The 2026 European Women’s Championships will take place in Funchal, Portugal, from January 26 to February 5, as confirmed by European Aquatics.
As previously announced, the women’s and men’s championships will be held separately; Belgrade is set to host only the men’s championships (January 10 – 25).
Both tournaments will follow a new competition format featuring two group stages.
The women’s tournament will begin with four groups of four teams each. Each group will include two teams that finished in the top eight in 2024 and two nations that qualified through the qualification tournament.
The top two teams from each group will advance to Group Stage II, forming two new groups of four: Group E (consisting of teams from Groups A and C) and Group F (comprising teams from Groups B and D). In this second round, teams will carry over their points from the previous stage and play two additional games against new opponents.
The winners and runners-up from Group Stage II will progress to the 1st-4th semi-finals, while the teams finishing 3rd and 4th will compete in the 5th-8th semi-finals. Additionally, the teams that finish 3rd and 4th in Group Stage I will form two new groups (Groups G and H) of four teams each. Crossover classification games will then determine the 9th-16th rankings.
Participating teams include the Netherlands, Hungary, Spain, Greece, Italy, France, Great Britain, Croatia, Portugal, Romania, Germany, Turkey, Serbia, Switzerland, Israel, and Slovakia.
In addition, Portugal will host both the European U20 Championships next year, with venues yet to be confirmed. The Women’s U20 Championships will run from July 25 to August 1, while the Men’s Junior Championships will take place from August 24 to 30.
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