Reigning men’s European champion Croatia will start its new chase for continental gold at the 2024 Europeans in the duels against Spain, Montenegro, and France.
Spain, which will defend the title in the female competition, will be in the group with Israel, France, and Italy.
The draw for the 2024 European Championships, which will be held in Netanya between January 3 and 16, was staged in this Israeli city today.
Considering the new competition formula, in which the teams are split into two divisions, the results of the draw aren’t so important or so big news as they were before. The groups in each division are of similar qualities. All teams from Division 1 go to the knockout round, so they have a lot of room to make mistakes and correct them later, but none of them will have easy matches in the first phase of the competition.
Maybe the most essential thing in the draw was which teams from Division 2 in the men’s tournament would avoid Serbia in the group stage. Germany, Malta and host Israel didn’t have luck and will play against the Olympic champions. The home team will open the tournament with a match with Serbia (the schedule is at the end of the article).
The draw for both tournaments, in which 32 teams will participate, lasted just 20 minutes, much shorter than usual. The reason why LEN did everything in a quick procedure may be the fact that the results of the draw aren’t as significant as they were earlier.
The teams were sorted into the batches for the draw according to their standings in the 2022 Europeans in Split and the qualifications
The reigning world and European champions avoided each other. Men’s European and World Champions (Croatia and Hungary) could not be drawn in the same group because they were in the same batch. But, the draw didn’t pair the Netherlands and Spain, the World and European champions for ladies, respectively.
Let’s see the results.
Draw for the 2024 European Championships in Netanya (January 3 -16)
Women
DIVISION 1
Group A
Netherlands, Hungary, Croatia, Greece
Group B
Spain, Israel, France, Italy.
DIVISION 2
Group C
Romania, Serbia, Czech Republic, Turkey
Group D
Slovakia, Germany, Great Britain, Bulgaria
Men
DIVISION 1
Group A
Montenegro, Spain, France, Croatia
Group B
Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Greece
I The finalists of the men’s World Championships in Fukuoka, Hungary and Greece, will face off on Day 1 in Group B.
DIVISION 2
Group C
Serbia, Germany, Israel, Malta.
Group D
Slovakia, Netherlands, Slovenia, Romania.
Knockout round
CO MATCH 1: 4A – 1C
COM 2: 4B – 1D
COM3: 3B – 2D
CO4: 3A – 2C.
The winners of the crossover matches will qualify for the quarterfinals. The formula of the Round of 8 is as follows:
1B – Winner CO1
1A – Winner CO2
2A – Winner CO3
2B – Winner CO4
The winners go to the semifinals, the losers to the 5th-8th classification, the losers of the crossover matches will play in the 9th -12th place classification,etc.
Group stage, schedule
Women’s tournament
Group A – Day 1: Netherlands – Croatia, Hungary – Greece, Day 2: Greece – Croatia, Netherlands – Hungary, Day 3: Netherlands – Greece, Hungary – Croatia.
Group B – Day 1: Spain – France, Israel – Italy, Day 2: Italy – France, Spain – Israel, Day 3: Spain – Italy, Israel – France.
Group C – Day 1: Romania – Czech Republic, Serbia – Turkey, Day 2: Turkey – Czech Republic, Romania – Serbia, Day 3: Romania – Turkey, Serbia – Czech Republic.
Group D – Day 1: Slovakia – Great Britain, Germany – Bulgaria. Day 2: Bulgaria – Great Britain, Slovakia – Germany, Day 3: Slovakia – Bulgaria, Germany – Great Britain.
Men’s tournament
Group A – Day 1:Montenegro – France, Spain – Croatia, Day 2: Croatia – France, Montenegro – Spain, Day 3: Montenegro – Croatia, Spain – France.
Group B – Day 1: Georgia – Italy, Hungary – Greece, Day 2: Greece – Italy, Georgia – Hungary, Day 3: Georgia – Greece, Hungary – Italy.
Group C – Day 1: Serbia – Israel, Germany – Malta; Day 2:Malta – Israel, Serbia – Germany, Day 3: Serbia – Malta, Germany – Israel.
Group D – Day 1: Slovakia – Slovenia, Netherlands – Romania, Day 2: Romania – Slovenia, Slovakia – Netherlands, Day 3: Slovakia – Romania, Netherlands – Slovenia.
