Teams suffering in the group stage claimed stunning wins in the quarter-finals at the Men’s Elite U16 European Water Polo Championships in Istanbul. Hungary upended Greece, then Croatia, with three defeats in the prelims, knocked out the Serbs, who had only wins before. Italy cruised past Türkiye and Montenegro edged a fierce battle with Spain. In the Division One tournament in Ljubljana, the semi-finals are also set, as Bulgaria will face Bosnia & Herzegovina and Ukraine will clash with France.

Men’s U16 European Water Polo Championships
Quarter-Finals Elite Division
Istanbul, Türkiye
Friday 11 July 2025

Italy 22-9 Türkiye
Greece 9-13 Hungary
Serbia 13-15 Croatia
Spain 14-18 Montenegro

9th-12th Classification games

Netherlands 15-8 Romania
Georgia 6-17 Germany

13th-15th Play-offs

Malta 14-18 Poland

Day 5 Division One
Group Stage – Ljubljana, Slovenia
Friday 11 July 2025

Group A

Bulgaria 16-9 Cyprus
France 23-13 Slovakia
Portugal 14-21 Slovenia

Standings: 1. Bulgaria 15pts, 2. France 12pts, 3. Slovenia 9pts, 4. Cyprus 6pts, 5. Slovakia 3pts, 6. Portugal 0pts

Group B

Czechia 8-9 Lithuania
Ukraine 17-8 Bosnia & Herzegovina
Latvia 4-29 Switzerland

Standings: 1. Ukraine 14pts, 2. Bosnia & Herzegovina 12pts, 3. Switzerland 10pts, 4. Lithuania 6pts, 5. Czechia 3pts, 6. Latvia 0pts

In the first quarter-final, Italy didn’t leave any room for Türkiye to come up with the same heroics they had shown on the first two days against Serbia and Spain. Back then they lost by just a fingernail – now they were down by six at half-time as the Italians did a clean job at both ends of the pool.

Bruno Bordone (six goals), Francesco Corelli and Antonio Chianese (five each) were really on fire, netting 16 of the goals between them – the three alone well outscored the Türks, who could put together only nine by the end, while the Italians stopped at 22.

Next came Greece and Hungary and the Greeks quickly jumped to a 2-0 lead, however, the Hungarians responded with a fine double towards the end of the first.

What came next was a stunning twist as the Magyars, who had suffered embarrassing defeats on the first two days, with 0-4 thrashings from the Spaniards and the Serbs in the fourth periods, came up with an outstanding performance.

They shut out the Greeks for the entire second period while adding two more goals and kicked off the third with another one.

However, it wasn’t this 5-0 run that brought down the Greeks’ house, it was the surge they had after 3-5. It was just water polo at its finest when Hungary hit their special level – in 3:15 minutes they hit five goals and led 4-10.

It was hard to see any comeback, and it was still 6-11 early in the fourth when Noah Pinter missed a penalty – to carry on the curse from the day before when they wasted five (out of nine) in the crossovers against Georgia.

The Greeks smelt blood and managed to score twice in 28 seconds, so instead of leading by six, the Hungarians faced mounting pressure at 8-11 with four minutes to go.

They missed their next extra and Greece had a six on five to cut the deficit to two goals, but their rivals’ defence killed the chance – and Oliver Szaka’s brilliant lob at the other end ended the Greeks’ momentum once and for all. They missed another six on five and Szaka sent another lob to the net for 8-13 – and sent his team to the semi-finals.

Hungary will face Croatia, the team which had also come from hell, losing all three matches in the group stage – but they still came out on top in a grand battle against Serbia, who arrived at this game with three victories under their belt.

This clash barely disappoints, not even at the youngest ones’ level. The opening was already thrilling, as the Croats jumped to a 0-2 lead, then the Serbs hit back with three goals in 80 seconds and only the break slowed down the boys at 4-4.

Nardo Skejic put the Croats ahead early in the second, but the Serbs replied with another 3-0 run to lead 7-5. After an exchange of goals they had a man-up for a three-goal gap, but missed it and Nikola Feric sent the ball home from the perimeter with 0:08 on the clock for 8-7.

Skejic&Co. came back strong and pumped up for the third, and this time they scored three connecting goals to lead 8-10. The Serbs missed a couple of crucial six on fives, but then Pavle Papic pulled them out of trouble with a brilliant double in 38 seconds for 10-10. However, Skejic was unstoppable and hit his seventh goal, seconds before the last break.

The thriller went on in the fourth, the Croats missed an extra, while the Serbs could score from their one, and a bit later Luka Andelic put them ahead once more at 12-11.

However, the Croats’ other supersniper, Duje Burazin, thought it was time to take over scoring duties from Skejic and he stunned the goalie with two pinpoint shots from the same position on the perimeter in 47 seconds.

The Serbs lost their composure, missed another man-up, and Nikola Feric converted a counter for 12-14 with 2:45 to go. Since these three straight goals came in the most crucial phase, it was somewhat felt that the game was over – but it was confirmed when Ivano Sudulic stopped Miroslav Jakovjlevic’s penalty.

Burazin added another one to complete their decisive 4-0 run – all coming from action – the last Serb goal didn’t really matter. What might matter was Skeic’s red card 21 seconds from time, somewhat out of the blue, a potential suspension may have an impact on the Croats’ attacking line in the semis.

The fourth quarter-final between Spain and Montenegro was a real classic, with both teams fighting until the very last buzzer. The scores were locked at 4-4 after the first, then the Montenegrins really stepped up a gear in the second.

Three connecting goals helped them open up a 6-9 lead at the turnaround, but the third belonged to Spain, as they cut the deficit to one to trail 11-12 going into the final eight minutes.

In the fourth, another clinical surge took Montenegro out of sight, as four unanswered late goals after 13-14 ensured a well-deserved victory and set up a semi-final clash with Italy on Saturday.

In the crossovers for the 9-12th places, the Netherlands did a clean job against Romania and a strong second half from the Germans left no chance for Georgia. Poland stormed to a 2-6 lead against Malta in the match played for the 13-15th places and managed to maintain that gap through a flood of goals in the following three periods.

In Ljubljana, Bulgaria made no mistakes as they claimed a fine win over Cyprus to finish first in Group A. The French will join them in the semi-finals as they downed Slovakia.

France will play against Ukraine, who thrashed Bosnia and Herzegovina to claim the first place. The Bosnians, already securing the runner-up position and a semi-final berth, could afford sparing some energy for their upcoming battle against Bulgaria.

Elsewhere, Lithuania edged a tight clash with Czechia, Switzerland powered past Latvia, and hosts Slovenia enjoyed finishing the group stage with an emphatic victory against Portugal.

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Watch all the action live from Istanbul and Ljubljana for free on the European Aquatics TV channel, which can be found by clicking here.

For the full results/tables and schedule from Istanbul, click here.

For the full results/tables and schedule from Ljubljana, click here.

Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics