Belgrade 2026: Italy secure last semi-final ticket after edging out Croatia
Italy roared into the semi-finals of the European Championships by edging a fierce and entertaining clash with Croatia on Wednesday night in Belgrade. Their win was due largely to a collection of huge saves from goalkeeper Marco del Lungo and some clinical finishes from Filippo Ferrero. It was a Herculean performance from Sandro Campagna’s players – who led for almost the entire game and were never behind – and sets up a massive semi-final clash with the hosts Serbia on Friday. Elsewhere, Greece maintained their perfect run of results by sweeping Romania aside, and a powerful fourth-quarter display by Georgia saw them beat Türkiye.
Men’s 2026 European Water Polo Championships – Belgrade
Day 12, Wednesday 21 January
Group Stage II
Group F
Türkiye 11-14 Georgia
Italy 13-10 Croatia
Romania 9-18 Greece
Group F
Türkiye 11-14 Georgia
(3-1, 3-5, 3-2, 2-6)
Experience and physical superiority prevailed as Georgia managed to sink Türkiye with a devastating finish in the fourth period, despite a truly brave performance from the underdogs.
For three periods, the Turks controlled the match, but they ran out of gas in the fourth, when the experienced Georgians netted a couple of easy goals that broke their rivals.
The Turks opened the game by forcing two penalties in 22 seconds. The first was missed, the second was buried by Yusa Han Duzenli, and even though Veliko Dadvani equalized deep into the first period, the Turks looked more composed and determined.
Duzenli added another goal from a six-on-five, then after killing a man-down, Selcuk Caner netted one from action with 0:05 on the clock to give his team a surprising but well-deserved 3-1 lead.
The Georgians came back with much more focus after the first break and needed only 1:21 to turn it around with three action goals in a row.
Duzenli kept his calm and equalised from their first man-up in the quarter, and after finally surviving a couple of possessions, Ege Kahraman restored the lead for the Turks with another fine finish in a six-on-five.
The Georgians wasted a six-on-four, but Veliko Dadvani equalised from a counter after they also denied their rivals’ extra.
The Turks then followed suit, missing an extra, but later netting an action goal. However, they failed to convert another extra that would have restored the two-goal gap.
Instead, another Georgian counter ended in a penalty, which Dusan Vasic buried to set the halftime score at 6-6.
Despite showing quality in the second period with five goals, the Georgians started the third with some sluggish play, and the Turks made the most of it by converting a man-up, then a penalty, to go 8-6 ahead.
They had another extra to extend the gap to three, but Irakli Razmadze made a crucial save.
Despite his team-mates missing back-to-back extras, a 6m blast from Vasic halted the Georgians’ scoreless run after four and a half minutes.
With two minutes to go, Veljko Tankosic sent the ball home from the 5m line to level the score again.
The Turks fought on, and although they missed their first six-on-five, Duzenli converted the next one for a 9-8 lead with four seconds remaining in the third.
The Georgians opened the fourth with an all-in approach, and it soon paid off. Saba Tkeshelashvili blasted one in from the perimeter after 14 seconds, then they killed a man-down, and Andrija Vlahovic fired another rocket from the perimeter.
After 70 seconds, they were back in front. More strong defending and aggressive offence earned them back-to-back exclusions, and with some luck, Vasic’s second attempt doubled their lead.
This rocked the Turks’ confidence. In just 24 seconds, Vasic finished off a counter after a turnover foul, and this 1:39 storm with a 0-4 run did the damage.
The underdogs could never recover from the shock. Even though they earned four extras in the following possessions, they were unable to produce the same sharp shooting that had fueled them in the first three periods.
When the Turks finally managed to score, only 1:32 remained on the clock, and Luka Chikovani replied immediately to extinguish any hopes of a comeback.
One goal apiece followed in the final 30 seconds, but the Georgians’ win was never in danger as they sealed the expected victory with a six-goal burst in the fourth period.
Türkiye’s Greek coach Konstantinos Loudis had to console several of his players, above all Yusa Duzenli, who played the game of his life and scored six goals, yet still left the pool deck in bitter disappointment.
Group F
Italy 13-10 Croatia
(3-3, 2-0, 2-4, 6-3)
Italy showed tremendous character as they withstood the pressure against the Croats and killed 16 of their rivals’ 23 man-ups, an incredible feat against such shooters.
The Croats could score only three goals in the first half, and even though they managed to penetrate the Italian defence more in the second half, they never really found their rhythm in attack.
In contrast, the Italian youngsters managed to score in crucial moments, and a successful challenge from their head coach Sandro Campagna also contributed greatly to their well-deserved success.
The game quickly turned into a man-up–man-down battle, with the defences doing a tremendous job at both ends.
In this phase, the Marco vs Marko comparison also showed an even picture, as both goalies, Italy’s Marco Del Lungo and Croatia’s Marko Bijac, the respective captains, delivered a series of great saves.
Vincenzo Dolce broke the ice from action, but Loren Fatovic finally put away the third man-up for the Croats.
More blocks and saves followed in the next minutes before Jacopo Alesiani and Rino Buric both converted a six-on-five.
A challenge earned a penalty for Italy, which Francesco Condemi buried, but Marko Zuvela was also on target as the Croats applied their favourite scheme once more, feeding the ball to the 2m line.
Bijac then made a huge save to keep out Alessandro Balzarini’s penalty, and the final two extras were also denied, leaving the score tied at 3-3 after eight minutes.
A block killed Italy’s first man-up of the second period, but Filippo Ferrero struck from action after two and a half minutes.
The Italian trap worked well in the next man-down, then the Italians missed back-to-back six-on-fives, but Mario Del Basso managed to beat Bijac from the perimeter for a 5-3 lead.
Croatia earned two more extras, but once again the ball was hunted down around 2m, and Del Lungo added his 10th save. The veteran goalie was truly exceptional, shutting out the Croats for the entire quarter.
When Edoardo Di Somma made it 6-3 early in the third, the Croats seemed to be in trouble.
Finally, Konstantin Kharkov unleashed a fierce shot on a man-up to end their 10:42-long scoring drought, and after a fine stop by Bijac, Ante Vukicevic pulled them closer with another six-on-five.
A crucial moment followed. A steal was initially waved on by the referees and the Italians scored on the ensuing counter. However, a challenge and VAR review confirmed a penalty for the Croats.
Fatovic made no mistake, and instead of 7-5, the score was suddenly 6-6 as the Croats produced a 0-3 run in just 1:40.
The Italians reacted with great composure. Lorenzo Bruni finished cleanly on their next extra, and Del Lungo made a big save on Luka Loncar’s close-range attempt in a man-down.
The following six-on-five went without a shot, but Rino Buric then blasted the equaliser from a five-on-four to make it 7-7 with 1:44 on the clock.
The remaining time in the quarter belonged again to the Marco-and-Marko show, as both goalies produced great catches in the final man-downs.
Italy faced another stern test early in the fourth, but their man-down defence remained rock-solid.
Saves and blocks followed one another before, with some luck, Tommaso Gianazza nudged the ball home after a rebound dropped in front of him.
Luka Bukic answered by converting a six-on-five from his favourite wing position, then blocked Matteo Iocchi Gratta’s shot in a man-down.
As the final period reached its midpoint, the next goal felt decisive. Filippo Ferrero made a great block on Croatia’s extra, then stepped up to convert a penalty for a 9-8 Italian lead with 4:11 to play.
Bukic hit the post on the next man-up, and another sequence with major consequences followed.
A feed to the centre and an arm hit by the defence during Italy’s man-up went unpunished, while the Croats earned an extra at the other end and converted it.
Campagna immediately challenged, and after a VAR review, a penalty was awarded to Italy, which Ferrero again buried.
Leading 10-8 with 3:11 remaining instead of being tied at 9-9 gave the Italians a huge boost.
Although Fatovic produced another fine finish from the wing, Iocchi Gratta responded straight away at the other end to keep the distance at 11-9 with 2:15 left on the clock.
Man-up followed man-up. Buric scored again, but the Italians also broke through the Croatian defence, with Balzarini firing home a pinpoint shot to make it 12-10 with 1:23 to go.
Croatia needed a quick response, but a block denied them, and the Italians ran down the clock smartly.
With 35 seconds remaining, the Croats went seven-on-six after a time-out, but Del Lungo made one final save and Ferrero swam away to score into the empty net.
The Italians erupted in celebration as their massive defensive effort sent them into the semi-finals.
Croatia, after reaching back-to-back finals at home editions, will have to settle for the classification match for fifth place. While here in Belgrade, they missed the semifinals for the third time.
Group F
Romania 9-18 Greece
(0-5, 1-4, 4-4, 4-5)
Wednesday’s final game was a must-play match for both sides, even if there was little at stake – and an ought-to-win game for Greece.
The favourites delivered with ease, as the Romanians seemed to find it hard to play with full focus and speed after they had achieved their goal two days before, to play for seventh place, and the outcome of this encounter did not alter their destination.
Accordingly, the Greeks stormed to a 0-5 lead in eight minutes and were up 1-9 by half-time, making sure they didn’t have to burn too much energy two days before their grand semi-final contest against Hungary.
They took extra care of their defence, limiting the Romanians to a lonely penalty goal in the entire first half and, despite playing with less intensity than usual, they could still score enough goals, mostly from man-ups, to achieve their basic objectives in sixteen minutes.
The second half was more balanced. The Greeks’ concentration levels dropped a little and the Romanians also stepped up a bit to avoid an embarrassing defeat.
They managed to start scoring, though it was telling they could force only five exclusions in the entire match.
In contrast, which might not praise the Romanian defence much, the Greeks took 12 shots in six-on-fives and buried them all – a 12/12 conversion is a real rarity (they had three man-ups where they failed to register an attempt).
In the end, after the first half finished 1-9, the second ended 8-9. It was another convincing win for Greece, who closed the second stage as the only unbeaten side left at the tournament.
Watch all the action live from Belgrade on Eurovision Sport
For the full schedule/results/tables from the European Championships, click here
For tickets to all the games at the men’s European Water Polo Championships in Belgrade, click here
Stay tuned to the European Aquatics Water Polo social media accounts for more news and live updates on Facebook and Instagram
Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
The post Belgrade 2026: Italy secure last semi-final ticket after edging out Croatia first appeared on European Aquatics®.