(Photo by Grégory Costa)
World champions Spain are looking for their third consecutive World Cup title on the men’s side, while Greece’s women are hoping to build an outstanding 2025 which saw them win the World Cup and World Aquatics Championships gold in Singapore.
Both teams have their work cut out with the draw now complete as they begin preparations for an exciting World Aquatics Water Polo World Cup this year.
Competition is set to be more intense than ever.
A total of 60 teams from 34 countries are competing across the men’s and women’s Division 1 and Division 2 tournaments.
A key innovation for the 2026 edition is the introduction of the league phase format in Division 2, designed to ensure fairness, transparency, and increased competitive balance.
Five teams from both the men’s and women’s Division 1 tournaments will advance to the World Aquatics Water Polo World Cup Final, joined by the top two teams from Division 2 and the hosts Australia.
These eight teams will then compete for the coveted World Aquatics Water Polo World Cup title in Sydney at the legendary Olympic Park, where Australia’s women famously won gold at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Division 1 features the world’s highest-ranked national teams, including Olympic and World Aquatics Championships medallists.
The Men’s Water Polo World Cup Division 1 tournament will be held in Alexandroupoli, Greece from 6-12 April.
Group A will see Serbia, Netherlands, Hungary and Greece while defending champions Spain are in Group B with Italy, Croatia, and the United States of America.
The women’s Division 1 competition tournament will be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands from 1-6 May.
Champions Greece are in Group B with Italy, Netherlands and Australia. Group A will comprise of The United States of America, Hungary, Japan and Spain.
Under the competition structure, the top two teams from Group A and Group B will form a new group and play a full round robin, along with the teams placed third and fourth in both groups. Points are not carried over from Groups A and B.
This ensures all teams are fully ranked while competing for qualification, and the top five teams will advance to the World Aquatics Water Polo World Cup – Final in Sydney.
In Division 2, teams will compete in a revamped three-day league phase, where each team will play three matches against a mix of higher and similarly-ranked opponents. Teams were seeded based on their World Aquatics World Rankings, and divided into two pots.
In the league phase, the first day features cross-line matches between higher and lower-ranked teams, followed by teams facing opponents from their own pot on day two and a return to cross-line matches on day three.
The Men’s Water Polo World Cup Division 2 tournament will be held in Malta from 7-13 April, with the draw confirming the following matches:
The Women’s Water Polo World Cup Division 2 tournament will be held in Malta from 21-26 April, with the following matches drawn:
Teams are ranked in the league phase using the Tournament Performance Index, which considers match results, goal difference and strength of opposition.
The top teams advance to the knockout stage, where final rankings are decided the top two teams will qualify for the World Cup Finals in Sydney.
The winner of the Division 2 tournaments will also earn the right to compete in Division 1 at the World Aquatics Water Polo World Cup 2027.
