2026 World Cup: Chase for tickets to Sydney begins on Monday in Greece

During a short break in the club competitions, the best national teams have gathered to battle for spots at the only summer big competition this year.

From April 6 to 14, the Men’s World Cup Division 1 tournament will be held in Alexandroupolis, Greece. Eight teams will compete: the top seven from the 2025 World Aquatics Rankings—Spain, Hungary, Greece, Serbia, Croatia, Italy, the USA—and the winner of the 2025 Division 2 tournament, the Netherlands.

The top five teams from Alexandroupolis will qualify for the Final Eight in Sydney (July 22 – 26), alongside the host nation, Australia, and the two best teams from Division 2, which will begin on Tuesday in Malta, featuring 24 participating teams.

In Alexandroupolis, the teams will be divided into two groups for the first phase –
Group A: Greece, Hungary, Serbia, Netherlands
Group B: Spain, Croatia, USA, Italy

After a three-day round-robin competition in Groups A and B, new groups will be formed. The top two teams from each group will advance to compete for 1st to 4th place, while the remaining four teams will battle for the last available F8 ticket in the group from 5th to 8th place.

Out of the eight teams participating in the Alexandroupolis tournament, five played at 2025 World Cup Final Eight. In the previous World Cup, Spain claimed gold, followed by Greece and Hungary. Serbia and the USA, fielding very young teams, failed to qualify through the Division 1 tournament, while Italy was banned from participation due to a six-month suspension.
>For most national teams, the World Cup qualifiers provide an opportunity to test younger players and those on longer lists of candidates for participation in major tournaments. However, all eight teams are eyeing the Final Eight.

2026 World Men’s Cup Division 1, Alexandroupolis (April 6 – 12), Preview

Group A

All three medalists from the 36th European Championships, held in the Belgrade Arena, are from Serbia, Hungary, and Greece, and will compete in the same group.

Greece

Based on the rosters, Greece has the highest ambitions for the tournament. The head coach, Theodoros Vlachos, will count on almost all the players who won the bronze medal in Serbia, with only two missing. One of the absentees is Konstantinos Genidounias, one of the most decorated Greek water polo players and, who is unable to participate due to an injury. The other missing player is Chalyvopoulos.

Nonetheless, there is no doubt that the Greek team will be highly motivated to perform at their best. The World Cup Division 1 represents a special opportunity for the players of Greece’s most successful generation in men’s senior water polo. For the first time in history, they will compete in a major tournament in front of their home crowd, which can serve as both an advantage and a burden. The Greeks have secured medals in each of the last three major tournaments, including the World Cup and World Championships in 2025 and the European Championships in 2026. It will be surprising if the hosts do not qualify for the Final Eight.

Goalkeepers: Emmanouil Zerdevas, Panagiotis Tzortzatos (both Olympiacos)

Outfield players: Nikolaos Kastrinakis, Semir Spachits (Vouliagmeni), Ioannis Alafragkis, Nikolaos Gkillas, Konstantios Kakaris, Dimitrios Nikolaidis, Alexandros Papanastasiou, Evangelos Pouros, Konstantinos Gkiouvetsis, Nikolaos Papanikolaou, Dimitrios Skoumpakis (Panathinaikos), Stylianos Argyropoulos (Ferencvaros), Efsthatios Kalogeropoulos (Marseille), Nikolaos Gardikas (Apollon Smyrnis)

Hungary

Hungarian head coach Zsolt Varga has made several changes to the team that won silver at the European Championships. Six players who climbed the 2nd step of the podium in the Belgrae Arena are not included in the Division 1 roster: Daniel Angyal, Krisztian Manhercz, Peter Kovacs, Benedek Batizi, and Akos Nagy. Although Nagy was initially announced on the roster last week, he suffered an injury during a Champions League match against Mladost. Varga has replaced him with 20-year-old Oliver Leinweber, the top scorer in the Italian League, who has scored 84 goals for Savona in the first 20 rounds.

Anyway, the team is quite experienced. The only debutant is Csongor Lugosi, while among those returning to the team are center-forward Toni Nemet and Barceloneta’s left-handed goalgetter, Gergely Burian.

Goalkeepers: Kristof Csoma (Honved), Soma Vogel (Ferencvaros).

Outfield players: Gergely Burian (Barceloneta), Dome Dala (Vasas), Gergo Fekete (Ferencvaros), Szilard Jansik (Ferencvaros), Csongor Lugosi (Ferencvaros), Adam Nagy (Marseille), David Tatrai (BVSC), Toni Nemet (Jadran Split), Peter Szalai (Vasas), Vince Varga (Ferencvaros), Vendel Vigvari (Ferencvaros), Vince Vigvari (Barceloneta), Zsombor Vismeg (Ferencvaros), Oliver Leinweber (Savona).

Serbia

Uros Stevanovic, the head coach of Serbia, made the most significant changes among the European medalists. He didn’t call up eight European champions to the preparations for the World Cup Division 1. Meanwhile, Dusan Mandic had to cancel his participation due to an injury

The European champions who will play in Division 1 are captain Nikola Jaksic, his brother Petar, Djordje Lazic, Vasilije Martinovic, Nikola Lukic, and the best goalkeeper of the Europeans, Milan Glusac.

Several players have returned to the national team, including Olympic champion Vladimir Misovic, and a 34-year-old center-forward, Nikola Murisic, who played for Serbia for the first time at last year’s World Championships. The only debutants are Dusan Trtovic and left-handed Viktor Urosevic.

This team of Serbia may appear to be an underdog against Greece and Hungary on paper. However, Serbia consistently remains a strong contender for top placements. Novi Beograd has contributed the most players to the national team. The club that is competing for a spot in the Champions League Final Four will have nine players representing Serbia.

Goalkeepers: Milan Glusac (Novi Beograd), Vladimir Misovic (Crvena Zvezda).

Outfield players: Marko Dimitrijevic, Luka Gladovic (both Novi Beograd), Petar Jaksic (Radnicki), Strahinja Krstic (UCLA/Novi Beograd), Djordje Lazic (Jadran HN), Nikola Lukic (Novi Beograd), Nikola Jaksic (Radnicki), Vuk Milojevic, Luka Pljevancic (both Novi Beograd), Nikola Murisic (Radnicki), Nemanja Stanojevic (Sabac), Vasilije Martinovic, Dusan Trtovic, Viktor Urosevic (all Novi Beograd).

Netherlands

Last season, the Netherlands qualified for the World Cup Final Eight as the winner of Division 2. Eventually, the Dutch ended in 6th place, after a narrow 14:15 loss to Montenegro in the 5th-place match.

This year, they performed well at the European Championships but didn’t upset a single favorite, finishing in 11th place. They were close to winning three points against Serbia in the first round. The Netherlands scored a winner, but the goal was canceled after a VAR review because the shot was too late. Serbia then beat the Dutch in a penalty shootout and started its gold medal campaign.

The team that arrives in Alexandroupolis is very similar to the one that competed in Belgrade. Head coach Branislav Mitrovic selected many players with experience playing in strong European leagues. The Dutch have made progress in the past several years. It’s to be seen if they reached the level needed to beat the favorites.

Interestingly, Serbia and the Netherlands will face off in the first round of the World Cup Division 1, just at the European Championships.

 Goalkeepers: Jelto Spijker (Spandau 04), Zeppe Caboort (Keeper, ZVL-1886),

Outfield players: Bilal Gbadamassi (Marseille) , Daan Bakker (ZV De Zaan), Fabio Jukic (PSV), Jeroen Rouwenhorst (Florentia), Jorrit van der Weijden (GZC Donk), Kas te Riele (Vouliagmeni), Lars ten Broek (Terrassa), Marnick Snel (Primorje), Mart van der Weijden (Barcelona), Max van der Werve (Rubi), Niels Hofmeijer (Florentia), Sam van den Burg (Waspo Hannover) Tom de Weerd (Tenerife).

Day 1

Follow World Cup Division 1 on Total Waterpolo Arena

Group B

Spain

After winning a “double crown” in 2025—gold medals in both the World Cup and the World Championships—the Spanish national team did not have a strong start to 2026. They finished 5th at the European Championships and did not qualify for the semifinals after narrow losses to Serbia and Hungary.

Spain is, as usual, considered one of the strongest favorites for the top spot in Alexandroupolis, and it comes with a very strong and experienced squad led by Granados, Munarriz, Aguirre, and others.

However, the Spaniards will be without two excellent center-forwards: Roger Tahull from Barcelona and Miguel de Toro from Ferencvaros. Head coach David Martin has decided to give a chance to several young players, with Josep Bonet and Marc Rodriguez stepping in to replace Tahull and De Toro.

Goalkeepers: Unai Aguirre (Barceloneta), Edoardo Lorrio (Sabadell).

Outfield players: Unai Biel, Alex Bustos, Biel Gomila, Alberto Munarriz, Bernat Sanahuja, Marc Valls (all Barceloneta), Oscar Asensio, Josep Bonet, Sergi Cabanas (both Sabadell), Pol Daura (Barcelona), Alvaro Granados (Pro Recco), Marc Larumbe (Marsella), Marc Rodríguez (Mataro), Fran Valera (Jadran Herceg Novi).

Croatia

Croatia has undergone a drastic rejuvenation after the European Championships. That process was planned regardless of their performance in Belgrade, where it finished 6th, behind Spain.

The team is at the beginning of a new phase. However, many experienced players who are accustomed to winning medals remain on the roster, including Bijac, Fatovic, Bukic, Kharkov, Buric, Zuvela. Among the newcomers is Ante Jerkovic, a left-handed player who will turn 19 in September. He will face strong competition for a spot on the team next season, as, besides Konstantin Kharkov, Croatia will have another experienced naturalized left-hander, Luke Pavillard.

Goalkeepers: Marko Bijac (Jadran), Mauro Ivan Cubranic (Mladost);

Outfield players: Rino Buric (Pro Recco), Viktor Tonicic (Mladost); Mislav Curkovic (Jadran), Roko Akrap (Mornar), Toni Radan (Jadran), Konstantin Kharkov, Franko Lazic, Luka Bukic (all Mladost), Ante Jerkovic (Jug), Zvonimir Butic (Jadran), Marko Zuvela, Vlaho Pavlic (both Jug), Loren Fatovic (Jadran), Tin Brubnjak (Primorje).

Italy

While many head coaches decided to rejuvenate their squads for the World Cup, Alessandro Campagna did the opposite.

However, already this winter, Italy fielded a very young team both in the preparations and at the European Championships. The “Settebello” beat all their opponents during the preparations for the Europeans. Following that, they reached the semis in Belgrade and finished in 4th place.

Two Pro Recco’s stars, Giacomo Cannella and Gianmarco Nicosia, are back on the team. Francesco Condemi, who was one of the key players at the Europeans, got injured a few days ago and won’t play in Greece. Anyway, Italy’s goal of reaching the Sydney tournament seems achievable if the team does its best.

Goalkeepers: Marco Del Lungo (Savona), Gianmarco Nicosia (Pro Recco).

Outfield players: Francesco Cassia (Pro Recco), Stefano Guerrato (Brescia), Giacomo Cannella (Pro Recco), Filippo Ferrero (Brescia), Edoardo Di Somma (Ferencvaros), Vincenzo Dolce (Brescia), Tommaso Gianazza (Brescia), Matteo Iocchi Gratta (Pro Recco), Lorenzo Bruni (Savona), Mario Del Basso (Brescia), Alessandro Carnesecchi (Ortigia), Jacopo Alesiani (Brescia), Eduardo Campopiano (De Akker), Alessandro Balzarini (Brescia).

USA

The Americans started forming a new team already after winning bronze at the Paris Olympics. Team USA was the youngest at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, where it finished 8th.

Eleven players who competed in Singapore, led by double Olympians Max Irving, Hannes Daube, and Marko Vavic, will represent the USA in the World Cup Division 1. The team coached by Dejan Udovicic has gained another year of experience, making the Americans a more formidable opponent for the European powerhouses than in 2025.

Goalkeepers: Adrian Weinberg (Panathinaikos), Charlie Mills (USC).

Outfield players: Jack Larsen (Sabadell), Marko Vavic (USC/San Giljan), Nicolas Saveljic (Telimar), Hannes Daube (Apollon Smyrnis), Peter Castillo (UCLA), Ben Liechty (UCLA), Luke Nelson (USC), Jett Taylor (Catholic High School/Del Mar WPC), Chase Dodd (UCLA), Ryder Dodd (UCLA), Max Irving (Pro Recco),Ryan Ohl (Stanford), Dominic Brown (California), Bode Brinkema (UCLA)

Day 1

Follow World Cup Division 1 on Total Waterpolo Arena

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