The decision regarding the 2024 European Men’s Championships has been finally made.
The Croatian Water Polo Federation has confirmed that the 2024 European Men’s Championships will take place in Croatia from January 4 to 16.
The host of the Women’s Championships is yet to be announced by European Aquatics. Still, it is highly likely that the ladies will play in Eindhoven..
The Government of the Republic of Croatia approved that it will support the organization of the Championships with two million euros.
According to the first unofficial information that appeared last week, Zagreb was a potential candidate to host the Championships.
Today, the Croatian Water Polo Federation announced that the tournament will be held in two cities – Zagreb and Dubrovnik.
Two groups of the preliminary stage will be held in Zagreb and two in Dubrovnik. As of today, it is certain that the competition of Group A (where Croatia was drawn) will be played in Dubrovnik.
After three rounds of the group stage (January 4, 6, 8), and the playoffs in two cities, the matches for the standings between 1st and 8th place (from quarterfinals until the final) will be staged in Zagreb. The games of the 9th- 16th place classification will be played in Dubrovnik.
For the first time in the history of the European Water Polo Championships, two back-to-back tournaments will be held in the same country. Last year, the ECH took place in Split and Croatia won the gold medal.
The upcoming tournament will be the third European Championships in Croatia. The first was held in 2010, in Zagreb. Croatia took the title, as well as in Split.
Three teams from the 2024 Europeans will qualify for the World Championships in Doha and one will earn a ticket for the Olympic Games in Paris.
2024 European Championships, Croatia (January 4 – 16)
Note: teams marked with * qualified for the World Championships in Doha. The teams marked with ** qualified both for the World Championships and Olympic Games.
DIVISION 1
Group A: Montenegro, Spain*, France**, Croatia
Group B: Georgia, Hungary**, Italy*, Greece**
DIVISION 2
Group C: Serbia*, Germany, Israel, Malta.
Group D: Slovakia, Netherlands, Slovenia, Romania.
