Serbia giant Dusan Mandic was in great form against the Netherlands, scoring six in regular time, plus one in the shootout. Photo: Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
Dusan Mandic, Milan Glusac and VAR saved hosts Serbia from an embarrassing defeat to the Netherlands as the opening day of the European Championships ended with some explosive drama inside the Belgrade Arena on Saturday night. The Dutch stunned the Serbs by leading 7-4 midway through the second quarter and 10-9 heading into the final eight minutes. Mandic then hammered in his fifth and sixth of the game to haul the hosts ahead 12-13 with 1:42 remaining, and after Benjamin Hessels equalised for the Netherlands, Kas Te Riele looked to have won it for the Dutch as his delicate lob sailed into the back of the net, but the buzzer had sounded and VAR ruled it out. Serbia goalkeeper Milan Glusac was then the hero in the shootout, saving Bilal Gbadamassi’s shot to earn his team the two points. Earlier, Spain, Hungary and Montenegro avoided any similar problems, as they all surged to dominant victories.
Men’s 2026 European Water Polo Championships – Belgrade
Day 1, Saturday 10 January
Group A
France 7-15 Hungary
Malta 12-21 Montenegro
Group C
Israel 3-28 Spain
Netherlands 13-13 (3-5P) Serbia
Spain’s Alberto Munarriz was in fine form against Israel, firing in five goals. Photo: Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
Group C
Israel 3-28 Spain
(0-9, 3-6, 0-6, 0-7)
The first eight minutes offered a powerful, if not brutal, demonstration of the difference between a team that finished first two years ago and a side that placed last in 2024.
Spain, the title holders, blew Israel away with their fast-paced game. Pol Daura netted the championship’s first goal from a neat man-up, and eight more Spanish goals followed – five from action and three from penalties.
The counters either ended in easy finishes or drew a penalty, giving the Spaniards a 0-9 lead at the first break.
The second period was somewhat more balanced. The Israelis benefited from a fortunate rebound to finally get off the mark after 11 minutes at 1-13, and they added two more in this quarter, while the favourites netted six to lead 3-15 at half-time.
Alvaro Granados led the way for Spain, netting six goals against Israel in their opening-day victory. Photo: Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
For the second half, Spain returned to a tighter defence and shut out Israel for the remainder of the game, while producing almost the same output in attack as in the first half, finishing on 28 goals.
The “usual suspects” led Spain’s charge – European Athlete of the Year Alvaro Granados netted six, while fellow sharpshooter Alberto Munarriz fired in five times.
The shooting comparison told the story – Spain had 41 shots, with 35 of them on target, while Israel were limited to 24, with only 15 needing to be saved.
This latter number, compared to Spain’s 35, mirrored the difference in quality and depth between the teams.
Spain’s Bernat Sanahuja looks for goal during the clash with Israel on Saturday. Photo: Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
Group A
France 7-15 Hungary
(1-4, 4-6, 0-2, 2-3)
At the beginning of the preparations, one month ago, Hungary needed a buzzer-beater in Paris to force a shootout against the French (which they went on to win). Still, it was a pretty close encounter, and the Magyars had more similar matches in December, where they were never able to limit their respective rivals to fewer than 12 goals.
A sharp change came in the new year as the Hungarians reorganised their defence and soundly beat the French in Trebinje – after finishing 12-12 in regular time in their first match, this time they blew their rivals away with a 20-7 blast.
And just a week later, here in Belgrade, they continued on the same track against the French, keeping them to seven goals once more.
Hungary’s Krisztian Manhercz hammered in four goals in his team’s victory against France. Photo: Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
Hungary kicked off the game with two fast counters – and they were really fast, as only 21 seconds separated the goals of Vince Vigvari and Krisztian Manhercz, with a quick steal between the two.
Manhercz added a big one from the perimeter a bit later, before the French finally earned a penalty and Thomas Vernoux put them on the scoreboard, 1:21 before the break. Gergo Fekete sent the ball home from a six-on-five to give Hungary a 1-4 lead after the first eight minutes.
France had a better spell in the second quarter, as the Hungarian defenders failed to mark Vernoux (or when they did, it was too harsh, ending in a six-on-four), but even though they scored four goals in this period, not a single one remained unanswered.
Hungary’s defence looks to keep out France’s Alexandre Bouet in Belgrade. Photo: Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
The Magyars offered a nice selection of appetisers to showcase their offensive skills ahead of the rest of this championships – blasts from the perimeter, counters, centre-shots, forced penalties – expanding their lead to 5-10 by half-time.
In the third, Hungary came back with a much tighter defence. It was so effective, in fact, they shut out the French for 15:35 minutes.
Even though this took away some of the edge from their attacks, Vince Varga still netted two from fast breaks to make it 5-12, and the game was practically over with eight minutes remaining.
Another quick double in a span of 39 seconds made it 5-14, then Vernoux found some breathing space to score two more.
Still, it was telling the Magyars killed all seven French man-ups in the second half. Hungary also had some struggles with their own man-ups throughout the match, but Vince Vigvari converted the last one and Hungary sailed away with a comfortable win.
Hungary’s coaches and players celebrate their victory against France in Belgrade. Photo: Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
Group A
Malta 12-21 Montenegro
(5-6, 0-5, 4-5, 3-5)
The Montenegrins needed only a minute to score three straight action goals and perhaps thought they had already done enough. Instead, they found themselves in the middle of a dogfight soon after Matthew Zammit hit a nice one from the centre.
Malta’s attackers recognised their rival defenders lacked the necessary discipline and managed to fire in two big ones from the perimeter, then added back-to-back man-up goals.
The favourites at least kept their composure in front of goal to preserve their narrow lead, but all they had was a somewhat embarrassing 5-6 advantage after eight minutes.
Order was restored after the break, though, as the Montenegrins staged a 0-5 run in the second period.
Their defence worked as it should as well, and they hit their five goals in a span of 2:51 minutes from five straight possessions.
Montenegro’s Vladen Spaic, who ended the game with three goals, caused havoc for the Maltese defence. Photo: Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
This did the damage, though Montenegro were unable to maintain that level in the second half, as the Maltese players had some joy, adding seven more.
The Montenegrins also netted five per period. In the end, 11 of their 12 field players scored at least one goal, while Strahinja Gojkovic did really well, going 4-for-4 with his shots.
In the end, it was a kind of great entertainment with 33 goals in total, but there was at least one person who didn’t really like the show…
Montenegro head coach Dejan Savic wasn’t too pleased to see his side concede 12 goals in this opener.
For sure, a sharply different approach is needed from his players to stand a chance in their next encounter against the Hungarians on Monday.
Malta captain Steven Camilleri led the scoring for his team with four goals against Montenegro. Photo: Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
Group C
Netherlands 13-13 (3-5P) Serbia
(5-4, 3-2, 2-3, 3-4, 3-5P)
Dusan Mandic kicked off Serbia’s campaign with a powerful trademark finish from the wing, but Lars ten Broek’s fine action shot brought an equaliser soon after.
Strahinja Rasovic then put away a six-on-five, but next came the perfect storm from the Netherlands – three goals in a row, mixed with some great defending.
The Serbs were unable to stop ten Broek and Kas te Riele, who both found the back of the net in spectacular fashion.
A six-on-four and a clinical finish from Vasilije Martinovic halted Serbia’s slide, but ten Broek hit his third to make it 5-3 before Mandic pulled one back from the penalty spot.
Still, the Dutch led 5-4 after the first period, and it did not look any better for the hosts early in the second when te Riele struck again from the perimeter. The Dutch missed a man-up, but the Serbs did too – in fact, twice in the same possession.
When Mart van der Weijden buried a penalty for 7-4, the stunned fans in the Arena may have thought back to head coach Uros Stevanovic’s remark at the opening press conference, when he said he meant it that the Dutch had posted better results before the event than the Serbs.
Serbia captain Nikola Jaksic was far from his best, but scored one penalty during regular time, plus one in the shootout to help his side edge past the Netherlands. Photo: Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
Another man-up was wasted by Serbia before Mandic converted from the wing and then Strahinja Rasovic added another to cut the gap to a single goal at 7-6.
The Dutch attacks were no longer as sharp, and Radoslav Filipovic finally came up with a save after starting the game with a less impressive 0-for-6 in goal.
Still, after the Dutch killed another man-down that could have levelled the score, Sebastian Hessels broke their silence after five long minutes with a magnificent lob shot to give the Netherlands a stunning 8-6 lead at half-time.
As has been the case for some years, Mandic again came to his team’s rescue with a perimeter blast, but incoming goalkeeper Milan Glusac could not get a hand to Hessels’ shot in a man-down.
Milos Cuk had enough time and space for a fake and a pinpoint finish, and after some fine defending, Nikola Jaksic converted a penalty for 9-9, bringing life back into the stands.
More noise followed when the home defence killed a man-down after a Dutch time-out, but not the next one – te Riele’s left-handed finish sneaked in off Glusac’s hand, leaving the Netherlands still ahead midway through the third quarter.
Serbia goalkeeper Milan Glusac was the hero, saving a penalty from Bilal Gbadamassi, which proved decisive. Photo: Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
The following Serbian man-up was telling. They fed the ball to Nikola Jaksic at the post – a favourite set-up for years – but he hit the frame of the goal from point-blank range.
The next advantage went down the drain without a shot, prompting Stevanovic to call a time-out after Serbia forced a third six-on-five in their next possession.
It did not work either, as Rasovic, usually clinical from the left wing, struck the crossbar. The Dutch at this point had somewhat ran out of steam in attack, and were being forced to shoot from 7–8 metres and unable to beat the blocks.
Still, four goalless minutes at both ends suited them just fine as they led 10-9 heading into the fourth.
Djordje Lazic converted a six-on-five from Serbia’s first possession of the final period to make it 10-10. Mandic then saw a shot blocked while Glusac made a big save at the other end, but Mandic’s next blast found the net to give the Serbs their first lead since 1-2.
The Dutch missed a man-up, Serbia squandered a 2-on-1 counter with a bad pass, and the ensuing counter allowed te Riele an easy finish for 11-11.
The Serbs then appeared to take control. Nemanja Vico had a fine close-range finish on the next man-up, while the Dutch lacked the energy to reproduce their earlier sharp shooting. But that changed when they earned a six-on-five and ten Broek fired quickly to level the score at 12-12 with 1:54 remaining.
Netherlands’ Benjamin Hessels levelled the scores at 13-13 late in the fourth, which ultimately earned the Dutch a sensational point against the hosts. Photo: Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
Mandic struck again soon after, burying another man-up – Serbia’s third in a row. Yet the drama was far from over.
Following a pair of turnover fouls, the younger Hessels, Benjamin, produced a brilliant shot late in the possession to make it 13-13 with 42 seconds on the clock.
With 14 seconds left, the Dutch regained possession after killing a Serbian man-up with a clean steal. They boldly went for a 7-on-6, and te Riele’s lob dropped into the net.
What seemed like disaster for the hosts turned into relief when a VAR review confirmed the goal came just a tenth of a second after the buzzer.
Dutch head coach Branko Mitrovic held his head in disbelief, but after seeing the replay on the monitor, he accepted the decision.
The match was decided by penalties, where Glusac’s save on Bilal Gbadamassi in the third round secured victory for Serbia, whose shooters were flawless from the spot.
Netherlands’s Kas te Riele’s celebrations were cut short by VAR after his late ‘goal’ was agonisingly ruled out for the Dutch. Photo: Aniko Kovacs/European Aquatics
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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics