| Tourney Name: | 2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship |
| Size: | 300px |
| Country: | Croatia |
| Dates: | 4–16 January |
| Num Teams: | 16 |
| Confederations: | 1 |
| Venues: | 2 |
| Cities: | 2 |
| Count: | 1 |
| Matches: | 48 |
| Top Scorer: | Nikolay Bonev (24 goals) |
| Player: | Nikolay Bonev |
| Goalkeeper: | Marko Bijač |
| Previous: | 2022 Men's European Water Polo Championship |
| Next: | 2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship |
The 2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship was the 36th edition of the tournament, held in Dubrovnik and Zagreb, Croatia from 4 to 16 January 2024.[1] Originally, Israel had been selected as host and the competition was slated to be held in Netanya, from 3 to 16 January 2024.[2] [3] [4] [5] Due to security concerns after the breakout of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, LEN announced the Championship would be hosted elsewhere.[6]
The championship was originally going to be held in Tel Aviv, Israel between 7 and 21 October 2023 (although it would still be called the 2024 European Championship).[5] [7] But on 31 March 2023, it was moved to the Israeli city of Netanya and rescheduled for 3 to 16 January 2024 at the Wingate Institute Olympic swimming pool.[2] [8] [3] This decision was made to reduce the travel costs for the participating teams and make sure there was only one stoppage during the season instead of two (due to the 2024 World Aquatics Championships being held in February 2024).
However, after the 2023 Israel–Hamas war broke out, LEN said they would monitor the situation on 12 October.[9] But on 2 November, LEN announced that the tournament would not be hosted in Israel.[6] [10]
After that announcement, Budapest, Belgrade, Berlin, Romania (city not known) and Zagreb had been reported as possibly interested in hosting the championships[11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] Croatia was announced as the host on 17 November, with Dubrovnik and Zagreb as venues. Croatia became the first country to host the men's championships twice in a row.
This was the first edition with teams sorted into two Divisions, based on the last edition and the qualifiers. The top eight teams made Division 1 and the other eight teams Division 2. Both divisions were split into two groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group of Division 1 advanced directly to the quarterfinals, while the other two teams from each group played against one of the top two sides from each group in Division 2 in a play-off round. Starting with quarterfinals onward, the regular knock-out system was used.[17] [18]
See main article: 2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship Qualifiers.
Sixteen teams competed at the main event.
All sixteen teams from 2022 qualified again.
| Host | 13 May 2022 | – | 1 | ||
| 2022 European Championship | 29 August – 10 September | Split | 8 | ||
| Qualifiers | 23–25 June 2023 | Various | 7 |
This tournament marked the first time that the championships was held in more than one venue, with Dubrovnik and Zagreb hosting games. The latter hosted the games from the quarter finals onwards.
The draw was held on 12 September 2023 in Netanya, Israel.[20]
Division 1
The pots for Division 1 were decided by the rankings of the 2022 European Championship
Division 2
The seeding for Division 2 was decided by who finished first and second in the qualifiers (excluding Israel).
See main article: 2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship squads.
The schedule was announced on 24 November 2023.[21]
All times are local (UTC+1).
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Spain qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics as the highest ranked team not yet qualified for the event. Croatia, Montenegro and Romania secured the three remaining European tickets to the 2024 World Aquatics Championships.
| width=40 | Rank[22] | width=180 | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
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| 16 |
| width=10px bgcolor=#ccffcc | Qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics | |
| Qualified for the 2024 World Aquatics Championships |
| 1 | Álvaro Granados | 21 | 47 | 45 |
| 2 | Thomas Vernoux | 20 | 37 | 54 |
| 3 | Dušan Mandić | 19 | 34 | 56 |
| 4 | Konstantinos Genidounias | 17 | 29 | 59 |
| 5 | Lars ten Broek | 16 | 30 | 53 |
| Marko Radulović | 33 | 48 | ||
| Denis Strelezkij | 47 | 34 | ||
| 8 | Mart van der Weijden | 15 | 26 | 58 |
| Vince Vigvári | 38 | 39 | ||
| Vlad Georgescu | 39 | 38 | ||
| Jake Muscat Melito | 44 | 34 |
The awards were announced on 16 January 2024.[24]
| Position | Player | |
|---|---|---|
| Best goalkeeper | Marko Bijač | |
| Most Valuable Player | Álvaro Granados |
On 7 December 2023, the Croatian Water Polo Federation announced the logo for the event.[25] Logo was inspired by Croatian interlace and slogan of the championship was: "Waves of Unity".[25]