Croatia’s men’s water polo team cruises to 20–4 win over Slovenia at European Championships

Croatia’s men’s water polo team opened Group B play at this year’s European Championships in Belgrade with a dominant 20–4 victory over Slovenia.

Zvonimir Butić led the Croatian scorers with four goals, while Loren Fatović, Marko Žuvela, Konstantin Harkov, and Filip Kržić each added three. No Slovenian player scored more than once.

Croatia set the tone from the start, quickly taking control of the match against a less experienced opponent. Early goals from Harkov and Butić gave the team a 2–0 lead, and by the eighth minute, Croatia was ahead 3–1. Fatović extended the advantage to 6–1 with two goals, and Harkov added another at the start of the second half.

After Štromajer scored for Slovenia to make it 6–2, Croatia went 12 minutes without conceding, scoring eight unanswered goals to surge ahead 14–2.

Croatia will face Georgia in their second-round match on Tuesday at 12:45, followed by a game against Greece on Thursday.

The top three teams in Group B will advance to the second round, with all points earned in the first round carried over.