2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship facts for kids
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| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Croatia |
| Dates | 4–16 January |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Spain (1st title) |
| Runner-up |  Croatia |
| Third place |  Italy |
| Fourth place |  Hungary |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches | 48 |
| Goals scored | 1067 (22.23 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Alvaro Granados (21 goals) |
| Best player | Alvaro Granados |
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The 2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship was a big water polo tournament. It was the 36th time this event was held. The games took place in Dubrovnik and Zagreb, Croatia, from January 4 to 16, 2024.
Originally, Israel was chosen to host the championship. It was planned for Netanya. However, due to safety worries, the European aquatics organization (LEN) decided to move the event.
Contents
Choosing the Host Country
The championship was first set to happen in Tel Aviv, Israel. The date was October 7 to 21, 2023. Later, it was moved to Netanya, another Israeli city. The new dates were January 3 to 16, 2024. This change was made to help teams save money on travel. It also meant only one break in the water polo season. This was important because of the 2024 World Aquatics Championships coming up.
But then, safety concerns arose. On November 2, LEN announced that Israel would no longer host the tournament. After this, cities like Budapest, Belgrade, Berlin, and Zagreb showed interest. Finally, Croatia was chosen as the host on November 17. The cities of Dubrovnik and Zagreb were picked for the games. Croatia became the first country to host the men's championship two times in a row.
How the Tournament Worked
This tournament had a new way of organizing teams. Teams were put into two Divisions. This was based on how they did in the last championship and in the qualifying games.
- Division 1: The top eight teams played here.
- Division 2: The other eight teams played here.
Both divisions had two groups with four teams each. The best two teams from each Division 1 group went straight to the quarterfinals. The other teams from Division 1 played against the top teams from Division 2 in a special play-off round. After the play-offs, the tournament used a regular knockout system. This means if a team lost, they were out.
Teams That Qualified
Sixteen teams competed in the main event. Here's how they got in:
- The host nation, Croatia.
- The top eight teams from the 2022 European Championship that had not already qualified.
- The final seven teams from the qualifying rounds.
All sixteen teams that played in the 2022 championship qualified again for this one.
| Event | Date | Location | Quotas | Nation(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host | 13 May 2022 | – | 1 |  Israel |
| 2022 European Championship | 29 August – 10 September | Split |
8 | Croatia Hungary Spain Italy Greece France Montenegro Georgia |
| Qualifiers | 23–25 June 2023 | Various | 7 |  Netherlands Germany Serbia Romania Slovenia Malta Slovakia |
Game Locations
This was the first time the championship used more than one place for games. Dubrovnik and Zagreb were the host cities. Zagreb hosted the later games, starting from the quarter-finals.
| Dubrovnik | Zagreb | |
|---|---|---|
| Bazen u Gružu Capacity: 2,500 |
Bazen Mladost Capacity: 2,000 |
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The Draw for Teams
The draw, which is when teams find out which groups they are in, happened on September 12, 2023. It took place in Netanya, Israel.
Division 1 The teams in Division 1 were placed into pots based on their rank from the 2022 European Championship.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Division 2 The teams in Division 2 were placed into pots based on how they finished in the qualifying rounds.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 |
|---|---|
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Team Rosters
Final Results and Standings
Spain won the championship! This means they earned a spot in the 2024 Summer Olympics. Croatia, Montenegro, and Romania also secured spots to play in the 2024 World Aquatics Championships.
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Top Players and Awards
The best players and awards were announced on January 16, 2024.
Top Goal Scorers
These players scored the most goals in the tournament.
| Rank | Name | Goals | Shots | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Álvaro Granados |
21 | 47 | 45 |
| 2 | Thomas Vernoux |
20 | 37 | 54 |
| 3 | Dušan Mandić |
19 | 34 | 56 |
| 4 | Konstantinos Genidounias |
17 | 29 | 59 |
| 5 | Lars ten Broek |
16 | 30 | 53 |
| Marko Radulović |
33 | 48 | ||
| Denis Strelezkij |
47 | 34 | ||
| 8 | Mart van der Weijden |
15 | 26 | 58 |
| Vince Vigvári |
38 | 39 | ||
| Vlad Georgescu |
39 | 38 | ||
| Jake Muscat Melito |
44 | 34 |
Special Awards
| Position | Player |
|---|---|
| Best goalkeeper | Marko Bijač |
| Most Valuable Player | Álvaro Granados |
Tournament Look and Feel
On December 7, 2023, the Croatian Water Polo Federation showed off the event's logo. The logo was inspired by a traditional Croatian design called Croatian interlace. The championship's slogan was: "Waves of Unity".
Images for kids
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The pool in Dubrovnik where games were held.
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The pool in Zagreb, which hosted later games.
