Malta finished in 13th place at the 2026 European Championships.
In the last round of the group for the 13th-16th classification, the Maltese defeated Slovenia after a hard-fought battle – 14:13 – to keep 13th place, collecting all nine points in the group.
Slovakia, which was the only winless team at the tournament until today, defeated Israel, 11:8. With this victory, Slovakia climbed to 14th place. Slovenia finished 15th, and Israel 16th.
2026 European Men’s Water Polo Championships, Belgrade, Day 9
13th – 16th place classification group, Round 3
( quarters 3:4, 5:4, 3;3, 3:2)
Malta: Nagaev 5, Galea 4, Camilleri 3, M. Zammit 1, Fenech 1.
Slovenia: Potocnik 4, Stefanovic 3, Lipnik 2, Stromajer2, Kadivec 1.
The Maltese dreamed of reaching the Top 12 in Belgrade. They failed, but they achieved their best-ever result in the history, finishing one step higher than in Split in 2022.
An experienced team of Malta quickly built a 3:1 lead, but the Slovenians answered with three goals, heading into the second period leading 4:3. In the second quarter, the lead changed hands several times. The teams were at the same starting point before the second half, tied at 8:8 during the middle break.
Malta, led by Ivan Nagaev, took a one-goal lead three times during the third period, but the determined Slovenians managed to equalize each time. Nagaev scored to give Malta a 12:11 lead. Slovenia fought hard, but it began to make mistakes, rushing in attacks and leaving its defense open to counterattacks from Malta. Slovenia’s goalkeeper, Milan Bulajic, made a great save against Galea during one of these counters. However, just 30 seconds later, Malta executed another counterattack. This time, Galea did not make a mistake. For the first time since the opening score of 3:1, two goals separated the rivals – 13:11.
Photo by Krsto Vulović.
Slovenia came close at 12:13 and 13:14. It had a man-up in the final possession. Stromajer attempted to score with a close-range lob, but the goalkeeper, Jake Tanti, caught the ball, saving all three points for Malta.
Malta’s best scorer at the tournament was Steven Camilleri, with 22 goals. Camilleri won the award for the best scorer of the 2016 Europeans, which was also held in the Belgrade Arena. Ten years ago, Camilleri scored 21 goals in seven games in his and Malta’s ECH debut. Currently, he leads the list of the best scorers at the 2026 Championships. However, it’s unlikely he will keep 1st place, since many great goal scorers will have the opportunity to improve their output over the next several days. The best scorers list can be found – HERE
(quarters 3:2, 3:1, 3:2, 2:3)
Slovakia: Balaz 4, Furman 2, Durik 1, Maros Tkac 1, Marek Tkac 1, Bielik 1, Caraj 1.
Israel: Schlein 2, Gros 2, Gvishi 2, Shafrir 1, Rendler 1.
The last match in the group wasn’t as exciting as the previous one. Slovakia secured 14th place with this win and one point won in a penalty shootout loss to Slovenia.
Lukas Seman (Slovakia) Photo by Krsto Vulovic
Slovakia dictated the pace from the beginning. Israel leveled just once – at 2:2 in the 6th minute. The Slovaks then produced a 4:1 series to establish a 6:3 at halftime. Israel tried to come back, but Slovakia’s defense was too strong. Filip Balogh, Slovakia’s goalkeeper, displayed an excellent performance with 16 saves.
Samuel Balaz scored his 4th goal to make it 10:5 with less than seven minutes remaining on the clock and it became clear that Israel couldn’t catch up with the Slovaks.
Final standings: 13. Malta 9 pts, 14. Slovakia 4, 15. Slovenia 3, 16. Israel 2.
Visit Total Waterpolo Arena for the live scores and the statistics of the European Championships.
Visit Total Waterpolo Arena for the live scores and the statistics of the European Championships.
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