The 2024–25 European Aquatics Challenger Cup was the 3rd edition of a water polo competition organised by European Aquatics. It acts as the third tier, below the LEN Champions League and the LEN Euro Cup. The reigning champions are Galatasaray, but they won't defend their title as they didn't enter.
This is the last season where the Challenger Cup is the third tier tournament in European water polo, with the Conference Cup taking its place.
Dutch side, GZC Donk, won their first title after defeating Lithuanian team, EVK Zaibas, in the final.
Format 16 teams are grouped into 4 pools of four 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 this competition.
RankAssociationPointsTeams1 Italy110,26002 Hungary84,492.53 Spain71,732.54 Serbia69,8155 Greece68,857.56 Croatia57,2107 France45,6208 Germany33,042.59 Romania17,087.510 Montenegro14,977.511 Georgia12,407.512 Turkey7,24513 Russia5,162.514 Switzerland3,685115 Netherlands3,2802
RankAssociationPointsTeams16 Slovakia3,180117 Portugal2,972.5218 Slovenia2,960119 Lithuania1,877.5120 Bosnia and Herzegovina1,790021 Great Britain1,720122 Belgium1,31023 Malta1,31024 Israel860225 Denmark560026 Finland560127 Bulgaria370028 Cyprus370229 Poland317.50
Teams 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 APOEL Nicosia Limassol NC Cetus Espoo Welsh Wanderers ASA Tel Aviv Hapoel Palram Zvulun EVK Zaibas Sliema ASC GZC Donk ZV De Zaan Vitória Sport Clube Clube Fluvial Portuense KVP Novaky AVK Slovan Olimpija Carouge Natation
Schedule
Rounds and dates
Phase Round Round date Qualification round 1–3 November 2024Quarter-finals First leg 18 January 2025 Second leg 1 February 2025Semi-finals First leg 22 February 2025 Second leg 8 March 2025Final First leg 12 April 2025 Second leg 26 April 2025
Qualification round In the qualification round, teams play in a round robin format. The top 2 in each group advance. Due to the lack of clubs wanting the host the groups, Nováky and Sliema hosted two groups. Draw The draw was on 16 September 2024. H indicates which club is hosting the groups. Teams in bold advanced to the quarter-finals. The seeding was decided by as follows: LEN club rankings. LEN country club rankings. LEN men's national team rankings.
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Carouge Natation EVK Zaibas KVP Novaky (H) Vitória Sport Clube Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois ZV De Zaan ASA Tel Aviv Cetus Espoo Clube Fluvial Portuense APOEL Nicosia GZC Donk AVK Slovan Olimpija Welsh Wanderers Sliema ASC (H) Hapoel Palram Zvulun Limassol NC
Group A Held in Sliema, Malta
Group B Held in Novaky, Slovakia
Group C Held in Sliema, Malta
Group D Held in Novaky, Slovakia
Knockout stage Draw The draw was on 11 November 2024. 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 GZC Donk ZV De Zaan Sliema ASC KVP Novaky Vitória Sport Clube EVK Zaibas Clube Fluvial Portuense AVK Slovan Olimpija
Bracket
Quarterfinals
Matches
ZV De Zaan won 36–15 on aggregate
EVK Zaibas won 24–22 on aggregate
GZC Donk won 38–25 on aggregate
Sliema ASC won 28–10 on aggregate
Semifinals
Matches
EVK Zaibas won 22–20 on aggregate
GZC Donk won 30–29 on aggregate
Final
Matches
GZC Donk won 23–22 on aggregate
See also 2024–25 European Aquatics Champions League 2024–25 European Aquatics Euro Cup 2024 European Aquatics Super Cup 2024–25 European Aquatics Women's Champions League 2024–25 European Aquatics Women's Euro Cup 2024–25 European Aquatics Women's Challenger Cup 2024 European Aquatics Women's Super Cup
References
External links Official statistics of the tournament