The 43rd edition of the European Men’s Water Polo Cup will take place in Budapest tomorrow evening.
The European champions and the Euro Cup (formerly the LEN Trophy) winners have been facing off in the Super Cup duels since 2003. A Euro Cup winner has clinched the Super Cup only once. Only one team has managed to win three trophies in a row. These two clubs will meet tomorrow.
Ferencvaros will host Pro Recco in the 2025 Super Cup in Budapest on Wednesday (20:00 CET), marking their first encounter in the history of the matches for this prestigious trophy.
After many years, there is no favorite
The Hungarian powerhouse broke the European champions’ dominance in the Super Cup seven years ago. Ferencvaros qualified for the 2018 Super Cup as the Euro Cup winner and defeated Olympiacos in Budapest after a penalty shootout, 11:9 (7:7).
Between 2019 and 2024, European champions were heavy favorites and recorded quite convincing wins. Tomorrow’s rivals won all the trophies in that period. Ferencvaros triumphed in 2019 and 2024, while Recco clinched the trophy in 2021, 2022, and 2023, becoming the first and, to date, only team with three Super Cups in a row.
For the first time since 2018, neither participant has the role of a favorite in the Super Cup. Therefore, water polo lovers expect an intense battle from the first whistle until the final buzzer in Wednesday’s clash of giants.
We’ll see if Recco can improve its record to 10 titles or Ferencvaros can narrow the gap between the 1st-placed and 2nd-placed teams on the all-winners’ list to three triumphs.
Super Cup records: Pro Recco 9 – 1, Ferencvaros 5 – 1
Recco has played in the Super Cup ten times, and its only Super Cup defeat dates back to 1984, when POSK Split narrowly defeated the Italians in Barcelona (12:11). After that, Recco has won nine trophies and firmly holds 1st place in the all-time winners list.
Stylianos Argyropoulos (Ferencvaros) Photo by Laszlo Balogh
Ferencvaros is in 2nd place in the list of the most successful participants in the Super Cup, with five trophies. The Budapest-based side’s lone loss came in 2017 to Szolnok, at that time the European champion, in a shootout (8:10 – 6:6). Last year, the Hungarians claimed their fifth trophy, beating Jug at home (13:9)
Excellent 2024/25 season for both giants
Both powerhouses had an excellent, almost perfect 2024/25 season.
Ferencvaros successfully defended its Champions League title, achieving 13 wins in 14 matches. Their only loss of the season, both in the Champions League and across all competitions, came in the Quarter Final Stage against Barceloneta after a shootout. Moreover, the Hungarian giant had an impressive 88-2 record in the past two seasons. Ferencvaros has suffered only one defeat in regular time since the start of the 2023/24 season. Olympiacos beat them 10:8 in April 2024. Less than two months later, Ferencvaros won its 2nd Champions League, defeating Pro Recco in the final in Malta (12:11).
After the defeat to the Hungarians in Malta, Pro Recco had to make a restart due to a well-known financial trouble. Still, it recovered and played excellently in the 2024/25 season, winning trophies in all competitions it played. The Italians closed the season, clinching their first Euro Cup and winning the “double crown” in Italy. Recco experienced three losses in the past season – two in the Italian League and one on the European stage. That happened just in Budapest, where BVSC defeated them in the Euro Cup Qualifications.
Last season, Recco played 54 games and suffered three losses, while one match ended in a draw (a penalty shootout rule after ties wasn’t implemented in the regular season of the Italian League last season).
American overture for Super Cup
During the summer, Ferencvaros made slight changes to its roster but retained all its superstars. On the contrary, Pro Recco signed eight new players, aiming to return to the Champions League throne.
Alvaro Granados, Recco’s new super star Photo by S. Mena Funcia/Pro Recco/Facebook
Since the 2024 Champions League final, Ferencvaros and Recco haven’t faced off in official encounters. However, the two teams already met in their joint pre-season tour in the USA a month ago. Ferencvaros defeated Recco after a penalty shootout victory in New York – 16:14 (13:13). The Italians avenged that defeat with a narrow 16:15 win in Princeton, scoring a last-gasp goal.
All the facts mentioned confirm that a truly special encounter in Budapest is in sight.
There is no doubt that both teams have the same ambitions – to win the trophies in all competitions this season. That goal will become unattainable for one of the giants already tomorrow evening.
All winners
9 trophies: Pro Recco (2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023).
5 trophies: Ferencvaros (1978, 1980, 2018, 2019, 2024)
3 trophies: Mladost (1976, 1990, 1996) and CSK VMF Moscow (1977, 1981, 1983),
2 trophies: Spandau 04 (1986, 1987), Pescara (1988, 1993), Partizan (1991, 2011), Catalunya (1992, 1995) and Jug (2006, 2016);
1 trophy: OSC Budapest (1979), Barcelona (1982), POSK (1984), Dynamo Moscow (1985), Ujpest (1994), Olympiacos (2002), Honved (2004), Posillipo (2005), Primorac (2009), Crvena Zvezda (2013), Barcloneta (2014) and Szolnok (2017).
The Super Cup was inaugurated in 1976, but it wasn’t held in 1989, between 1997 and 2001, and in 2020.
Until 2002, the European champions and the winners of the Cup Winners’ Cup played for the Super Cup. Since 2003, when the Cup Winners’ Cup was discontinued, the Euro Cup winners have been contesting for the trophy.
