Spain beat Serbia 14:10 in the clash of reigning champions in the last match of the group stage at the 2026 Trebinje Cup. With this victory, Spain retained 2nd place in Group A. Hungary defeated France 20:7 to secure first place in Group B and advance to the final, where it will face Italy, which claimed the top spot in Group A with two victories on Saturday.
The matches for the final standings will take place on Monday. Spain and Greece will play in the 3rd-place game, while Serbia and France will seek their first win at the tournament in the 5th-place match.
The start of the third round’s derby between Serbia and Spain in Group A was promising for the Olympic champions, who played better than against Italy on Saturday. The Serbs took an early lead (1:0 and 2:1). However, midway through the first quarter, Álvaro Granados converted two penalty shots, giving Spain a 3:2 lead. The Spaniards maintained that advantage until the end of the first quarter. They increased their lead to four goals at 7:3 in the 14th minute. The Serbs halved their deficit three times (5:7, 6:8, 7:9). But the Spaniards re-established a four-goal lead with two quick goals, making it 11:7 in the 18th minute. Following that, there was a lengthy goalless period until Strahinja Rasovic made it 8:11 with just 68 seconds remaining in the third period.
The Spaniards didn’t let Serbia come back and controlled the game in the fourth quarter. The key to their 14:10 victory was good shot conversions after personal fouls by Serbia’s players. The World and European champions scored five power-play goals and five from penalty shots. Serbia scored four 6-on-5 goals and converted its only penalty shot.
Alberto Munarriz scored four goals for Spain, and he was followed by Alavro Granados and Bernat Sanahuja, who netted three apiece. Serbia’s best scorers were Dusan Mandic and Nikola Dedovic with four and three goals respectively.
France, which narrowly lost to Greece the previous day (16:17), managed to keep pace with Hungary only for a quarter and a half of the last match in Group B. The French team led only once (2:1 in the 6th minute). Hungary responded with a 3:0 run, taking a 4:2 lead. Canovas broke the Hungarians’ series with a man-up goal (3:4). Hungary soon went on another 3:0 run, building a 7:3 lead early in the second quarter. Strong defense allowed the Hungarians to score several goals on counterattacks. They went into the final quarter with a 12:6 lead and continued to widen the gap to 13 goals.
Zsombor Vismeg contributed five goals to Hungary’s 20:7 victory, while Vince Vigvari added four. Alexandre Bouet scored three goals for France.
Visit Total Waterpolo Arena for live scores and the statistics of the 2026 Trebinje Cup.
Trebinje Cup 2026, Round 3
Group A: Serbia – Spain 10:14 (2:3, 4:6, 2:2, 2:3)
Standings: 1. Italy 5, 2. Spain 4, 3. Serbia 0.
Group B: France – Hungary 7:20 (2:2, 1:4, 3:6, 1:8)
Standings: 1. Hungary 6, 2. Greece 3, 3. France 0.
Monday, January 5
5th-place game: – France (16:00)
3rd-place game: – Greece (18:15)
Final: Italy – Hungary (20:30)
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