Croatia gets off to a strong start at the 2024 Water polo World Championships

Croatia is looking to build on its recent silver medal that the European Championships in January, and more importantly to qualify directly for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The Croatian national Water Polo team opened its run at the 2024 World Championships in Doha Qatar, with an easy 13:8 win over Group "A" opponents Australia on Monday. In a well-rounded team effort, Loren Fatović, Rino Burić, Marko Žuvela, Franko Lazić, Luka Lončar and Jerko Marinić Kragić scored two goals each, while goalkeeper Marko Bijač registered eleven saves.

Joining Croatia and Australia in the group are Spain, South Africa, with Spain hammering South Africa 21:5, today. Croatia's next game is against Spain on Wednesday, followed by South Africa on Friday.

Head coach Ivica Tucak emphasized before the start of the championships that his team's main goal is to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris, which they can do by reaching the quarterfinals at the World Cup.

There will be 12 teams at the Olympic tournament in Paris, of which eight have already reserved a ticket, hosts France, Hungary and Greece (as the finalists of the last World Championships in Fukuoka Japan in 2023), Spain (as the 2024 European champions), the USA (as the winners of the Pan American Games), Japan (as the winner of the Asian Games), Australia (as the representative from Oceania) and South Africa (as the representative from Africa). The remaining four places will be awarded to the top four teams at the Doha World Championships who have not yet secured an Olympic visa.

Source: HRT