Greece’s men’s national water polo team booked a place in the semifinals of the European Championship with an emphatic 15–13 victory over Italy in Belgrade, keeping its medal ambitions firmly on track.
The team advanced to the semifinals for just the third time in its history and secured first place in Group F of the second phase. Center forward Kostas Kakaris delivered a commanding performance, scoring three goals and winning multiple exclusions and penalties, as the squad coached by Thodoris Vlachos outplayed Italy in a high-intensity contest.
Greece will complete its second-phase fixtures on Wednesday, January 21, with a match against Romania that holds no impact on the standings. On Tuesday, January 20, the national team will learn its semifinal opponent, who will emerge from the Group E clash between Spain and Hungary. Italy will face Croatia in a decisive match for second place.
Greece built its victory on tactical discipline and physical superiority. The team closed passing lanes to the two-meter position, accepted perimeter shots, and avoided defensive damage. Italy applied heavy pressure on the Greek perimeter but conceded multiple exclusions, which Greece exploited efficiently.
Greece took an early 2–0 lead, with Kakaris scoring on the counterattack, and maintained control despite Italy reducing the gap late in the first period. Although Greece missed a penalty and saw another overturned after a video review, it entered halftime ahead 6–4 following a successful VAR decision that awarded a penalty converted by Stylianos Argyropoulos.
Italy’s persistent pressing backfired in the third period as Kakaris dominated the center. Greece extended its lead to 9–5 midway through the quarter and restored a three-goal cushion at the end of the period, leading 10–7.
The national team maintained full control in the final quarter and stretched its advantage to 13–8 with a deft lob by Konstantinos Papanastasiou. Italy mounted a late push to close the gap to 14–12, but Argyropoulos scored his fourth goal to seal the result.
Greece posted strong efficiency with a man advantage, converting 9 of 12 opportunities, and showed composure in key moments to close out the match.
The final score confirmed Greece’s status as a serious medal contender as the European Championship enters its decisive stage.
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