Spain begins the defence of its World Cup crown when it plays Italy on the opening day of the World Aquatics World Cup Division I qualification tournament in Alexandropoulos, Greece on 6 April. Five lucky teams and host Australia will qualify for the finals series in Sydney, Australia in July following the final day on 12 April.
Just making the finals series will be a major feat as 32 nations are vying for the opportunity. Thankfully for the Division I grouping of eight teams, the task is a little easier. Of the 23 teams in Division II, only two will make the grade for Sydney.
The World Cup is this year’s premier event, given that there are no Olympics or World Championships for senior players. Thus, this event carries great weight and qualification spots for next year’s World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
However, the first phase is the toughest and Alexandropoulos will garner most attention. Simultaneously, the Division II tournament is being staged in Malta in a marathon event that will have 80 matches through seven days — keeping spectators and officials on their toes.
Division I Groupings
Group A: Serbia, Netherlands, Hungary, Greece
Group B: Italy, Spain, Croatia, United States of America
Under the competition structure, the top two teams from Group A and Group B will form a new group and play a full round robin, along with the teams placed third and fourth in both groups. Points are not carried over from Groups A and B.
This ensures all teams are fully ranked while competing for qualification, and the top five teams will advance to the World Aquatics Water Polo World Cup finals series in Sydney.
There will be a rest day on Day five with matches resuming on day six.
History
Hungary is the only nation to make eight finals, winning four with the latest in Berlin, Germany in 2018.
Reigning champion Spain has seven medals with two crowns — back to back — in Podgorica, Montenegro last year and in Los Angeles, USA in 2023. It also has five bronze medals in the cabinet.
USA has two gold medals from 1991 and 1997 to go with two silvers and a bronze.
Serbia has two golds and a bronze in its collection with the last gold from Almaty, Kazakhstan in 2014.
Italy is a five-time finalist with only one gold and a bronze.
Of the others in Alexandropoulos, Croatia has silver and bronze and Greece two silvers — the latest in 2025. Only Netherlands has not made the dais at this level.
Current Form
This year’s European Championships played in January, is the best intimation as to who might perform here.
Serbia outplayed Hungary for the Euro crown while Italy bounced Italy 12-5 in the bronze-medal play-off.
In Singapore at the World Aquatics Championships last year, Spain emerged triumphant with Hungary and Greece second and third on the dais. Serbia and Croatia finished fourth and fifth.
Montenegro, slated for the Division II tournament, was sixth in Singapore while Italy and USA were seventh and eighth.
Players To Watch
Serbia: Dusan Mandic, Strahinja Rasovic.
Hungary: Akos Nagy, Kristian Manchercz.
Greece: Konstantinos Kakaris, Stylianos Argyropoulos.
Italy: Eduardo di Somma, Francesco di Fulvio.
Spain: Alvaro Granados, Bernat Sanahuja.
Croatia: Marco Bijak, Rino Buric.
USA: Hannes Daube, Ryder Dodd.
Netherlands: Lars ten Broek, Till Hofmann.
Player Comment
Greek international and Olympic silver medallist Stylianos Argyropoulos highlighted both his excitement and the challenge ahead:
“Sydney is beautiful. I am really excited to see the city, but first of all we must qualify, which will be difficult, but our goal is to be in the final. Our tournament will be in Alexandropoulis, which is a very nice and new swimming pool, and we will play in front of our home crowd. I don’t remember when it happened last time, so I am really looking forward to play in Greece with the national team.”
Opening-Day Clashes
14:00 Serbia v Netherlands
16:00 Italy v Spain
18:00 Hungary v Greece
20:15 Croatia v United States of America