Water Polo - Women's European Championships
Sophie Hawkins is the We are Girls in Sport water polo contributor. She plays water polo herself in Kent, UK.
27 January 2026 - The start of the women’s water polo European Championships
16 teams
Netherlands are defending champions
Monday marked the start of one of the most exciting competitions in the water polo calendar: the Women’s European Championships in Funchal, Portugal. 2026 is the first year a second group stage is in place, and like two years ago, 16 teams are all vying for the top spot. Defending champions the Netherlands are looking to retain their title, with Great Britain in Group D alongside them.
Great Britain’s four training camp and warm up games against Croatia and France were a success, with a clean sweep of victories and they will be hoping to continue this run into the first group stage.
They faced the Netherlands yesterday which although ended in a 14-4 loss had some positives: their discipline was good, and they managed to make some good breakaways from turnovers. However they need to work on their shot conversion rate, as they only scored 4/23 shots taken.
Matches against Israel and Switzerland follow today. The team have high hopes after their 11th place finish at the World Championships in Singapore last year and 8th at the 2024 Euros, aiming to climb the rankings once again.
Other teams to look out for:
Spain is the main rival of the Netherlands, who they will likely face in the second group stage. As current Olympic champions they go into this tournament as one of the favourites for gold, however a shock third place finish at the World Champs last year means the competition is wide open.
Greece were unexpected winners at the world champs last year, and will be looking for a repeat of their success
Hungary have always been one of the top teams in the world and will be looking to cause an upset this tournament. They haven’t won since 2016, but finishing second to Greece last year in Singapore will have given them the confidence they need to push for the gold.
1 February 2026 - first week of the European Championships round-up
The first week of the European Championships have been fast and frantic - and we’re already into the second group stages. There have been some upsets and low scoring games with teams putting everything on the line to try and progress to the all important knockout stages.
Great Britain unfortunately just missed out on the fifth to eighth place play-offs, after losing 14-4 to Netherlands, and 11-6 to Israel, but beating Switzerland 18-6 meaning they finished third in their group. Despite their difficult draw, they have continued to fight in the second group stages, beating Romania clinically 20-2, and hosts Portugal 15-8 putting them in the ninth place play offs versus Serbia.
It was a close match, with both Great Britain and Serbia tied for goals after the first and second quarter. The Brits managed to edge ahead in the third quarter, leading the score 7-6 going into the last quarter. The last quarter saw three goals apiece, with a final score of 9 - 10 to Great Britain. Cecily May Turner was a standout player, with four of the ten goals, with the win leaving the Brits in a solid 9th place finish. Although lower than they would have hoped for, this placing puts them in good stead to qualify for the World Cup next year.
A huge shock in the first group stages was Spain losing 9-7 to Hungary. This loss meant that they went into Sunday’s game against the Netherlands needing a win by two goals to go through to the semi-finals. The score was equal all game, and by the fourth quarter, it was a matter of time, with both teams getting power plays (after a player from the other team was sent out) almost every attack. Continued pressure from the Netherlands meant the match came to an end with a score of 13-13. Spain won the penalty shootout 3-0, but the draw gave the Dutch side the point they needed to progress, leaving the Spanish in the 5th-8th place play-off position alongside Croatia, Israel and France. Teams fighting for the top four positions are Greece, Hungary, Netherlands and Italy.
9 February 2026 - The final days of European Champions water polo
The final days of competition lived up to the expectation with some big games producing some big scores. Spain beat Croatia comfortably 23 -9 for fifth place; a disappointment for them as they were hoping to be in contention for the medals and follow up their Olympic success.
All was to play for in the Final and the Bronze medal matches with Hungary facing down the Netherlands for the gold, and Greece against Italy for 3rd spot. Greece’s strong attack proved to be too much for the Italian defence and even in the first quarter they were running away with the scoreline and finishing with a decisive 15-8 score.
The final between Hungary and the Netherlands was an action-packed match, with plenty of goals. The Dutch European Champions in 2025, and the Hungarians the Silver medallists at the World Champions in Singapore last year. Although the Hungarians had control in the first quarter, the Dutch took the second, and from there the goals were back and forth with strong attacks from both sides meaning that the game finished 10-10 and went to penalties. It was a tense shootout, and an impressive save from Dutch goalkeeper Laura Aarts meant it finished 5-4 and clinched the gold medal for the Netherlands. The team retained their European title, and proved once again they have what it takes to beat the best of the best.