Funchal 2026: European Water Polo Championships Day 10 preview – 5th-8th finals
Match previews, Day 10 – Wednesday 4 February
(Local times shown)
5th/6th Final
19:15 Croatia v Spain
• Interestingly, the recent men’s European Championships also saw these two nations play for the 5th place in Belgrade. However, the men’s teams contested that clash after disappointing campaigns – here, the Croats will be happy to play this game, as it’s a historic achievement already (see below).
• Croatia have already secured their best-ever finish at the Europeans, anything more than the 6th place would be a gift, and indeed a miracle, as Olympic champions Spain are heavily favoured in this match. The Croats finished 8th in the previous two editions, now they are already the top side behind the Big Five.
• For Spain, finishing 5th would still be an obvious disappointment. The last time they failed to make the semis was 2012 at the Europeans – since then, they had six straight top four finishes. Indeed, since 2012, at 19 editions of the three big majors (Olympics, Worlds, Europeans), they missed the top four on only four occasions (2012 Europeans, 2016 Olympics, 2015 and 2022 Worlds) and had 14 podium finishes.
• Spain have handed three huge defeats to the Croats in the three matches they previously contested at the Europeans: 2016: 29-3, 2018: 25-5, 2024: 17-6.
7th/8th Final
17:15 Israel v France
• By making the top eight, Israel have already achieved their second-best finish at a European Championships, at least. After losing to Croatia, they are now looking for a win to finish 7th. Their top result was 6th place in 2022, they came 9th in 2020 and 2024, and 10th in 2018.
• France are looking for maintaining the position they achieved at five editions in a row, a 7th place finish from 2014 till 2022. Two years ago they were 6th, now, facing Spain in the crossovers, they had little chance to have a shot to repeat that.
• Israel and France have played four games together at European Championships, with France leading 3-1 in the head-to-head – 2018: 5-9, 2020: 6-10, 2022: 8-7, 2024: 8-16.
• They have also clashed in other tournaments, where their head-to-head also stands at 3-1 for France. European qualifiers, 2015: 4-16; 2022: 13-10. Olympic qualifiers, 2021: 4-11, World Championships, 2023: 7-11.
For the full schedule, results and tables from the women’s European Water Polo Championships in Funchal, click here
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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
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