| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Serbia |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
The 2026 Women's European Water Polo Championship will be the 21st running of the tournament. It will be held in Belgrade, Serbia. [1]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Serbia |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
The 2026 Women's European Water Polo Championship will be the 21st running of the tournament. It will be held in Belgrade, Serbia. [1]
16 teams will be able to compete at the main event. They are broken up as follows:
| Event | Date | Location | Quotas | Nation(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host | 13 May 2022 | – | 1 | Serbia |
| 2024 European Championship | 29 August – 10 September |  Eindhoven | 8 |  Croatia  France  Great Britain  Greece  Hungary  Italy Netherlands  Spain |
| Qualifiers | 2025 | Various | 7 |
Similar to 2016, the Štark Arena will be used for the entire competition. [2]
| Belgrade | ||
|---|---|---|
| Štark Arena | ||
| Capacity: 18,386 | ||
 | ||
Aleksandar Šapić is a Serbian politician and former professional water polo player who served as mayor of Belgrade from 20 June 2022 to 30 October 2023. A member and current vice-president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Šapić had previously served as president of the New Belgrade municipality from 2012 to 2022.
The 2009 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXV Summer Universiade, was celebrated in Belgrade, Serbia from July 1 to 12, 2009. The event has also been organised by a range of co-host cities mostly in Vojvodina, close to Belgrade. It was the largest sporting event ever to be organised by the city. At this Universiade the biggest star was the Russian rhythmic gymnast Evgeniya Kanaeva, who won 5 gold medals. Russia was the leading nation in the medal table, with the most gold medals (27) and most medals (76).
The FINA Water Polo World League was an international water polo league organized by FINA, which played annually, typically from winter through to June. League play featured continental tournaments for men and women, from which the top teams emerged to play in the championship tournament where the league champion team is crowned.
Sport in Serbia includes football, basketball, handball, tennis, volleyball, and water polo. Professional sports in Serbia are organized by sporting federations and leagues. Serbian professional sports includes multi-sport clubs, biggest and most successful of which are Crvena Zvezda, Partizan, Radnički and Beograd in Belgrade, Vojvodina in Novi Sad, Radnički in Kragujevac, Spartak in Subotica. Serbia had successes in basketball, winning the Olympic silver medal and Nikola Jokic winning 2 NBA MVPs, as well as the 2023 NBA Championship and Finals MVP, Novak Djokovic winning a record setting 24th Grand Slam, and in handball, volleyball and water polo as well.
The Serbia men's national water polo team represents Serbia in international water polo competitions and is controlled by the Water Polo Association of Serbia. They have won gold medals in the Olympics, World and European Championships, World Cup, FINA World League, Mediterranean Games and Universiade, making them one of the most successful men's water polo teams in the world.
The 2002 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup was the twelfth edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the International Swimming Federation (FINA). The event took place in the Tašmajdan Swimming Pool in Belgrade, Yugoslavia from August 20 to August 25, 2002. Participating teams were the eight best teams from the last World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan (2001).
The Greece men's national water polo team represents Greece in international men's water polo competitions and it is organized and run by the Hellenic Swimming Federation.
Sport in Yugoslavia had a significant role in its culture and society. Team sports such as football, basketball, handball, volleyball and water polo had the biggest popularity. Of individual sports the most popular were tennis, athletics, alpine skiing, swimming, table tennis, ski jumping and chess. Yugoslavia made its debut at the Summer Olympics in 1920. Until its break up in 1992, it competed in 16 Summer and 14 Winter Olympic games and won a total of 87 medals in various summer and winter sports. Yugoslavia hosted its first and the only Winter Olympic games in 1984 in Sarajevo when Jure Franko won country's first Winter Olympic medal, silver in alpine skiing.
The European Universities Games (EUG) is an international multi-sport event, organized every two years for university athletes by the European University Sports Association (EUSA). The first edition was held in 2012 in Cordoba, Spain. On April 9, 2016 the EUSA General Assembly in Wrocław, Poland announced Belgrade, Serbia to host the 2020 Edition.
The 2016 Men's European Water Polo Championship was held in Belgrade, Serbia.
Montenegro competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's third consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics since it gained independence from Serbia in 2006.
The 2018 Men's European Water Polo Championship was held in Barcelona, Spain from 16 to 28 July 2018.
The 2020 Men's European Water Polo Championship was the 34th edition of the major European water polo tournament for national teams. It was held at the Danube Arena in Budapest, Hungary, from 14 to 26 January 2020.
France is the host nation of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. French athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, alongside Australia, Great Britain, Greece, and Switzerland.
VK Novi Beograd is a professional water polo club based in New Belgrade, Serbia. As of 2023–24 season, the club competes in the Serbian League, Regional League A1 and LEN Champions League.
The 2022 Men's European Water Polo Championship was the 35th running of the tournament. It was held in the Spaladium Arena in Split, Croatia from 29 August to 10 September 2022.
The 2022 Women's European Water Polo Championship was the 19th running of the tournament. It was held in the Spaladium Arena in Split, Croatia from 27 August to 10 September 2022.
The 2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship is the 36th edition of this tournament. It is held in Dubrovnik and Zagreb, Croatia from 4 to 16 January 2024. Originally, Israel had been selected as host and the competition was slated to be held in Netanya, from 3 to 16 January 2024. Due to security concerns after the breakout of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, LEN announced the Championship would be hosted elsewhere.
The 2024 Women's European Water Polo Championship is the 20th edition of the tournament. It is held in Eindhoven, Netherlands from 5 to 13 January 2024. It was scheduled to be held in Netanya, Israel, But the competition was taken away from Israel for security reasons after the 2023 Israel–Hamas war commenced. This edition will be the first one to be played by 16 teams.
The 2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship will be the 37th running of the tournament. It will be held in Belgrade, Serbia.
