2020 Men's European Water Polo Championship
The 2020 Men's European Water Polo Championship was the 34th edition of the major European water polo tournament for national teams. It was held at the Danube Arena in Budapest, Hungary, from 14 to 26 January 2020.
Hungary claimed their 13th title by defeating Spain in the final.
Host
announced the choice of Budapest as host for the competition on 9 July 2016. All the matches were played at the Danube Arena.| Budapest | |
| Danube Arena | |
| Capacity: 6,600 | |
Qualification
Sixteen teams were allowed to the tournament. The qualification was as follows:- The host nation
- The best seven teams from the 2018 European Championships not already qualified as the host nation
- Eight teams from the qualifiers
| Event | Date | Location | Vacancies | Qualified |
| Host nation | 9 July 2016 | – | 1 | |
| 2018 European Championships | 16–28 July 2018 |  Barcelona | 7 | |
| Qualifiers | 11–13 October 2019 | Various | 8 |
Format
The sixteen teams were split in four groups with four teams each. The first classified team of each group directly qualified for the quarterfinals, the second and third teams played each other in cross group format to qualify for the quarterfinals.Squads
Draw
The draw of the preliminary round's pools was held in Budapest on 22 October 2019. The teams were divided into four groups of four teams each; according to LEN rules the first batch for the draw was composed by the best four teams of the previous edition, the second batch by the teams ranked from fifth to eighth in 2018, while the third and fourth batch were composed respectively by the teams ranked first and second in the four qualification groups.| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
The draw resulted in the following groups:
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
Preliminary round
All times are local.Group A
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Group B
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Group C
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Group D
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Knockout stage
Bracket
;5th place bracket;9th place bracket
;13th place bracket
Play-offs
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Quarterfinals
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13–16th place semifinals
----9–12th place semifinals
----5–8th place semifinals
----Semifinals
----15th place game
13th place game
Eleventh place game
Ninth place game
Seventh place game
Fifth place game
Third place game
Final
Final standing
| Rank | Team |
| 3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 | 1 |
| 6 | 2 |
| 7 | |
| 8 | |
| 9 | |
| 10 | |
| 11 | |
| 12 | |
| 13 | |
| 14 | |
| 15 | 4 |
| 16 |
- 1 Serbia qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics as the winner of 2019 World League
- 2 Italy qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics as the winner of 2019 World Championships
- 3 Spain qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics as the runners-up of 2019 World Championships
- 4 The Netherlands qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics World qualification tournament as the host of the tournament
Statistics and awards
Top goalscorers
Source:Top goalkeepers
Source:Awards
The awards were announced on 26 January 2020.| Award | Player |
| Most Valuable Player | |
| Best Goalkeeper | |
| Topscorer |