVP Novaky EVK Zaibas Valletta (H) ODTU Sport Club Clube Fluvial Portuense (H) Sporting Clube De Portugal SC Kreuzlingen Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois (H) KVT Komodor Polytechnic Water Polo Club City Of Manchester Water Polo Club Cetus Espoo APOEL Nicosia
Group A
Held in Porto, Portugal
Group B Held in Mouscron, Belgium
Group C Held in Istanbul, Turkey
Group D Held in Valletta, Malta
Knockout stage Draw The draw took place on 24 October in Barcelona. The seeded and unseeded clubs consist of the teams that finished first and second in the previous round respectively. The only restriction was that clubs from the same group in the previous round could not be drawn against each other. Seeded Unseeded SC Kreuzlingen Carouge Natation Galatasaray EVK Zaibas Triglav Kranj Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois KVP Novaky Valletta
Bracket
Quarter-finals
EVK Zaibas won 35–14 on aggregate.
Galatasaray won 25–18 on aggregate.
Triglav Kranj won 29–21 on aggregate.
SC Kreuzlingen won 27–26 on aggregate.
Semi-finals
Galatasaray won 21–17 on aggregate
Triglav Kranj won 21–20 on aggregate
Final
Galatasaray won 33–19 on aggregate
See also 2023–24 LEN Champions League 2023–24 LEN Euro Cup 2023 LEN Super Cup 2023–24 LEN Women's Champions League 2023–24 LEN Women's Euro Cup 2023–24 LEN Women's Challenger Cup 2023 LEN Women's Super Cup
References
External links Official statistics of the tournament Official playlist