After suffering three defeats in Preliminary Round Group A of the European Aquatics Water Polo Championships, the Malta national team must now turn its full attention to the final phase of the tournament, where nothing less than three victories will be required to secure a 13th-place finish.
With a 13th-place classification out of 16 teams now established as the revised objective by the ASA, the boys in red were forced to set aside earlier ambitions after a 13–22 defeat to France— a match that had been viewed as a potential historic group-stage victory for Malta, but one that ultimately failed to materialise.
France proved to be a very different proposition from the side Malta encountered in the tal-Qroqq qualification matches. Those who spoke confidently of a Maltese victory either misunderstood the realities of elite-level water polo or chose to mislead the local water polo community. The nine-goal margin at full time spoke volumes.
That said, the group-stage encounters against France, Montenegro, and Hungary—three of Europe’s strongest water polo nations—are now firmly in the past. Attention must shift forward, with full support rallying behind the 14-man squad as they prepare for a crucial encounter against Israel on Friday morning.
A victory against Israel would place the ASA in pole position for a historic achievement. Such a result would keep Malta firmly on track for a potential 13th-place finish, with further victories against Slovakia and Slovenia still within reach.
Malta will return to action on Friday morning against Israel in the opening match of the 13th–16th place classification play-offs, where the road to a landmark result truly begins. Malta will face Israel on Friday at 10.15am with the match to be broadcast again live on TVMSport+ .
The results of the Malta National Water polo team so far at the 2026 European Championships were as follows:
Malta v Montenegro 12-21
Malta v France 13-22
Malta v Hungary 6-21
It is interesting to note that for tomorrow’s match against Israel which will be broadcast again live on TVMSport+ the Malta players will again be wearing the white caps for the 4th consecutive match.
The 14 players available for National Team coach Milan Cirovic are as follows:
J.Tanti, I. Nagaev , L. Galea, B. Plumpton, B. Cachia, N. Zammit , S. Camilleri (C), J. Cutajar, J. Bonavia, L. Galea, M. Zammit, D. Zammit, A. Fenech, N. Grixti, E. Schembri.
The final classification of the Malta National Water polo team in the past editions was as follows:
2016 (Held in Serbia) 15th place
2018 (Held in Spain) 16th place
2020 (Held in Hungary) 16th place
2022 (Held in Croatia) 14th place
2024 (Held in Croatia) 15th place
