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2025–26 European Aquatics Challenger Cup

For the equivalent women's tournament, see 2025–26 European Aquatics Women's Challenger Cup.
European Aquatics Challenger Cup
2025–26
Tournament information
SportWater polo
DateQualification Round I:
28–30 November 2025
Qualification Round II:
13–15 February 2026
Final classification:
13–15 February 2026
Final Eight:
12–15 March 2026
Tournament
format(s)
Round Robin and Knockout stage
TeamsQualification round I: 14 [a]
Qualification round II: 8+4
Final classification: 6
Final Eight: 8
Total: 14+0 to 4 (from 7,8,9 countries)
WebsiteOfficial website

The 2025–26 European Aquatics Challenger Cup is the 4th edition of the water polo competition organised by European Aquatics.

Starting this season, it acts as the fourth tier, due to the introduction of the European Aquatics Conference Cup.

The winners of the European Aquatics Challenger Cup automatically qualify for next season's Conference Cup (if they choose to enter).

GZC Donk are the defending champions but will not be defending their title after not entering this season.

Rankings

The results were based on the results of the past four seasons.[1]

  • Associations 13 and below can have six teams qualify.

Apart from the distribution based on the rankings, countries could have additional teams participating in the Challenger Cup, as noted below:

  • (CC) – Additional teams dropping down from the Conference Cup

Ranking facts

Teams

Six teams from countries ranked 13 and below are permitted to enter.

Everyone who enters starts in the qualification round I.

Unlike last season, in the event that a club decides not to enter, the next best ranked team is not allowed to take their place.[4]

Qualified teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:

  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc: League positions of the previous season
  • CC: Transferred from the Conference Cup
    • QR: Transferred from the Conference Cup qualification round I
Entry round Teams
Qualification round II Turkey Galatasaray SK (CC QR) Portugal Vitória SC (CC QR) Lithuania EVK Zaibas (CC QR) Bosnia and Herzegovina VK Banja Luka (CC QR)
Qualification round I Turkey Enka Sport Club (2nd) Turkey Heybeliada ASC (3rd) Portugal Clube Naval Povoense (5th) Switzerland Carouge Natation (2nd)
Slovenia AVK Branik Maribor (1st) Slovenia VK Ljubljana Slovan (2nd) United Kingdom West London Penguin (1st) United Kingdom Welsh Wanderers (3rd)
Belgium Royal Dauphins Mouscronnois (1st) Israel Hapoel Palram Zvulun (1st) Cyprus APOEL Nicosia (1st) Malta San Giljan ASC (1st)
Malta Sliema ASC (2nd) Finland Cetus Espoo (1st)

Name changes

The following teams' names were changed during the season.

Rounds and draw dates

Schedule

Phase Draw date Round date[5]
Qualification round I 11 August 2025 28–30 November 2025
Qualification round II 8 December 2025 13–15 February 2026
Final classification
Final Eight 16 February 2026 12–15 March 2026

Qualification round I

Main article: 2025–26 European Aquatics Challenger Cup qualification round I

The top two qualify for the next round. The draw was on 11 August 2025 in Zagreb, Croatia.[6][7] The seeding is based on the club rankings.[8]

Group A

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SLI GIL HAP APO
1 Malta Sliema ASC (H) 3 3 0 0 0 65 35 +30 9 Qualification round II — — 18–13 28–9
2 Malta San Giljan ASC 3 2 0 0 1 53 39 +14 6 13–19 — — —
3 Israel Hapoel Palram Zvulun 3 1 0 0 2 40 44 −4 3 — 10–14 — 17–12
4 Cyprus APOEL Nicosia 3 0 0 0 3 31 71 −40 0 — — 10–26 —
Source: European Aquatics Challenger Cup
(H) Host

Group B

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MAR CAR SLO NAV
1 Slovenia AVK Branik Maribor (H) 3 3 0 0 0 58 31 +27 9 Qualification round II — 20–13 17–12 21–6
2 Switzerland Carouge Natation 3 2 0 0 1 44 40 +4 6 — — — —
3 Slovenia VK Ljubljana Slovan 3 1 0 0 2 38 42 −4 3 — 9–13 — 17–12
4 Portugal Club Naval Povoense 3 0 0 0 3 29 56 −27 0 — 11–18 — —
Source: European Aquatics Challenger Cup
(H) Host

Group C

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ENKA HEY WEL
1 Turkey Enka Sport Club (H) 2 2 0 0 0 52 17 +35 6 Qualification round II — 21–7 31–10
2 Turkey Heybeliada ASC 2 1 0 0 1 29 33 −4 3 — — —
3 United Kingdom Welsh Wanderers 2 0 0 0 2 22 53 −31 0 — 12–22 —
Source: European Aquatics Challenger Cup
(H) Host

Group D

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MOU CET PEN
1 Belgium RD Mouscronnois (H) 2 2 0 0 0 39 26 +13 6 Qualification round II — 15–12 24–14
2 Finland Cetus Espoo 2 1 0 0 1 24 24 0 3 — — 12–9
3 United Kingdom West London Penguin 2 0 0 0 2 23 36 −13 0 — — —
Source: European Aquatics Challenger Cup
(H) Host

Qualification round II

The top two teams in each group qualify will advance to the next round. The draw was on 8 December 2025 in Zagreb, Croatia.[9]

Group A

13–15 February 2026, Elektrėnai, Lithuania.

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SLI ZAI CET
1 Malta Sliema ASC 2 2 0 0 0 35 24 +11 6 Final Eight — — 23–14
2 Lithuania EVK Zaibas (H) 2 1 0 0 1 31 23 +8 3 10–12 — 21–11
3 Finland Cetus Espoo 2 0 0 0 2 25 44 −19 0 — — —
Source: European Aquatics Challenger Cup
(H) Host

Group B

13–15 February 2026, Maribor, Slovenia.

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification GIL MAR BAN
1 Malta San Giljan ASC 2 2 0 0 0 48 21 +27 6 Final Eight — — —
2 Slovenia AVK Branik Maribor (H) 2 1 0 0 1 53 32 +21 3 19–21 — 34–11
3 Bosnia and Herzegovina VK Banja Luka 2 0 0 0 2 13 61 −48 0 2–27 — —
Source: European Aquatics Challenger Cup
(H) Host

Group C

13–15 February 2026, Istanbul, Turkey.

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ENK GAL CAR
1 Turkey Enka Sport Club 2 2 0 0 0 35 21 +14 6 Final Eight — — 20–7
2 Turkey Galatasaray SK (H) 2 1 0 0 1 42 19 +23 3 14–15 — 28–4
3 Switzerland Carouge Natation 2 0 0 0 2 11 48 −37 0 — — —
Source: European Aquatics Challenger Cup
(H) Host

Group D

13–15 February 2026, Maribor, Slovenia.

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification VIT HEY MOU
1 Portugal Vitória SC 2 2 0 0 0 29 26 +3 6 Final Eight — — 18–17
2 Turkey Heybeliada ASC 2 0 1 0 1 25 27 −2 2 9–11 — —
3 Belgium RD Mouscronnois 2 0 0 1 1 33 34 −1 1 — 20–21[b] —
Source: European Aquatics Challenger Cup

Final classification 13–16th place

13–15 February 2026, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts HAP SLO PEN NAV APO WEL
13 Israel Hapoel Palram Zvulun 5 5 0 0 0 103 46 +57 15 — — — — 21–9 —
14 Slovenia VK Ljubljana Slovan (H) 5 4 0 0 1 87 65 +22 12 13–17 — 19–14 — 16–11 21–13
17 United Kingdom West London Penguin 5 2 0 0 3 54 71 −17 6 6–20 — — — 8–9 10–9
18 Portugal Club Naval Povoense 5 2 0 0 3 61 85 −24 6 8–25 10–18 14–16 — 13–11 16–15
15 Cyprus APOEL Nicosia 5 1 0 1 3 51 69 −18 4 — — — — — —
16 United Kingdom Welsh Wanderers 5 0 1 0 4 58 78 −20 2 10–20 — — — 21–20[c] —
Source: European Aquatics Challenger Cup
(H) Host

Final Eight

The draw was on 16 February 2026 in Zagreb, Croatia.[10]

Group A

12–15 March 2026

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MAR ENK VIT ZAI
1 Slovenia AVK Branik Maribor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Semi-finals — – – –
2 Turkey Enka Sport Club 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – — – –
3 Portugal Vitória SC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – – — –
4 Lithuania EVK Zaibas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – – – —
First match(es) will be played: 12 March 2026. Source: European Aquatics Challenger Cup

Group B

12–15 March 2026

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification GAL HEY SLI GIL
1 Turkey Galatasaray SK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Semi-finals — – – –
2 Turkey Heybeliada ASC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – — – –
3 Malta Sliema ASC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – – — –
4 Malta San Giljan ASC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – – – —
First match(es) will be played: 12 March 2026. Source: European Aquatics Challenger Cup

Notes

  1. ^ From 10 countries
  2. ^ Match ended 16–16. Heybeliada ASC won 4–5 on penalties.
  3. ^ Match ended 11–11. Welsh Wanderers won 10–9 on penalties.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Water Polo Rankings - European Aquatics®". August 3, 2025.
  2. ^ "Men Clubs Country Ranking - European Aquatics®". August 3, 2025.
  3. ^ "Rankings PDF" (PDF).
  4. ^ "EUROPEAN AQUATICS WATER POLO CLUB COMPETITIONS" (PDF). 12 May 2025.
  5. ^ "European Aquatics Calendar - European Aquatics®". September 28, 2023.
  6. ^ "2025/26 Conference Cup and Challenger Cup water polo qualification groups determined - European Aquatics®". August 11, 2025.
  7. ^ Curcic, Ivan (August 11, 2025). "Conference Cup draw: Two former European champions in same qualification group".
  8. ^ "Women Club Ranking - European Aquatics®". August 3, 2025.
  9. ^ "Challenger Cup Water Polo: Route to men's and women's finals revealed after Qualification Round II draw | European Aquatics®". europeanaquatics.org. 8 December 2025. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  10. ^ "Challenger Cup Men: Final Eight promises several thrilling match-ups after Monday's draw | European Aquatics®". europeanaquatics.org. 16 February 2026. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  • [ Official statistics of the tournament]
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