2026 Women's European U-20 Water Polo Championship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | Portugal |
| City | Oeiras |
| Dates | 3–9 August |
| Teams | 20 (from 1 confederation) |
| Official website | |
| [ Oeiras 2026] | |
The 2026 Women's European U-20 Water Polo Championship is the 16th edition of the biannual continental tournament in women's under-20 national water polo teams, organised by Europe's governing aquatics body, European Aquatics. The tournament takes place from 3 to 9 August 2026.[1] Starting this edition, the age level has changed from U19 to U20.[2]
Portugal was given the hosting rights, with Oeiras as the host venue. This will be the third time the country hosts the event, after 2002 and 2018.
Twenty teams will take part. Spain are the defending champions after beating Hungary in the 2024 final in Zagreb.
The 20 teams were divided into two divisions. The top eight teams made Division 1 and the other twelve teams Division 2. Division 1 were split into two groups of four teams while Division 2 was split into four groups of three. The top two teams from each group of Division 1 advanced directly to the quarterfinals, while the other two teams from each group played against one of the group winners from each group in Division 2 in the crossover round. Starting with quarterfinals onward, the regular knock-out system was used.
Qualification
Twenty teams took part. Czech Republic, Ireland, Portugal, Serbia and Switzerland returned while Bulgaria and Slovakia were the only teams to not enter after taking part in 2024. Russia was allowed to enter after their ban was lifted.
| Event | Date | Location | Quotas | Nation(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participated in the 2024 European Championship | 24–31 August 2024 |  Zagreb |
14 |  Spain Hungary Greece Croatia Italy Netherlands Israel France Great Britain Germany Ukraine Turkey Romania Malta |
| Didn't participate in 2024 | N/a | N/a | 6 |  Serbia Czech Republic Switzerland Portugal Ireland Russia |
