The Serbian national water polo team (players under 18) has traveled to Rio de Janeiro (Portugal), where they will compete at the World Aquatics Men’s U18 Water Polo Championships 2026.
20 national teams have qualified for this year’s championship, which will be divided into two divisions. The eight highest-ranked countries in the Men’s U18 World Water Polo Rankings — Spain, Hungary, China, Montenegro, the United States, Croatia, Italy and Serbia — are placed in Division 1, filling Groups A and B with four teams each. The remaining 12 qualified countries make up Division 2, divided into groups C to F, with three teams in each group.
Serbia will compete in Group A in the first phase with the national teams of Croatia, Hungary and Montenegro. Coach Miloš Saković’s team will play their first match of the tournament on Saturday at 7 p.m. against the Hungarian national team.
Hungary has won the last two crowns and has been on the podium at every edition of the championship, winning three gold, one silver and two bronze medals. Serbia was defeated by Hungary in the final of the previous championship, which was held in 2024. years, and our young men have won another silver medal in this age category in the past.
The Serbian youth national team will compete in the World Championship with the following lineup:
1. Mateja Kosanovic, Partizan
2. Luka Vojinović, Šabac
3. Strahinja Nešković, Partizan
4. Luka Drobnjakovic, Vojvodina
5. Nikola Bistrovic, Partizan
6. Milan Zelic, Vojvodina
7. Uros Rahpejma, Partizan
8. Vuk Vasiljevic, Partizan
9. Nikola Pavlović, Šabac
10. Pavle Papić, Partizan
11. Uros Muncan, NBG
12. Nemanja Djordjevic, Workers’ Party
13. Mihailo Gošić, Šabac
14. Ivan Peleš, NBG
15. Maksim Krečković, Šabac
Coach: Miloš Saković
Expert staff: Panić Uglješa, Nikola Milosavljević, Petar Boščanin, Miloš Saković, Dr. Miodrag Nastic
The championship will be held at the Rio Mayor Sports Center. The facility has two indoor pools—one 25 meters and one 50 meters—and has received an IOC/IAS award, ranking it among the best sports complexes in the world.
In the past two weeks, the U18 national team has played several official matches as part of preparations for the upcoming World Cup in Portugal: Serbia-Russia 18:19, Serbia-Russia 24:13, Serbia-Croatia 13:10, Serbia-Greece 11:8, Serbia-Russia 16:13, Serbia-Germany 22:8, Serbia-Hungary 20:12, Serbia-Turkey 19:5.
Miloš Saković, Serbia coach: “I believe that these matches have helped us prepare for the competition as well as possible. If we leave out the first match, I can say that I am satisfied with the performance and commitment of the players. The friendly matches are not the ultimate measure, but they are good indicators of how we have been training and with each victory we gain more confidence. Regardless of them, we must approach each opponent at the World Cup in Portugal with caution. The goals are always clear and it is now up to us to achieve them.”
Serbia will also be represented at the U18 World Championship by referee Pavle Kiš.
