Final Classifications (top six qualify for finals)

1.Spain
2. Hungary
3. Greece
4. Montenegro
5. Croatia
6. Japan

7. Georgia
8. United States of America
9. Serbia
10. Romania
11. France

Image Source: Second-placed Hungary/Aniko Kovacs/World Aquatics

Overview

For France and Romania, it is back to the drawing board. For USA, it is back to a full -strength team for the World Aquatics Championships; For Spain it is vindication after some stumbles following the European title; for Greece, it was good news; for Japan it is next-level water polo; for Montenegro and Georgia, the new coaches seemed to work; for Serbia it was a sad exit.

So much information was gained by the teams ahead of the finals series in April followed by the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore this July.

Bringing Netherlands and Germany to the top table in April is another boost for the men’s competition worldwide. There are also berths on offer for the World Championships to follow.

Match Reports

Classification 1-2

Match 34, HUNGARY 9 SPAIN 15 (1-4, 1-4, 2-3, 5-4)

Spain placed first in the competition and turned the tables on Hungary who won their opening-day encounter 12-11. Today, it was a big win for the Spaniards who take that first ranking into the April finals series. The win was built on the Granados factor — star shooter Alvaro Granados with eight goals — mainly with bombs from outside. The extra-man count was also a big plus for Spain as its experience told against the starry-eyed Hungarian youngsters who made their nation proud.

Granados won the first quarter 4-1 and scored another as Bernat Sanahuja chimed in with two in the second for an 8-2 halftime advantage. This was where the match was won.

The second half was 7-7 where Vendel Vigvari was ejected on three majors; Spanish head coach David Martin successfully challenged a Hungarian penalty foul and centre forward Roger Tahull delicately flipped a ball over his head and the head of the advancing goalkeeper. Akos Nagy was also delicate with his long lob from the top right for 10-4. Alvaros sent in another rocket for 11-4 to close the third quarter.

Martin successfully challenged for a penalty foul and Granados responded early in the fourth quarter. Max Casabella grabbed his first goal of the tournament, accepting a cross pass to the far right post on extra. Akos Nagy scored from the deep right after two Zsombor Ekler goals by 3:30 and 14-9 behind. It was too far to come back and the final goal, in fact, came from Granados on extra from way out top, again.

Match Heroes
Granados
added eight goals to his previous 10 and really has taken over from the legendary Felipe Perrone as the Spanish go-to man. Sanahuja’s pair brought him to 19 for the week. Unai Aguirre once again saved the day with 14 saves in goal. Akos Nagy, Ekler and Adam Nagy scored twice each for Hungary.

Turning Point
The first half, basically.

Stats Don’t Lie
Spain won the match on extra with seven from eight and then stopped six from nine Hungarian attempts. Spain collected both penalty attempts and Hungary one. Spain stole 10 times to four and shot two less than Hungary at 36-34.

Bottom Line
Spain is the reigning European champion and showed that experience can win over youth. Hungarian was brilliant all tournament, but the youngsters, who won in this pool last year at the World Aquatics U20 Water Polo Championships, could not repeat the effort today.

Image Source: Fran Valera (ESP) and Krisztian Bedo (HUN)/olteanu.valentin/World Aquatics

What They Said

David Martin (ESP) — Head Coach
On better defence today than the day before:
“Our defence was amazing today. It is very difficult to play a team with that many talented shooters. Today, we were able to do a great job with field blocks to deny many shots taken and Unai (Aguirre) played another incredible match in the goal. Hungary is a very talented team and I am very proud we could keep them to four goals in three quarters. As well, we had great focus on our extra-man opportunities, which allowed us to score so many goals. After they switched to the M style defence, we started to have some problems with it so, definitely something we can work on and get better at. Overall, I’m very happy about our performance today and during the tournament because this is great preparation for when we play the Super Finals in April.”

Alvaro Granados (ESP) — Player of the Match and Eight Goals
On finishing first:
“Being super honest, I cannot be more proud, excited, and motivated for this group of players after the incredibly disappointing summer we had. It was tough to come back and play for the national team, but they have been so incredibly passionate about our team playing to the level that we know we can. This week, I have completely recovered my motivation and energy to properly represent my country and this match was a perfect representation of that.”

Zsolt Varga (HUN) — Head Coach
On the loss:
“How I saw today is that our first three quarters, we didn't play well. And then in the last quarter, we somehow woke up and we started to play our water polo. Everything that Spain did was something that we had seen before and prepared for this match. As you can see, this is a young team. One day it's excellent and another day, it will be dark. I think we can say Spain is one of the best teams in the world, if not the best.
“We have to learn how to manage the match and how to manage the best players in the world like Alvaro (Granados). We accomplished our first goal of qualifying for the super finals. There will always be ups and downs as that is the way of the sport, but we have to develop ourselves and our skills to minimise those ups and downs. The big competitions always come down to how you play at the end, and you must give your best performance. Yesterday, a really high level of water polo was played by us and maybe today we were a little bit more tired than the other day.”

Classification 3-4

Match 33, GREECE 17 MONTENEGRO 10 (3-2, 7-1, 4-3, 3-4)

Image Source: Greece v Montenegro/olteanu.valentin/World Aquatics

Twelve goals in 17 minutes means a lot in this style of game. Greece used the shorter pool to excellent effect and made sure of its barrage of goals from the bottom left to establish a 12-3 margin and onward to victory. Montenegro had the match in hand at 2-1 five minutes in, but it was the last goal it would score for nearly nine minutes. In that time, Greece would have secured the quarter at 3-2 and gone 8-2 ahead with 2:15 left on the clock. The seven-goal avalanche was constructed on Stylianos Argyropoulos four goals and Alexandros Papanastasiou’s pair (to go with his opener). It was almost arrogance with the shooting. Miroslav Perkovic stopped the charge on extra from in front but two more Greek goals had to halftime score at 10-3.

Efstathios Kalogeropoulos and Nikolaos Gkillas — the second on extra from deep left — shunted the margin to 12-3 at the top of the third period. Perkovic flicked in a rebound from two metres and goals were traded with Nikola Moskov gaining a second for Montenegro, this time from a six-metre foul shot. Aristeidis Chalyvopoulos — named player of the match — converted extra to close the third period at 14-6. Greece went 15-6 and 16-8 in the fourth before Dusan Matkovic scored his fourth, needing VAR to hear that was taken inside the buzzer. A Greek penalty attempt was blocked; Moskov drilled from eight metres and Kalogeropoulos scored from top left for his fourth and sixth of the tournament.

Match Heroes
Argyropoulos
and Kalogeropoulos netted four apiece with Papanastasiou grabbing three as nine Greeks scored. The goalkeepers saved 10 between them. Matkovic was best for Montenegro with four goals and Moskov sent in three. Petar Tesanovic, the goalkeeper-captain, claimed nine saves.

Turning Point
Seven unanswered goals straddling the first-quarter break and then another four-goal burst over halftime for an unbeatable 12-3 margin.

Stats Don’t Lie
Greece buried nine from 12 on extra-man attack and Montenegro only three from seven. Greece missed its one penalty attempt and Montenegro scored both its chances. Montenegro stole the ball five times to four and Greece shot 37 to 31 times.

Bottom Line
Greece is one of the best teams in the world and made sure of displaying that today. Montenegro has showed glimpses and the finals series will be a different matter as medals will be on the table while in Bucharest it is just a slap on the back.

Image Source: Greece v Montenegro/olteanu.valentin/World Aquatics

What They Said

Theodoros Vlachos (GRE) — Head Coach
On the victory:
“Congratulations to my team for mentally recovering after our performance yesterday and playing a great match of water polo today against another strong opponent. That is a very good quality of a team to be able to mentally recover like they did today and bring a much better concentration to the game.
“The defence was able to get blocks unlike yesterday, and control Montenegro’s attack. On the attack, my players had passion, creativity and many ideas in the shots they took. I do not care about the fact that we got third place; I am more focused on the fact that we have qualified for the next round of the finals and have the opportunity to get to Singapore. We will have three more games to develop as a team and make sure we put our focus on specific things so we can be the best version of ourselves.”

Aristeidis Chalyvopoulos (GRE) — Player of the Match
On looking toward the finals series:
“I feel very satisfied not only for how I played, but how the team played. I think that to play much better after the performance we had yesterday is very important because we showed that we can mentally recover after bad matches. That ability is very important and I believe that it will be the reason we can continue to play like this in the coming matches.
“Before the World Cup finals, I think it's the mental part we need to focus on most, not training physically. We don't have enough time to completely prepare for the super final, but we have to win every match. We will put that in our minds from now on and I hope we go over there well prepared and win every match.”

Classification 5-6

Match 32, JAPAN 8 CROATIA 20 (2-3, 2-5, 1-5, 3-7)

Image Source: Frank Lazic (CRO)/olteanu.valentin/World Aquatics

Japan suffered a red-card foul against it the day before and today Japan committed a red-card violence foul that upset the rhythm of the match. World champion Croatia was surely going to win and had a three-goal advantage late in the second quarter before being “gifted” the alleged kick in the head, said “thank-you” and slotted six straight to secure the match well ahead of time.

It was a slow start with the score locked at one until 1:26 during which Croatian head coach Ivica Tucak challenged for a penalty shot, which he lost. It did not stop him for calling out the Japanese kick later and a VAR review by the referees found that Kiyomu Date had indeed struck out with his foot and left the pool deck accordingly. Going back to the first quarter, Konstantin Kharkov gave Croatia the edge and goals were traded to quarter time. Taiyo Watanabe and Date — both on counter — regained the lead for Japan. Kharkov; Jerko Marinic Kragic; Rino Buric, when the goalkeeper advanced and he had an open goal from four metres out and Andrij Basic, with a centre-forward drive, took the score to 7-4 in its favour. It was then that Date was caught and eliminated. Kharkov converted the penalty ahead of the halftime buzzer.

Soon after, five more Croatian goals pierced the Japanese goal-line and the match was a foregone conclusion. Japan scored either side of the final break when it went seven on seven but five more Croatian goals were scored at will and goals were traded to 20-8.

Match Heroes
Kharkov
(15 for the week)and Marinic Kragic scored four goals and Buric three. Toni Popadic managed a magnificent 14 saves in goals for Montenegro. Watanabe fired in three for Japan.

Turning Point
Before Date gained his red card, Croatia was on the prowl with four straight goals. After the red card, Croatia went 6-0 in the exclusion period. Slam dunk.

Stats Don’t Lie
Croatia converted six from 10 on extra and Japan two from five. Croatia converted both penalty chances and Japan none from two. Croatia stole the ball 10 times to seven and shot 38 to 37.

Bottom Line
The red card may not have been that much of a game changer considering the 7-4 Croatian advantage, but Croatia made sure Japan paid for the indiscretion with a stunning six goals in four minutes.

Image Source: Taiki Katayama (JPN) and goalkeeper Towa Nishimura/olteanu.valentin/World Aquatics

What They Said
Konstantin Kharkov (CRO) — Player of the Match
On the victory:
“That was a very difficult and a hard-fought match. Japan played very well, but we were able to earn the result we wanted in the end. I am proud that we could end the tournament with a win and now we must continue getting better so we are ready for Super Finals.”

Yoshinori Shiota (JPN) — Head Coach
On losing:
“It was a very difficult match, but my players brought a very good intensity. We started the match very well, but after what happened in the second quarter, we did not have a chance anymore. I am proud that we did not stop playing regardless of the challenging situation. We must continue to improve and prepare ourselves for the World Cup Super Final where we will most likely have to start against Greece or Montenegro. Hopefully we are ready by then so we can continue to advance in the Super Finals.”

Classification 7-8

Match 31, GEORGIA 17 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 12 (5-4, 4-3, 3-2, 5-3)

Image Source: Giorgi Magrakvelidze (GEO) and Ben Liechty (USA)/olteanu.valentin/World Aquatics

Georgia deservedly made it through to seventh place with an all-round effort from a large variety of shooters. USA looked lacklustre by comparison. George raced to 2-0 as USA levelled at two, three and four with Georgia getting the go-ahead goal at 2:53, the last score of the period. Nika Shushiashvili scored twice and added a third for 7-4 in the second quarter. Goals were traded with Ryan Ohl grabbing all three USA strikes for 9-7 at halftime. Jake Ehrhardt was a two-goaler in the first four USA scoring, netting from the top and on extra from a similar position.

Tyler Abramson scored his second to begin the second half with Stefan Pjesivac from centre forward and Valiko Dadvani grabbing a pair as both teams had lost two players to major fouls. Ohl closed the period on extra at 12-9 down. Jovan Saric and Besarion Akhvlediani, for his 14th of the week, made it 14-9 from the penalty line after USA head coach Dejan Udovicic lost a challenge. USA called a timeout and converted the subsequent play. Saric replied before USA captain Max Irving retook a rebound to score on extra for 15-11 behind. Dylan Woodhead put away an easy centre-forward goal; Georgia went to a timeout and Pjesivac scored a one-on-three goal. Saric finished the match with his third, lobbing from nine metres.

Match Heroes
Dadvani
, Shushiashvili and Saric scored three each while goalkeeper Giorgi Gvetadze made 10 saves for Georgia. Ohl was the best shooter with four goals for USA.

Turning Point
The steady quarters where Georgia led every time.

Stats Don’t Lie
Georgia went seven from 11 on extra and denied USA 11 from 17 chances — the major feature of the match. USA scored both penalty attempts and Georgia one. USA stole 10 to seven and shot 33 to 31, but to no avail.

Bottom Line
Georgia played its best water polo of the week and absolutely nailed extra-man attack, which sent the Olympic bronze medallist packing. Both teams had players not make the finish with Georgia losing four and USA three.

Image Source: Nicolas Saveljic (USA)/olteanu.valentin/World Aquatics

What They Said
Athanasios Kechagias (GEO) — Head Coach

On his team’s performance:
“First of all, I would like to say congratulations to both teams, because it was a very physical and difficult match. We played a good match and I would also like to give congratulations to my players for their performance in this game and over the tournament. Moving forward, I must analyse all of the games we played to learn the things to change and what can stay the same in our process to the game. We will continue to improve every session and opportunity we get to play as a team.”

Nika Shushiashvili (GEO) — Player of the Match
On not making the final:
“We wanted to make it into the top six, so we could play the final tournament of the World Cup. I can say that the tournament itself was a pretty good performance. Part of it has to do with the fact that we have a new head coach, who we trust, and he has done a really good job in a short period of time.
“About the game today, I can only say positive things because yesterday we had a very tough loss against Japan. We tried to recover and managed to win the game against the USA, which is never easy. Even if it's a young team and they’re in a rebuilding mode this tournament, they are a good team that I have a lot of respect for. I think today's game was a big win for us and we'll try to build on it.”

Classification 9-10

Match 29, ROMANIA 15 FRANCE 14 (4-2, 4-5, 3-4, 4-3)

Romania came up with its first victory in the first match of the day, gaining a red-card decision against a French player, although it did not take advantage of the situation. However, it had just enough of an advantage to hold out the French and finish 10th of the 11 teams. France was playing without superstar Thomas Vernoux who was on suspension from an incident the day before.

VAR was kept busy during the match, leading to these longer matches, as well as more goals. The opening French goal needed VAR. Romania went 3-1 up and took a 4-2 first-quarter scoreline into the second period. Francesco Iudean scored his second on extra to start the second period and French captain Ugo Crousillat had a penalty attempt saved. Iudean made it 6-2 on counter. France pulled back two, Romania went 7-4 and France grabbed back two more with Alexandre Bouet twice in the action to go with his first-quarter penalty strike. Goals were traded with Romain Marion Vernoux completing a penalty shot for 8-7 at the halftime break.

Iudean and Vlad-Luca Georgescu made it 10-7 early in the third quarter. Goals were swapped then France levelled at 11 just before the final break, thanks to Steven Vitrant with a outside boomer; Crousillat on counter and Marion Vernoux on penalty. Andrei Prioteasa gained his third with a long lob from the top right to start the final quarter. Marion Vernoux equalised from the top and Andrei Tepelus sent in his second at 4:31 for 13-12. Marion Vernoux was exposed with an alleged kick to the head and given a red card for violence, cutting the heart out of France. It occurred exactly at 4:00, meaning France would play a man down for the remainder of the match. Iudean snatched the penalty and Prioteasa converted extra at 3:06. Both teams took a timeout and France converted a penalty from its strategy at 1:06. France had the final shot and rebounded down to Alexis Drahe for him to swat in for his first goal of the week at 0:02. Romania was home 15-14 and the French ignominy was complete.

Match Heroes
Iudean
with five and Prioteasa with four, were the best shooters but the star of the show was goalkeeper Matei-Stefan Marchitan with an unbelievable tournament-high 20 saves. Bouet and Marion Vernoux scored three apiece for France.

Turning Point
Romania edged out to 6-2, 7-4 and 10-7 before France closed the gap at 11 late in the third quarter. The red card assisted Romania to stay on an even keel.

Stats Don’t Lie
Both teams suffered on extra man with Romania managing three from 11 and France a paltry one from nine. France went five from six on penalty shots and Romania three from three. Romania stole 7-6 and shot only 33 times to 44.

Bottom Line
Romania was on a roll for the home crowd and France could not breach the gap. Losing Vernoux did not help. These teams now need to go away and rebuild their teams in European competitions for future years before returning to the world stage.

What They Said

Bogdan Rath (ROU) — Head Coach
On finishing on a winning note
“It was a tough situation and tough match to be playing in after not winning any matches until today. I think our reaction is more important and how we adjusted to be able to win this match. After this, we must go back and analyse these matches to improve our preparation and approach to the new rules. We have a lot of time until the European Championships in 2026, so we will also bring up some new players and try to develop them before then. Overall, I am proud of my team’s effort today.”

Francesco Iudean (ROU) — Player of the Match
On winning:
“It was very important for us to end our tournament with a win, especially being at home. Our defence performed much better today and we got a lot of field blocks. I am proud we could end with a win.”

Florian Bruzzo (FRA) — Head Coach
On the loss:
“This was a very interesting tournament for our team as a whole. We had some problems with injury the day before leaving, so we have only had 14 people here. Like we have talked about, we try to play a demanding style of water polo. Because of this, my players are very tired after we were not able to change our roster during the tournament.
“In the game, we did a good job executing our game plan of getting two exclusions on Romania’s best players at the start of the game, but we were unable to find our rhythm on offence. Without Vernoux, we do not have a centre and that made the game even more tiring with the movement we had to use instead. Overall, this tournament offered a clear picture of our team and what we must do to improve before the European championships in 2026.”