After an end-to-end, epic gold medal final, it took eleven rounds of penalties to separate Hungary and Spain. The Spaniards had two chances to seal a fourth consecutive crown in the shootout, but missed their fifth and ninth efforts to give the Magyars another chance – and they took it amidst dramatic scenes. Goalkeeper Luca Torma did just enough to put Queralt Anton off, as her shot bounced high off the water and wide, sparking wild celebrations on the Hungary bench and in the pool. After losing two consecutive finals to Spain, it was Hungary’s turn to lift the famous trophy as they ended a 28-year long wait for a second European title. Earlier, the Netherlands edged Italy in another thriller to clinch the bronze.

2026 Women’s U20 European Water Polo Championships
Oeiras, Portugal

Day 7 – Results
Friday 7 August

Gold Medal Game

Hungary *21-20 Spain (4-4, 2-3, 5-3, 2-3, 8-7P*)

Bronze Medal Game

Italy 7-11 Netherlands (3-2, 2-2, 2-3, 0-4)

5th/6th Final

Neutral Athletes B 14-9 Greece (2-1, 4-3, 5-4, 3-1)

7th/8th Final

Croatia 23-14 Great Britain (4-2, 6-0, 5-5, 8-7)

13th-16th Classification

Germany 13-11 Türkiye (1-2, 5-4, 4-2, 3-3)
Ukraine 13-9 Czechia (2-2, 5-1, 5-2, 1-4)

17th-20th Classification

Malta 15-4 Switzerland (4-2, 6-0, 3-0, 2-2)
Romania 9-10 Ireland (0-2, 5-2, 3-3, 1-3)

Final Standings

1. Hungary
2. Spain
3. Netherlands
4. Italy
5. Neutral Athletes B
6. Greece
7. Croatia
8. Great Britain
9. Israel
10. Serbia
11. France
12. Portugal
13. Germany
14. Türkiye
15. Ukraine
16. Czechia
17. Malta
18. Switzerland
19. Ireland
20. Romania

Gold Medal Game
Hungary *21-20 Spain (4-4, 2-3, 5-3, 2-3, 8-7P*)

It was one of the most magnificent matches ever played at an age-group tournament, courtesy of two brilliant teams filled with ridiculously talented players.

They produced an absolute thriller, a mad, action-packed, wonderful match, which was decided after 22 penalty shots. At the end, Hungary ended Spain’s reign, which had spanned the last three editions.

Neither side held anything back from the beginning. Carlota Penalver kicked off the show with a woman-up goal, but Kata Hajdu came up with a brilliant distant lob.

A centre-shot from Irene Briceno and Luca Horvath’s perimeter rocket made it 2-2, then Dominika Kardos finished off a counter and Hungary had an extra to go up by two, but the bar denied them.

Spain retook the lead within 35 seconds, with a great backhand from the other centre-forward Laia Tutusaus, before Penalver sent the ball home from another six-on-five.

Even though the Spanish defence looked fine in positioning and neutralising the centre-forward, another distant shot from Hajdu made it even.

Hungary could have gone ahead shortly before the break, but Maria Diaz stopped Hajdu’s penalty – and that was only the story of the first eight minutes.

The second period saw a slightly different script. Rita Gurri’s fierce shot reopened the scoring, but then the defences closed down the incoming attacks.

It was breathtaking to watch the two sides swimming back and forth at an incredible pace while trying to create chances, with little success thanks to blocks, saves and fine entrapments.

Huge credit also goes to the referees, Bregje de Jong and Maro Savinovic, who let the teams play and didn’t want to make calls simply because it was customary.

They called a single exclusion in this period – and no one had any complaints.

Back in the pool, this battle lasted almost five gruelling minutes before Panna Tiba ended it with another fierce bouncer from the perimeter.

That triggered something else: a series of goals. Lucia Rodriguez netted an action goal, then Adrienn Hetzl equalised again, but Ona Jurado gave Spain a 7-6 lead by half-time.

After the restart, once more the offences took over. In a span of 90 seconds, five goals came – quite the entertainment.

Tiba terrified the Spanish goalie with two perimeter blasts, Hajdu put away an extra in between, while Lucia Rodriguez and Queralt Anton were also on target, both from action, to make it 9-9.

Once more, the Magyars missed a six-on-five which could have put them ahead, while Penalver was clinical as always in Spain’s woman-up.

Hajdu buried another extra soon after, and Tiba added a third action goal of the period. She scored from all possible angles with utmost precision, so Hungary entered the last quarter with an 11-10 lead in hand.

And they managed to withstand the pressure in the opening minutes of the fourth, which included surviving a woman-down, before Luca Horvath scored a stunner from the right wing to double the Magyars’ advantage at 12-10.

Again, Penalver was clinical in Spain’s following extra, but then Hetzl sent the ball to the net from the very same position as at the previous hit.

Spain seemed to be in trouble at 13-11, though there was still a lot to play, with 4:48 minutes remaining.

Rodriguez pulled one back immediately, beating the Hungarian defence in the dying seconds of their possession with an outstanding bouncer.

Just 40 seconds and a turnover later, Anton converted another extra to make it 13-13 with 3:10 on the clock.

Spain really went for it and forced five exclusions in the fourth, but after netting 3/3, they missed one with two minutes remaining, while the Magyars could no longer create the threats they had imposed earlier.

Their last woman-up came 25 seconds from time after a time-out, but following a rebound, Luca Torma miraculously saved Penalver’s close-range backhander to send the game into a shootout.

If the four periods had everything, the penalties offered even more thrills.

Spain had two match points to finish the contest and land the title, but Torma came up with incredible saves in both the fifth and ninth rounds.

In the latter, she caught Penalver’s ball, counterbalancing Diaz’s fine catches in the other cage.

Then, in the 11th round, Tiba buried her third shot too, while Anton succumbed to the pressure and sent the ball wide, prompting wild celebrations among the Hungarians.

Their almost 30-year wait had ended in Oeiras as they lifted the European Championship trophy for the second time in history, after 1998.

Perhaps it was no coincidence that this was the first time their legend Peter Biros took over as head coach after supervising the women’s age-group development – and the three-time Olympic champion’s impact was felt immediately.

Bronze Medal Game
Italy 7-11 Netherlands (3-2, 2-2, 2-3, 0-4)

The Netherlands grabbed the bronze medal after managing to outlast Italy in a fierce contest.

It was even for three periods, with the Italians enjoying the better start, but the Dutch began to fight back after falling 3-1 behind.

At half-time, the Italians led 5-4, while their rivals had also lost Tatum van der Elst to a red card.

The first four minutes of the third period were intense, with the Italians surviving three woman-downs, but the Dutch finally found a way through after a time-out on another extra.

In just 1:43, they went 7-5 up by adding two more goals while killing another woman-down.

However, just as in the semifinal against Hungary, the Italians somehow fought back to level at 7-7, with a fine six-on-five move followed by a great centre-shot from Nausicaa Magaglio.

But the parallels with the previous day didn’t end there.

The Italians were shut out once more in the entire fourth quarter, and it looked even worse this time as they conceded just two in the semis.

The Dutch, meanwhile, produced a devastating 4-0 run to secure the bronze medal – their first since finishing third in 2018.

Earlier, Neutral Athletes B got the better of Greece to secure fifth place.

The Russians, once more led by their two top scorers, Vadislava Nechaeva and Mariia Daniliuk, who netted four apiece, expanded their advantage quarter by quarter to finish their campaign with a great win.

In the race for seventh, a dominant first half, including a 6-0 trouncing in the second period, sealed the win for the Croats against Great Britain.

The game ended in a goal feast as the two sides produced the highest-scoring quarter of the tournament with 15 goals scored in the final eight minutes (8-7).

Germany clinched 13th place in the mini-tournament, ahead of Türkiye, whom they beat 13-11 in a closely contested match, while Ukraine downed the Czechs 13-9 to finish 15th.

At the bottom of the standings, Malta came out on top in the playoffs for 17th place, followed by Switzerland, Ireland and Romania, who had to settle for 20th place.

Rewatch all the action from Oeiras, Portugal, on European Aquatics TV

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics