Seven of the eight qualifying spots for the 2026 European Championships secured on day two

Only one qualification ticket for the women’s 2026 European Water Polo Championships remains to be decided after a dramatic day two of action across the continent.

2026 European Water Polo Championships
Women’s Qualifiers, Day 2 Results
Saturday 7 June 2025

Group A (Setubal)

Czechia 11-12 Romania

Group B (Hannover)

Malta 7-21 Türkiye

Group C (Novi Sad)

Serbia 24-7 Switzerland

Ukraine 20-7 Finland

Group D (Novaky)

Slovakia 16-7 Sweden

Just like on day one, the favourites won their matches on day two, and secured their respective spots at next year’s European Championships.

The only close clash was staged in Group A in Setubal where the Czechs were eager to grab their last chance to retain their place at the Championships.

However, the Romanians were also aware that securing their progression in their last match, against hosts Portugal on Sunday, wouldn’t be the safest bet, so they also put up a big fight.

Indeed, they dominated most of the game, as the Czechs never led again after going 1-0 up early on, though they kept coming back.

After being 4-7 down, Czechia came back to 8-8, then at 9-9 they even had a possession to take the lead, but wasted it and next came a 0-3 rush by Romania in 2:19 minutes which proved decisive.

Czechia did manage to pull two late goals back and with 22 seconds remaining they had the chance to go even once more, but they failed to score.

The win sent not only the Romanians through, but also the hosts Portugal, whose wait to return to the grand stage is finally over after 10 long years.

Türkiye made no mistakes against Malta, as after a somewhat balanced opening period, they hit nine goals in the following eight minutes and never looked back.

Just as in Setubal, the winners also sealed another team’s qualification – here the Germans celebrated going through on their rest day.

Group C hosts Serbia kicked off their second game against Switzerland with a 4-3 first period, then blew the Swiss away in the following three and eventually stopped at 24 goals.

This second victory also landed the Serbs among the qualified teams, while the second spot is still up for grabs after Ukraine downed Finland 20-7, so it’s going to be a winner-takes-all clash between Ukraine and Switzerland on Sunday.

Both spots were booked in Group D in the same way as in the other groups of three. Slovakia left no chance for Sweden, who were defeated for the second time and ousted.

The Slovaks, along with Israel, reached safe waters and the top rank in the group will be decided on Sunday.

Watch all the action live on www.euroaquaticstv.com and stay up-to-date with all the results/tables by clicking here.

Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics