2024–25 European Aquatics Challenger Cup
Water polo sports season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2024–25 European Aquatics Challenger Cup was the 3rd edition of a water polo competition organised by European Aquatics. It acts as the third tier, below the LEN Champions League and the LEN Euro Cup. The reigning champions are Galatasaray, but they won't defend their title as they didn't enter.
SportWater polo
DatesQualification round:
1–3 November 2024
Knockout stage:
18 January–26 April 2025
1–3 November 2024
Knockout stage:
18 January–26 April 2025
TeamsTotal: 16 (from 12 countries)
WebsiteOfficial website
| 2024–25 | |
| |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Water polo |
| Dates | Qualification round: 1–3 November 2024 Knockout stage: 18 January–26 April 2025 |
| Teams | Total: 16 (from 12 countries) |
| Website | Official website |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  GZC Donk (1st title) |
| Runner-up |  EVK Zaibas |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 38 |
| Goals scored | 936 (24.63 per match) |
This is the last season where the Challenger Cup is the third tier tournament in European water polo, with the Conference Cup taking its place.
Dutch side, GZC Donk, won their first title after defeating Lithuanian team, EVK Zaibas, in the final.[1]
Format
16 teams are grouped into 4 pools of four clubs. The top 2 from every pool advances to the quarter-finals, followed by semi-finals and finals.[2]
Rankings
Only teams below the top 12 can enter this competition.
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Teams
No countries ranked in the top 12 of the LEN men's club rankings can take part in this tournament.[4]
 Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois |
 APOEL Nicosia |
Limassol NC |
 Cetus Espoo |
 Welsh Wanderers |
 ASA Tel Aviv |
Hapoel Palram Zvulun |
EVK Zaibas |
 Sliema ASC |
GZC Donk |
ZV De Zaan |
 Vitória Sport Clube |
| Clube Fluvial Portuense |
 KVP Novaky |
 AVK Slovan Olimpija |
 Carouge Natation |
Schedule
Rounds and dates
| Phase | Round | Round date |
|---|---|---|
| Qualification round | 1–3 November 2024 | |
| Quarter-finals | First leg | 18 January 2025 |
| Second leg | 1 February 2025 | |
| Semi-finals | First leg | 22 February 2025 |
| Second leg | 8 March 2025 | |
| Final | First leg | 12 April 2025 |
| Second leg | 26 April 2025 |
Qualification round
In the qualification round, teams play in a round robin format. The top 2 in each group advance. Due to the lack of clubs wanting the host the groups, Nováky and Sliema hosted two groups.[5][6]
Draw
The draw was on 16 September 2024.[7] H indicates which club is hosting the groups. Teams in bold advanced to the quarter-finals. The seeding was decided by as follows:
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | DON |
VIT |
CET |
WEL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GZC Donk |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 31 | +27 | 9 | Quarterfinals | — | 15–12 | — | — | |
| 2 | Vitória Sport Clube |
3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 50 | 31 | +19 | 6 | — | — | 13–10 | 25–6 | ||
| 3 | Cetus Espoo |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 43 | 41 | +2 | 3 | 8–17 | — | — | 25–11 | ||
| 4 | Welsh Wanderers |
3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 76 | −48 | 0 | 11–26 | — | — | — |
Source: European Aquatics
| 1 November 2024 16:00 |
Report | Cetus Espoo |
25–11 | Welsh Wanderers |
National Pool, Sliema Referees: Riccardo Carmignani (ITA), Povilas Sriubas (LTU) |
| Score by quarters: 6–2, 8–2, 5–4, 6–3 | |||||
| Porobic 6 | Goals | three players 2 | |||
| 1 November 2024 17:15 |
Report | GZC Donk |
15–12 | Vitória Sport Clube |
National Pool, Sliema Referees: Erkan Turkkan (TUR), Neville Mercieca (MLT) |
| Score by quarters: 3–1, 3–4, 6–4, 3–3 | |||||
| Veenhuis 4 | Goals | Ramos 5 | |||
| 2 November 2024 16:00 |
Report | Vitória Sport Clube |
13–10 | Cetus Espoo |
National Pool, Sliema Referees: Riccardo Carmignani (ITA), Erkan Turkkan (TUR) |
| Score by quarters: 1–3, 2–2, 4–1, 6–4 | |||||
| Ramos 6 | Goals | Porobic 3 | |||
| 2 November 2024 17:15 |
Report | Welsh Wanderers |
11–26 | GZC Donk |
National Pool, Sliema Referees: Neville Mercieca (MLT), Povilas Sriubas (LTU) |
| Score by quarters: 5–5, 1–5, 2–8, 3–8 | |||||
| Laxton 6 | Goals | Van Ijperen 6 | |||
| 3 November 2024 08:30 |
Report | Cetus Espoo |
8–17 | GZC Donk |
National Pool, Sliema Referees: Riccardo Carmignani (ITA), Povilas Sriubas (LTU) |
| Score by quarters: 2–4, 4–3, 0–5, 2–5 | |||||
| Porobic, Vavic 2 | Goals | Veenhuis, Winkelhorst 5 | |||
| 3 November 2024 09:45 |
Report | Vitória Sport Clube |
25–6 | Welsh Wanderers |
National Pool, Sliema Referees: Erkan Turkkan (TUR), Neville Mercieca (MLT) |
| Score by quarters: 8–1, 7–2, 3–3, 7–0 | |||||
| Ferreira Sousa 6 | Goals | Laxton 4 | |||
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ZAAN |
ZAI |
HAP |
APO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ZV De Zaan |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 21 | +21 | 9 | Quarterfinals | — | — | 8–7 | 21–2 | |
| 2 | EVK Zaibas |
3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 30 | +12 | 6 | 12–13 | — | 12–10 | 18–7 | ||
| 3 | Hapoel Palram Zvulun |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 3 | — | — | — | 14–11 | ||
| 4 | APOEL Nicosia |
3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 53 | −33 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
Source: European Aquatics
| 1 November 2024 15:30 |
Report | ZV De Zaan |
8–7 | Hapoel Palram Zvulun |
National Water Polo Centre, Nováky Referees: Robert Prelovsky (SVK), Roberto Guarnieri (BEL) |
| Score by quarters: 1–1, 2–1, 4–3, 1–2 | |||||
| Bakker 3 | Goals | Begin 3 | |||
| 1 November 2024 17:15 |
Report | EVK Zaibas |
18–7 | APOEL Nicosia |
National Water Polo Centre, Nováky Referees: Branimir Butigan (BIH), Koppany Toth (HUN) |
| Score by quarters: 5–0, 4–2, 4–1, 5–4 | |||||
| Gostautas 5 | Goals | Konstantopoulos 3 | |||
| 2 November 2024 19:00 |
Report | EVK Zaibas |
12–13 | ZV De Zaan |
National Water Polo Centre, Nováky Referees: Roberto Guarnieri (BEL), Branimir Butigan (BIH) |
| Score by quarters: 2–3, 4–5, 2–2, 4–3 | |||||
| Jelaca 3 | Goals | Rempt 3 | |||
| 2 November 2024 20:45 |
Report | Hapoel Palram Zvulun |
14–11 | APOEL Nicosia |
National Water Polo Centre, Nováky Referees: Robert Prelovsky (SVK), Koppany Toth (HUN) |
| Score by quarters: 5–1, 3–3, 4–2, 2–5 | |||||
| Goldschmidt 4 | Goals | three players 2 | |||
| 3 November 2024 09:00 |
Report | ZV De Zaan |
21–2 | APOEL Nicosia |
National Water Polo Centre, Nováky Referees: Koppany Toth (HUN), Roberto Guarnieri (BEL) |
| Score by quarters: 7–0, 4–1, 5–0, 5–1 | |||||
| Van Den Dobbelsteen 6 | Goals | Economides, Robu 1 | |||
| 3 November 2024 10:45 |
Report | EVK Zaibas |
12–10 | Hapoel Palram Zvulun |
National Water Polo Centre, Nováky Referees: Branimir Butigan (BIH), Robert Prelovsky (SVK) |
| Score by quarters: 2–2, 4–4, 4–1, 2–3 | |||||
| Jelaca 3 | Goals | Begin, Carmon 3 | |||
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SLI |
FLU |
CAR |
ASA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sliema ASC (H) |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 20 | +24 | 9 | Quarterfinals | — | 15–7 | 16–5 | 13–8 | |
| 2 | Clube Fluvial Portuense |
3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 32 | +1 | 6 | — | — | — | 14–8 | ||
| 3 | Carouge Natation |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 35 | −3 | 3 | — | 9–12 | — | — | ||
| 4 | ASA Tel Aviv |
3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 23 | 45 | −22 | 0 | — | — | 7–18 | — |
| 1 November 2024 18:30 |
Report | Carouge Natation |
9–12 | Clube Fluvial Portuense |
National Pool, Sliema Referees: Robert Horvath (SVK), Maxim Gerasimov (GBR) |
| Score by quarters: 2–1, 2–3, 2–2, 3–6 | |||||
| Gros 3 | Goals | five players 2 | |||
| 1 November 2024 19:45 |
Report | Sliema ASC |
13–8 | ASA Tel Aviv |
National Pool, Sliema Referees: Polydoros Filippou (CYP), Rok Vehovec (SLO) |
| Score by quarters: 5–0, 2–3, 2–3, 4–2 | |||||
| five players 2 | Goals | three players 2 | |||
| 2 November 2024 18:30 |
Report | ASA Tel Aviv |
7–18 | Carouge Natation |
National Pool, Sliema Referees: Maxim Gerasimov (GBR), Polydoros Filippou (CYP) |
| Score by quarters: 2–4, 2–4, 1–4, 2–6 | |||||
| Kolodny, Souva 2 | Goals | Roscio 6 | |||
| 2 November 2024 19:45 |
Report | Sliema ASC |
15–7 | Clube Fluvial Portuense |
National Pool, Sliema Referees: Rok Vehovec (SLO), Robert Horvath (SVK) |
| Score by quarters: 3–1, 5–3, 1–0, 6–3 | |||||
| Zammit 4 | Goals | Ornelas Pinto, Parati 2 | |||
| 3 November 2024 11:15 |
Report | Clube Fluvial Portuense |
14–8 | ASA Tel Aviv |
National Pool, Sliema Referees: Maxim Gerasimov (GBR), Rok Vehovec (SLO) |
| Score by quarters: 2–2, 5–0, 5–3, 2–3 | |||||
| Parati 4 | Goals | Gal-on, Zonanstern 2 | |||
| 3 November 2024 12:30 |
Report | Sliema ASC |
16–5 | Carouge Natation |
National Pool, Sliema Referees: Robert Horvath (SVK), Polydoros Filippou (CYP) |
| Score by quarters: 5–2, 2–2, 4–1, 5–0 | |||||
| Zammit 5 | Goals | Gros, Melet 2 | |||
Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | NOV |
SLO |
MOU |
LIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KVP Novaky (H) |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 33 | +18 | 9 | Quarterfinals | — | 14–10 | 18–12 | 19–11 | |
| 2 | AVK Slovan Olimpija |
3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 33 | +3 | 6 | — | — | 14–12 | 12–7 | ||
| 3 | Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 43 | 42 | +1 | 3 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 4 | Limassol NC |
3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 50 | −22 | 0 | 10–19 | — | — | — |
| 1 November 2024 19:00 |
Report | KVP Novaky |
19–11 | Limassol NC |
National Water Polo Centre, Nováky Referees: Luis Alves (POR), Tal Shildan (ISR) |
| Score by quarters: 5–1, 2–3, 7–4, 5–3 | |||||
| three players 4 | Goals | Chalaris 5 | |||
| 1 November 2024 20:45 |
Report | AVK Slovan Olimpija |
14–12 | Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois |
National Water Polo Centre, Nováky Referees: Massimo Castrilli (SUI), Jarkko Virtanen (FIN) |
| Score by quarters: 4–3, 3–2, 4–4, 3–3 | |||||
| Potocnik 7 | Goals | Mikael 5 | |||
| 2 November 2024 15:30 |
Report | AVK Slovan Olimpija |
12–7 | Limassol NC |
National Water Polo Centre, Nováky Referees: Tal Shildan (ISR), Jarkko Virtanen (FIN) |
| Score by quarters: 2–3, 3–0, 4–1, 3–3 | |||||
| Canc 4 | Goals | Monioudis 3 | |||
| 2 November 2024 17:15 |
Report | KVP Novaky |
18–12 | Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois |
National Water Polo Centre, Nováky Referees: Massimo Castrilli (SUI), Luis Alves (POR) |
| Score by quarters: 5–2, 4–4, 4–3, 5–3 | |||||
| Dittmer, Tisaj 4 | Goals | Mikael 4 | |||
| 3 November 2024 12:30 |
Report | Limassol NC |
10–19 | Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois |
National Water Polo Centre, Nováky Referees: Tal Shildan (ISR), Jarkko Virtanen (FIN) |
| Score by quarters: 5–4, 1–6, 2–5, 2–4 | |||||
| Ioannou, Trusico 2 | Goals | Grman 5 | |||
| 3 November 2024 14:15 |
Report | KVP Novaky |
14–10 | AVK Slovan Olimpija |
National Water Polo Centre, Nováky Referees: Luis Alves (POR), Massimo Castrilli (SUI) |
| Score by quarters: 5–3, 2–1, 4–2, 3–4 | |||||
| Tisaj 7 | Goals | Potocnik 3 | |||
Knockout stage
Draw
The draw was on 11 November 2024. The seeded and unseeded clubs consist of the teams that finished first and second in the previous round respectively. The only restriction was that clubs from the same group in the previous round could not be drawn against each other.
| Seeded | Unseeded |
|---|---|
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Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | |||||||||||||||
| ZV De Zaan
| 23 | 13 | 36 | ||||||||||||||
| Vitória Sport Clube
| 11 | 4 | 15 | ||||||||||||||
| ZV De Zaan
| 9 | 11 | 20 | ||||||||||||||
| EVK Zaibas
| 9 | 13 | 22 | ||||||||||||||
| KVP Novaky
| 8 | 14 | 22 | ||||||||||||||
| EVK Zaibas
| 16 | 8 | 24 | ||||||||||||||
| EVK Zaibas
| 13 | 9 | 22 | ||||||||||||||
| GZC Donk
| 11 | 12 | 23 | ||||||||||||||
| GZC Donk
| 20 | 18 | 38 | ||||||||||||||
| Clube Fluvial Portuense
| 12 | 13 | 25 | ||||||||||||||
| GZC Donk
| 18 | 12 | 30 | ||||||||||||||
| Sliema ASC
| 17 | 12 | 29 | ||||||||||||||
| Sliema ASC
| 15 | 13 | 28 | ||||||||||||||
| AVK Slovan Olimpija
| 8 | 2 | 10 | ||||||||||||||
Quarterfinals
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vitória Sport Clube |
15–36 | ZV De Zaan |
11–23 | 4–13 |
| EVK Zaibas |
24–22 | KVP Novaky |
16–8 | 8–14 |
| Clube Fluvial Portuense |
25–38[a] | GZC Donk |
20–12 | 13–18 |
| AVK Slovan Olimpija |
10–28 | Sliema ASC |
8–15 | 2–13 |
- Order of legs reversed.
Matches
| 18 January 2025 17:00 |
Report | Vitória Sport Clube |
11–23 | ZV De Zaan |
Guimaraes, Portugal Referees: Tomi Kavcic (SLO), Jeremie Peden (FRA) |
| Score by quarters: 3–7, 3–4, 4–7, 1–5 | |||||
| Ferreira Sousa, Lopes 3 | Goals | Brantjes 4 | |||
| 1 February 2025 20:30 |
Report | ZV De Zaan |
13–4 | Vitória Sport Clube |
Het Sloterparkbad, Amsterdam Referees: Rastko Prlic (SRB), Lukasz Krol (POL) |
| Score by quarters: 5–2, 4–1, 3–1, 1–0 | |||||
| Janssen, Rempt 3 | Goals | four players 1 | |||
ZV De Zaan won 36–15 on aggregate
| 18 January 2025 19:00 |
Report | EVK Zaibas |
16–8 | KVP Novaky |
Elektrenai, Lithuania Referees: Manuel Manea (ROU), Berk Gunkut (TUR) |
| Score by quarters: 4–3, 4–1, 4–4, 4–0 | |||||
| Bosic, Jelaca 4 | Goals | Bielik, Furman 2 | |||
| 1 February 2025 17:30 |
Report | KVP Novaky |
14–8 | EVK Zaibas |
National Water Polo Centre, Nováky Referees: Alex De Raffaele (MLT), Matjaz Homovec (SLO) |
| Score by quarters: 3–3, 3–1, 4–2, 4–2 | |||||
| Bielk 4 | Goals | Krapic 2 | |||
EVK Zaibas won 24–22 on aggregate
| 18 January 2025 14:00 |
Report | GZC Donk |
20–12 | Clube Fluvial Portuense |
Groenhovenbad, Gouda Referees: Miroslav Mijanovic (MNE), Tomas Kaseta (LTU) |
| Score by quarters: 5–3, 5–3, 2–2, 8–4 | |||||
| Veenhuis 5 | Goals | three players 2 | |||
| 1 February 2025 15:30 |
Report | Clube Fluvial Portuense |
13–18 | GZC Donk |
Porto, Portugal Referees: Bogdan Beljin (SRB), Branimir Butigan (BIH) |
| Score by quarters: 3–6, 3–6, 1–2, 6–4 | |||||
| Mendes Teixeira 3 | Goals | Van Den Heuvel 5 | |||
GZC Donk won 38–25 on aggregate
| 18 January 2025 18:00 |
Report | AVK Slovan Olimpija |
8–15 | Sliema ASC |
Ljubljana, Slovenia |
| Score by quarters: 2–5, 3–1, 1–4, 2–5 | |||||
| three players 2 | Goals | Galea, Zammit 5 | |||
| 1 February 2025 17:30 |
Report | Sliema ASC |
13–2 | AVK Slovan Olimpija |
National Pool, Sliema Referees: Ali Tufan Cakirgil (TUR), Ruben Garcia (SUI) |
| Score by quarters: 2–0, 5–1, 2–1, 4–0 | |||||
| Galea, Zammit 3 | Goals | Policnik 2 | |||
Sliema ASC won 28–10 on aggregate
Semifinals
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZV De Zaan |
20–22 | EVK Zaibas |
9–9 | 11–13 |
| GZC Donk |
30–29 | Sliema ASC |
18–17 | 12–12 |
Matches
| 22 February 2025 20:30 |
Report | ZV De Zaan |
9–9 | EVK Zaibas |
Het Sloterparkbad, Amsterdam Referees: Norbert Ercse (HUN), Gregory Courbin (FRA) |
| Score by quarters: 2–1, 3–2, 3–4, 1–2 | |||||
| Rempt 3 | Goals | Jonkus, Vitkauskas 2 | |||
| 8 March 2025 18:00 |
Report | EVK Zaibas |
13–11 | ZV De Zaan |
Elektrenai, Lithuania Referees: Arnaldo Petronilli (ITA), Maxim Gerasimov (GBR) |
| Score by quarters: 3–2, 4–3, '4–3, 2–3 | |||||
| three players 3 | Goals | Janssen 4 | |||
EVK Zaibas won 22–20 on aggregate
| 22 February 2025 20:00 |
Report | GZC Donk |
18–17 | Sliema ASC |
Groenhovenbad, Gouda Referees: Alex Marquez (ESP), Mihai George Balanescu (ROU) |
| Score by quarters: 7–3, 1–4, 5–3, 5–7 | |||||
| Veenhuis 7 | Goals | Zammit 5 | |||
| 8 March 2025 17:30 |
Report | Sliema ASC |
12–12 | GZC Donk |
National Pool, Sliema Referees: Miroslav Mijanovic (MNE), Georgios K. Polychronopoulos (GRE) |
| Score by quarters: 6–6, 1–1, 3–3, 2–2 | |||||
| Schouwerwou 3 | Goals | Zammit 3 | |||
GZC Donk won 30–29 on aggregate
Final
Matches
| 12 April 2025 19:00 |
Report | EVK Zaibas |
13–11 | GZC Donk |
Elektrenai, Lithuania Referees: Norbert Ercse (HUN), Tomi Kavcic (SLO) |
| Score by quarters: 2–3, 5–2, 2–2, 4–4 | |||||
| Jelaca 7 | Goals | van Ijperen, Winkelhorst | |||
| 26 April 2025 14:00 |
Report | GZC Donk |
12–9 | EVK Zaibas |
Groenhovenbad, Gouda Referees: Pau Segurana (ESP), Daniele Bianco (ITA) |
| Score by quarters: 2–1, 4–2, 3–3, 3–3 | |||||
| van Ijperen 5 | Goals | four players 2 | |||
GZC Donk won 23–22 on aggregate
| 2024–25 European Aquatics Challenger Cup Champions |
|---|
 GZC Donk First title |