World Aquatics conducted the draw for the 2nd World Men’s U16 Championships that will be held in Malta (June 18 – 24).
Even 32 teams will participate in the tournament (seven more than at the 1st World U16 Championships held in Volos in 2022).
Unlike the World U20 and U18 Championships, the teams won’t play in two divisions in the group stage.
The 32 teams will be split into eight groups in the first phase of the competition. After three days of the group stage, the top two teams from each group will advance to the eighth-finals. The remaining teams will play the classification matches.
At the previous championships in Volos, the teams played in three rounds (Platinium Round, 1st – 8th place), Gold Round (9th – 16th place), and Silver Round (17th – 25th place) after the group stage.
The top seven nations in Volos (1. Hungary, 2. Greece, 3. Serbia, 4. Montenegro, 5. Italy, 6. Spain, and 7. Croatia) and the USA, which won the gold medal in the Gold Round (9th place), were in the first pot of the draw for the Malta tournament. The others were in the same, 2nd pot.
The generation that participated in the 2023 European U15 Championship will play in Malta. Hungary won gold in Podgorica. Montenegro finished in 2nd place. Greece beat Serbia in the bronze-medal match, etc.
2024 World Men’s U16 Championships (Malta, June 18 – 24), groups
Group A: Serbia, China, Peru, Colombia
Group B: Spain, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Zimbabwe
Group C: Hungary, Singapore, Germany, Poland
Group D: USA, New Zealand, Israel, Netherlands
Group E: Italy, Georgia, Mexico, France.
Group F: Montenegro, Slovenia, South Africa, Egypt
Group G: Croatia, Canada, Turkey, Australia
Group H: Greece, Malta, Kazakhstan, Romania.
The pairings for the eight-finals: A1 – D2, A2 – D1, B2 – C1, B1 – C2, E1 – H2, F2 – G1, E1 – G2, E2 – H1.
The women’s U16 World Championships will take place in Manisa (Turkey) between June 28 and July 4.
