Funchal 2026: European Water Polo Championships Day 11 preview – gold and bronze medal matches
Match previews, Day 11 – Thursday 5 February
(Local times shown)
Gold medal match
19:15 Hungary v Netherlands
• Ten years after the two giants clashed in the European Championships final in Belgrade, they meet again. The Netherlands are looking for retaining their title while Hungary are gunning for their first gold since 2016.
• Hungary have played six classic finals (in the first two editions, in 1985 and 1987, when the Dutch and the Magyars finished 1-2, the format was a round robin), the Netherlands were part of the gold medal matches eight times. Interestingly, the win-loss shows the same picture – Hungary are 3-3, while the Netherlands are 4-4 in European Championships finals.
• Hungary’s finals – won in 1991 (v NED), 2001 (v ITA), 2016 (v NED). Lost in 1989 (v NED), 1995 (v ITA), 2003 (v ITA).
• The Netherlands’ finals – won in 1989 (v HUN), 1993 (v RUS), 2018 (v GRE), 2024 (v ESP). Lost in 1991 (v HUN), 1999 (v ITA), 2014 (v ESP), 2016 (v HUN).
• The two sides have contested three gold medal matches, Hungary lead 2-1. They lost 11-14 in 1989, won 11-8 in 1991 and won 9-7 in 2016.
• Ten years ago, in Belgrade they also met twice during the tournament. The Dutch won 14-10 in the group stage, but Hungary avenged that defeat 9-7 in the final. Here, the Dutch prevailed 5-4 in their first encounter just five days ago.
• Both sides shall boost their respective medal tallies – the Hungarians will keep their tiny lead in the grand total as they have amassed 14 medals (3-5-6) and the Dutch have 13 (6-4-3), and Thursday’s final will decide if the gap between the gold medals (3-6) will be narrowing or growing.
• Spain have managed to defend their title in 2020-22 – now the Dutch may achieve the same. In the past, title defences came in form of three-peats, by the Netherlands (1985-87-89), Italy (1995-1997-1999) and Russia (2006-2008-2010).
• Hungary are on a great run, making their third major final in succession, after last year’s World Cup and World Championships (won silver in both, losing to Greece). In the past, they achieved that treble of finals once, in 2001-2002 (gold at the 2001 Europeans, silver at the 2001 Worlds, gold at the 2002 World Cup). Interestingly, 25 years ago, a newly appointed head coach Tamas Farago led the team to the final in his first three majors in charge, now Sandor Cseh did the same.
• The Netherlands’ mighty run at the Europeans is on – since 2014, this is the seventh straight edition where they made the top four and the fifth time they reached the final (2014, 2016, 2022, 2024, 2026).
• Game 21 is coming between the two sides at the European Championships. Including their 5-4 win on Day 6, the Dutch now lead 10-9 in the head-to-head besides one draw.
Here is the breakdown (NED v HUN):
1985: 19-4, 1987: 11-8, 1989: 14-11 (final), 1991: 8-11 (final), 1993: 9-8 (semi-final), 1995: 5-6 (semi-final), 2001: 12-12, 2003: 9-10, 2006: 6-11, 2008: 7-9 (quarter-final), 2010: 8-9, 2012: 8-9, 2014: 12-11, 2016: 14-10, 7-9 (final), 2018: 8-7 (semi-final), 2020: 8-10 (bronze), 2022: 13-4, 2024: 14-11, 2026: 5-4.
• At other majors, the Dutch beat the Magyars 10-8 in Paris 2024 in a crucial group-stage match. Earlier, Hungary managed to edge out the Netherlands at the Worlds in the quarters in 2024 (8-8, pen: 5-4) and in the semis in 2022 (13-12), and they also beat them 14-11 at the Olympic quarters in 2021.
• With the win in Paris and a prep game last summer (15-12), the Dutch beat the Hungarians here 5-4 for the third time in a row.
Bronze medal final
17:15 Greece v Italy
• Just like the final, it’s also an instant rematch of the Group Stage II encounter, where the Greeks won 15-10. Interestingly, 10 days ago the same two nations clashed in the same match at the men’s European Championships in Belgrade, where Greece took the bronze with a 12-5 blast (landing a historical first-ever medal for the men’s team).
• The two sides also clashed for the bronze two years ago in Eindhoven, where Greece won 7-6.
• Greece have had three shots at the bronze in the past, and after losing twice, in 1995 (v NED) and 2001 (v RUS), they finally won in 2024 (see above).
• Italy haven’t been too lucky in their bronze medal matches to date, contesting nine but winning only 3. They won in 1991 (v FRA), 2016 (v ESP) and 2022 (v NED) – lost in 1989 (v FRA), 1993 (v HUN), 2008 (v HUN), 2010 (v NED), 2014 (v HUN), 2024 (v GRE).
• Greece added that 2024 bronze to the four silvers they had claimed in the past – this one can be their sixth medal in nine editions since 2010.
• As for Italy, they are eying their 10th medal, as now they stand with five golds, two silvers and two bronzes. Though the bulk of those great results came between 1995 and 2012 (all gold and silver), they had one bronze in 1991 and two more from the last six championships.
• Also, just like for the finalists, game No 21 is commencing on Thursday. Their head-to-head at the Europeans stands 7-13, favouring the Italians, though while Italy stormed to 0-10 in the early stages, the Greeks are 7-3 up in their next 10 matches, including winning their last three matches.
1989: 5-9, 1991: 4-11, 1993: 4-6, 1995: 4-8 (semi-final), 1999: 5-7, 2001: 3-5, 1-7 (semi-final), 2003: 5-7, 2006: 7-8, 2008: 9-10, 2010: 7-5, 10-5 (semi-final), 2012: 10-9, 2014: 7-7, p: 2-4 (quarter-final), 2016: 4-10 (quarter-final), 2018: 7-6, 2020: 5-7 (5th place), 2022: 12-9 (semi-final), 2024: 7-6 (bronze), 2026: 15-10.
• Besides their legendary Olympic final in Athens 2004, when Italy broke the hosts’ hearts with a fantastic extra-time win (10-9), in recent years they also had a couple of high-stake clashes. Greece won their World Championships quarter-final 14-12 in Doha 2024, and they also downed the Italians 10-4 for the bronze at the 2021 Olympics. Italy’s last big win in a knockout-match dates back to 2015 when they defeated the Greeks 9-6 in the World Championships’ quarter-finals.
• Their last two clashes at major events were split, Italy won their Olympic group-stage match 12-8 in Paris 2024, while Greece beat their arch-rivals 19-14 in the World Cup quarters last April in Chengdu.
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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
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