Hungary roared back to beat Neutral Athletes B in the opening quarterfinal of the Women’s U20 European Water Polo Championships in Portugal on Wednesday. The Magyars were later joined in the semis by the Netherlands, who shut Greece out in the third quarter to help seal a narrow victory. Italy took a while to overcome a resilient Croatia, while title-holders Spain eased past Great Britain. In the last four on Thursday, Hungary will face Italy, while Netherlands take on Spain.
2026 Women’s U20 European Water Polo Championships
Oeiras, Portugal
Day 5 – Results
Wednesday 5 August
Quarterfinals
Hungary 15-11 Neutral Athletes B (2-4, 3-0, 6-3, 4-4)
Netherlands 13-10 Greece (4-3, 2-5, 4-0, 3-2)
Spain 26-7 Great Britain (9-0, 8-4, 2-1, 7-2)
Italy 17-12 Croatia (3-4, 5-4, 6-3, 3-1)
9th-12th Classification
Israel 19-9 France (5-1, 5-3, 7-3, 2-2)
Portugal 3-18 Serbia (0-4, 0-5, 1-3, 2-6)
17th-20th Classification
Malta 8-7 Ireland (2-3, 1-1, 2-2, 3-1)
Romania 10-11 Switzerland (2-1, 2-2, 3-4, 3-4)
Hungary 15-11 Neutral Athletes B (2-4, 3-0, 6-3, 4-4)
The draw for the crossovers had thrown up the mouthwatering prospect of a showdown between Hungary and Neutral Athletes B, and after NAB swept Israel aside, the two heavyweights met in the opening quarterfinal of the day and produced a superb contest.
Despite an early opening goal from the Magyars, NAB responded with an organised and highly effective offence, forcing exclusions and penalties in the centre and converting every opportunity.
The Hungarians, initially caught off guard, struggled to create clear scoring chances at the other end and missed their first extra.
When Inna Akhmedova added their first action goal, the Russians had surged 4-1 ahead in just over six minutes.
Panna Tiba stepped up to convert the next woman-up, but Hungary missed another late chance and trailed 4-2 at the first break.
While the opening eight minutes had been far from ideal for Hungary, the favourites showed their quality after the restart.
They tightened up defensively and began shutting down NAB’s six-on-fives, killing off two in succession.
Eszter Varro struck from the centre in between, and after an intense spell of end-to-end action, Kata Hajdu’s fierce bouncer levelled the scores at 4-4.
What’s more, Zoe Lendvay converted a six-on-five before the Hungarian defence stood firm during a third consecutive woman-down, giving the Magyars a 5-4 lead at the turnaround.
Hajdu buried a penalty just 16 seconds into the third quarter to extend Hungary’s run to 5-0 before Mariia Daniliuk ended the Russians’ scoreless spell after more than 10 minutes.
She replied from a similar position after Varro’s magnificent backhander from the centre had restored the two-goal advantage.
However, the Magyars never gave their rivals the opportunity to mount a comeback.
Adrienn Hetzl’s excellent drive from the left wing immediately restored the two-goal cushion at 8-6 before NAB missed a fifth successive extra.
Lendvay then fired home from distance to make it a three-goal game, while Tiba produced a stunning finish on extra to stretch the lead to 10-6.
Hungary even denied a NAB six-on-four before Daniliuk drilled home from the right wing with 46 seconds remaining to offer her side a glimmer of hope.
Lendvay swiftly extinguished it, producing a magnificent lob from halfway that beat both the goalkeeper and the buzzer to make it 11-7.
The Magyars effectively wrapped up the contest within the opening three minutes of the fourth quarter, scoring three more times to complete a devastating 7-1 burst after the score had stood at 7-6.
With the pressure off, NAB enjoyed a brighter spell and replied with three unanswered goals, but a time-out and a fine finish on extra from Varro sealed Hungary’s impressive victory.
Netherlands 13-10 Greece (4-3, 2-5, 4-0, 3-2)
As for this match-up, the Netherlands didn’t look at their best in their opener against Hungary, suffering a heavy 17-5 defeat, while Greece had been involved in two tight contests, losing to both Spain and, somewhat surprisingly, Italy, condemning them to the crossovers and setting up a quarterfinal clash with the Dutch.
The Netherlands made the brighter start, scoring three action goals in a row to open up a 3-1 lead. However, Greece found their rhythm late in the opening period and battled back to trail by just one at 4-3.
Pien Gorter buried a penalty 33 seconds into the second quarter, but Greece then took control.
Ariadni Karampetsou replied with a superb strike, Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou followed with a penalty save, before a brilliant goal from the centre levelled the contest.
Just 27 seconds later, Androniki Karagianni finished off a counter to put Greece back in front at 6-5.
The Dutch managed to halt the momentum without conceding again for the next two minutes, but they couldn’t find an equaliser.
Greece soon stepped up once more as Rafaela Saltamanika fired home from a six-on-five before Kasiana Margariti added another from action with 1:47 remaining in the half.
Greece’s 5-0 run, and the confidence they showed during that spell, suggested the match could be heading towards a similar outcome to the Netherlands’ opening-day defeat by Hungary.
Instead, Linde Haaksten, who had earlier missed a crucial penalty, scored following a late six-on-five, and that proved to be the turning point despite the long half-time break.
After the restart, Greece were unable to maintain their dominance. Following three minutes of intense battling, Lin Godefrooij struck from extra before adding another from action to bring the Netherlands level at 8-8.
Greece then squandered a six-on-five, and the resulting counter earned the Dutch a penalty, which Gorter confidently converted.
Just 1:13 later, she rocketed home from action and, with 42 seconds left in the third, the Netherlands held a two-goal advantage after a sensational 4-0 quarter and a 5-0 run of their own – a stylish response to Greece’s earlier surge.
Despoina Drakotou’s superb finish ended Greece’s 11:11-long goal drought early in the fourth, but before they could build any momentum, Gorter responded immediately with another strike from action to restore the two-goal cushion.
The next sequence proved decisive as Greece missed another six-on-five before Gorter led the counter and scored again, her fourth successive goal, to extend the Netherlands’ lead to 12-9.
Aspasia Fouraki converted a penalty with 3:50 remaining to give Greece hope, but the Dutch revival had left them stunned and they couldn’t find a way through the Netherlands’ defence.
After scoring eight times in the first half, Greece were restricted to just two after the turnaround, while Gorter crowned a magnificent performance with her seventh goal, converting another penalty to send the Netherlands into the semifinals.
Spain 26-7 Great Britain (9-0, 8-4, 2-1, 7-2)
After two thrilling quarterfinals, the meeting between Spain and Great Britain never looked likely to produce another nail-biter.
The British had already enjoyed a major success by eliminating France in the crossovers to reach this stage, but Spain, winners of the last three editions (when contested at U19s), were operating on a different level and underlined that gulf in class with a devastating opening eight minutes.
The overwhelming favourites made a flawless start, storming into a 9-0 lead. They scored from almost every possession during the opening three minutes to race 5-0 ahead, while not even earning a penalty was enough for Great Britain to get on the scoresheet.
The Brits finally broke the deadlock midway through the second period, by which point Spain had already built a 13-0 advantage.
Although Great Britain added three more before the long break, Spain never eased up and took a commanding 17-4 lead into half-time.
The third period saw a noticeable drop in Spain’s intensity, while Great Britain’s defence tightened up to concede only two goals during the quarter.
However, any hopes of keeping the score down disappeared in the final eight minutes as Spain stepped up again, netting another seven goals to finish with an emphatic 26-goal tally.
Italy 17-12 Croatia (3-4, 5-4, 6-3, 3-1)
In the last quarterfinal of the day, a stunning start from the Croatians set an unexpected tone. Inside four minutes, they raced into a 3-0 lead with three superb action goals, two from Jelena Butic and one from Neli Jankovic.
Italy found themselves in a familiar battle to the one Hungary faced against this Croatian side in the quarterfinals of last year’s U18 European Championships in Malta, where the Croatians also pushed the Magyars all the way.
Italy responded with a 3-0 run of their own, but Butic buried a penalty shortly before the break to restore Croatia’s advantage at 4-3, and the script barely changed in the second period.
The lead swung back and forth and, although Italy appeared to seize control with three unanswered goals deep into the quarter, Croatia refused to go away.
Butic struck twice in the space of 27 seconds to level the scores at 7-7 before Ria Glas edged Croatia back in front.
Bianca Rosta, however, equalised before half-time to leave the teams tied at 8-8.
Butic restored Croatia’s lead after the restart, but Rosta again drew Italy level with a well-taken finish from a six-on-five.
Just 28 seconds later, Malika Bovo also converted a six-on-five before Croatia missed a crucial woman-up, allowing Nausicaa Magaglio to double Italy’s advantage from the centre for an 11-9 lead.
Lucija Brkicic pulled one back from action, but Beatrice Cassara replied from the perimeter before finishing off a counter with 51 seconds remaining to hand Italy their first three-goal cushion at 13-10.
The closing seconds of the quarter brought even more drama as Croatia squandered another six-on-five, Eleonora Bianco buried a counter with 13 seconds left, and Jankovic then raced through to score with four seconds on the clock, trimming the deficit to 14-11.
Another missed six-on-five further dented the underdogs’ hopes and, when Rosta converted another extra following a time-out to make it 15-11, Italy looked to have taken full control.
Bianco and Bovo then struck twice in the space of 34 seconds to finally put the contest beyond Croatia’s reach, allowing the Italians to fend off their spirited opponents.
Yet Mia Simunic’s team once again showed they are growing stronger with every season.
Earlier, in the 9th-12th classification games, Israel and Serbia bounced back from their defeats in Tuesday’s crossovers by overpowering France and Portugal respectively.
France may have opened the scoring, but the Israelis responded with a 5-0 surge that saw them take control of the game and they were 10-4 clear by half-time.
After hammering in another seven in the third, Israel were out of sight and cruised to a comfortable 19-9 victory, with captain Miya Tirosh leading the scoring with seven goals.
Meanwhile, Portugal were blown away by Serbia, whose defence kept the hosts silent for 20:35, while rattling in nine at the other end before finally conceding.
That goal failed to stem the tide, as Portugal shipped nine more goals in the second half en route to a heavy 18-3 loss.
The 17th-20th classification group games provided much more drama, with two Chloe Amato goals in the final 66 seconds sealing a narrow 8-7 victory for Malta against Ireland, while Switzerland edged past Romania 11-10, thanks largely to Nina Riess’ late double in the fourth quarter, which proved just enough to get them over the line.
Malta and Switzerland will now face off on Friday to decide 17th and 18th place.
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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
