Apart from a brief appearance on the European stage, in 1993 and 1995, the Swiss women’s team have been far from the mainstream, if they even entered the competition at all.

Being drawn in a group where they had to face only one side from the 2024 edition (Bulgaria opted to skip the qualifiers), they had the chance to grab the second place and they took it.

It was clear the second place would be decided by their clash with Ukraine on the last day and the Swiss played with the precision their country is most famous for.

After some tense battling in the opening period, where Jacqueline Kohli scored the only goal, a fast double early in the second put the Swiss 0-3 up.

Shortly before the middle break they led 1-5 and in the third they didn’t slow down and rushed to a decisive 4-9 lead. They may have conceded three after 4-10, but their victory never looked in doubt.

Also in Group B, the hosts Serbs crowned their march to the top spot with a single-game scoring record for the whole weekend, as they hit 30 against Finland.

Elsewhere, the top spot was at stake in the other three groups. Portugal claimed a fine win against Romania in Group A in a game they led 2-7 at half-time and comfortably held on by also winning the last two quarters 5-6.

Germany and Türkiye held nothing back to produce an incredible 8-4 opening period, and the hosts cruised to victory in the remaining three periods in Hannover.

Israel also delivered in Slovakia as they netted 21 goals against the home side to finish first in Group D.

According to the regulations, the top-two seeded sides from each group shall advance to the main Championships, however, the final list of the qualified teams shall be announced after the hosts for the women’s tournament is revealed.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics