Brazil and Egypt produced two of the standout achievements of the Men’s U16 World Championships group phase by securing places in the quarter-finals in Zagreb.
Russia finished top of the 36-team standings, followed by Brazil and Croatia. Italy, Spain, Egypt, Serbia and the United States completed the final eight and will continue their fight for the medals.
Six of the quarter-finalists ended the league phase with perfect records. Russia, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Serbia and the USA all won four matches, while Italy and Spain advanced despite suffering one defeat each.
The quarter-finals are expected to see Russia face the United States, Brazil meet Serbia, Croatia take on Egypt and Italy battle Spain.
Brazil confirmed an impressive second-place finish with a 12-4 victory over New Zealand, while Egypt completed its unbeaten campaign by defeating Zimbabwe 25-1. Their presence in the final eight is a significant achievement for two nations attempting to close the gap on water polo’s traditional powers.
There was also major disappointment for Hungary, Montenegro and Greece, with all three missing the quarter-finals despite recording three victories from four matches.
Greece defeated Hungary 12-8 in one of the final day’s biggest games, adding to its earlier victory over Spain. However, the Greeks finished only 13th after receiving just 30 TPI points for their opening defeat against Russia.
Hungary dropped to 11th following the loss, finishing behind Turkiye, whom they had defeated 12-8, and Malta. Montenegro beat Germany 11-10 to earn its third victory but ended the league phase in 17th place.
The outcome again highlighted the significant influence of the Tournament Performance Index, with the value of each opponent and result playing a major role in the rankings.
Italy earned 106.2 TPI points from its 24-4 victory over China, while Spain collected 105 points after beating Singapore 21-7. Serbia and the USA secured the final two quarter-final places with convincing wins over Canada and Australia respectively.
Quarter-finals
Russia v United States
Brazil v Serbia
Croatia v Egypt
Italy v Spain
Day 4 results
Kazakhstan 8-15 Turkiye
Peru 14-6 Malaysia
Germany 10-11 Montenegro
Czech Republic 6-16 Portugal
Brazil 12-4 New Zealand
Ukraine 19-4 Puerto Rico
Hungary 8-12 Greece
Egypt 25-1 Zimbabwe
Italy 24-4 China
South Africa 5-9 Malta
Australia 6-15 United States
Mexico 5-11 Romania
Canada 7-20 Serbia
Slovenia 7-8 Poland
Netherlands 7-15 Croatia
Russia 12-3 Israel
Spain 21-7 Singapore
Georgia 21-5 Uruguay
Homepage
Read more about the U16 World Championships
Read more about Youth water polo
Visit the WP360 Shop!
Follow Waterpolo 360 on Facebook, Instagram and X