Qualifications for European U15 Championship: Croatia and Russia make no mistake

The qualifications for the LEN Men’s European U15 Championship have been held in four countries this weekend.

Eight teams (the top two from each group) qualified for the European Championship in Loule, Portugal (July 4th – 11th): Croatia, Germany, Russia, Poland, Malta, France, Turkey, and Romania.

Besides host Portugal, the first seven teams from the previous European U15 championship, held in Burgas in 2019, are directly qualified for the tournament in Loule: titleholder Hungary, Montenegro (silver in 2019), Italy (bronze), Greece (4th place), Serbia (5th place), Georgia (6th place) and Spain (7th place).

A total of 17 countries played in the qualifications. Two teams dominated – Croatia and Russia. Both teams have perfect records in their respective groups.

Men’s European U15 Championship 2021, Qualifications

Group A (Sibenik, Croatia)

Croatia was the host of Group A, played in Sibenik. The young Croats easily beat all three rivals – Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Germany to secure 1st place. Besides Croatia, Germany earned a ticket for Portugal. The Germans and the Dutch finished the tournament with four points each. Since their encounter in the first round was ended in an 8:8 draw, a goal difference decided the rankings. Germany was significantly better in that criteria, thanks to a big victory over Lithuania.

Round 1
Lithuania – Croatia 5:30 (2:8, 0:8, 1:6, 2:8)
Germany – Netherlands 8:8 (1:2, 2:2, 3:2, 2:2)

Round 2
Croatia – Netherlands 17:6 (6:1, 7:2, 2:2, 2:1)
Germany – Lithuania 25:5 (5:1, 5:2, 7:1, 8:1)

Round 3
Croatia- Germany 15:9 (4:2, 4:4, 4:0, 3:3)
Netherlands – Lithuania 17:10 (5:1, 6:2, 3:4, 3:3)

1 Croatia 3 – 9
2 Germany 3 – 4 (+14)
3 Netherlands 3 – 4 (-4)
4 Lithuania 3 – 0

Group B (Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, Poland)

Russia cruised to the 1st place in Group B in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski (Poland). The Russians recorded the biggest win in the qualifications. They opened the tournament by knocking down Latvia – 40:0! After that victory, they beat Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus. Poland also travels to Portugal. The hosts earned a point in the last match of the group against Ukraine (10:10), and that was enough for them to keep 2nd place in the group.

Round 1
Ukraine – Belarus 13:13 (5:1, 1:3, 3:1, 4:8)
Russia – Latvia 40:0 (9:0, 10:0, 13:0, 8:0)

Round 2
Ukraine – Latvia 35:3 (8:0, 5:1, 8:1, 14:1)
Poland – Russia 4:28 (2:7, 2:4, 0:7, 0:10)

Round 3
Russia – Belarus 20:2 (4:1, 6:0, 5:0, 5:1)
Poland – Latvia 26:4 (7:2, 5:1, 6:0, 8:1)

Round 4
Russia – Ukraine 17:4 (5:1, 4:1, 5:2, 3:0)
Poland – Belarus 13:12 (2:2, 3:2, 5:4, 3:4)

Round 5
Latvia – Belarus 2:25 (0:5, 1:7, 0:3, 1:10)
Poland – Ukraine 10:10 (4:4, 1:1, 4:4, 1:1)

1 Russia 4 – 12
2 Poland 4 – 7
3 Ukraine 4 – 5
4 Belarus 4 – 4
5 Latvia 4– 0

Group  C (Gzira, Malta)

Only three teams took part in the tournament of Group C. Host Malta and France qualified for the European Championships. Both teams beat Slovenia. They shared the points in the last round (10:10), but Malta finished 1st because of a better goal difference. One goal decided. Malta beat Slovenia 17:4, while France recorded a 17:5 victory over Slovenia.

Round 1
Malta – Slovenia 17:4 (2:1, 4:0, 4:1, 7:2)

Round 2
Slovenia – France 5:17 (0:4, 2:3, 1:5, 2:5)

Round 3
Malta – France 10:10 (3:3, 4:3, 3:3, 0:1)

1 Malta 2 – 4 (+13)
2 France 2 – 4 (+12)
3 Slovenia 2 –0

Group D (Prague, Czech Republic)

A goal difference was crucial in the battle for the top position in Prague. Turkey and Romania finished the tournament with 10 points each. Turkey had a +58 goal difference, and Romania’s was +51. The Czech Republic won 3rd place, Moldova 4th, while Switzerland didn’t win a single point. The Czech Republic is the only of the four hosts which didn’t advance to the European Championship.

Round 1
Moldova – Romania 6:21 (1:6, 2:6, 3:4, 0:5)
Czech Republic – Switzerland 10:4 (2:2, 2:1, 4:1, 2:0)

Round 2
Romania – Switzerland 25:2 (7:0, 6:0, 7:1, 5:1)
Turkey – Moldova 22:6 (4:1, 7:2, 5:0, 6:3)

Round 3
Czech Republic – Moldova 9:6 (1:1, 2:2, 4:2, 2:1)
Romania – Turkey 13:13 (3:3, 5:2, 1:5, 4:3)

Round 4
Czech Republic – Romania 4:17 (0:2, 0:4, 3:6, 1:5)
Turkey – Switzerland 34:4 (8:0, 10:1, 7:2, 9:1)

Round 5
Switzerland – Moldova 6:11 (2:4, 2:2, 2:3, 0:2)
Czech Republic – Turkey 8:20 (2:4, 2:6, 2:5, 2:5)

1 Turkey 4 – 10 (+58)
2 Romania 4 – 10 (+51)
3 Czech Republic 4 – 6
4 Moldova 4 – 3
5 Switzerland 4 – 0