The duel of the eternal rivals in the quarter-finals

At the 2022 World Water Polo Championships, it’s all about the action from now on at the latest. The best teams in the world will fight for the World Cup title. There is not a single surprise among the eight quarter-finalists. They are the eight teams that were expected in this round. This means that there are only headline matches left where the outcome may not be entirely clear.

At this point, we look at the brotherly duel or the battle of eternal rivals between Serbia and Croatia. These two teams have played epic matches in the past and one can expect the same at the National Swimming Centre in Budapest on Thursday. It should be a match in which anything seems possible at first glance.

The Dolphins from Serbia have made the slightly better impression so far, having qualified directly for the quarter-finals with three wins in the preliminary round. The Barracudas from Croatia, on the other hand, as group runners-up in the first round, already had to return to the pool in the round of 16 against Georgia. Based on the results in the group stage alone, the forecast for the match between Serbia and Croatia should go to a Serbian victory.

The Olympic champions from Serbia had two days more break than the team from Hrvatska. Maybe that should be an advantage. On the other hand, the Barracudas have been able to keep their rhythm. The question will be how to evaluate this circumstance now.

Serbia – Statistics & current form

The Serbs are a team that is able to play well-dosed, but is fully there in the decisive games. This was shown last year at the Tokyo Olympics, when they started mixed and got stronger as the tournament progressed. At the current World Championships, however, the Dolphins have shown right from the start that they want to have a say in the awarding of the gold medal.

Nearly a year unbeaten

It is not only for the Serbs that this is a special phase in water polo. Alongside the World Cup, the Mediterranean Games are taking place at the same time. The Dolphins are able to present two strong teams at the same time and it is quite possible that there will be two titles to celebrate within a few days. But we are still looking at the team that will be competing in Budapest.

The last defeat for Dejan Savic’s team was a little over a year ago in the preliminary round of the Olympic Games, against Croatia of all countries. Since then, the Serbs have won 15 games in a row, winning gold in Tokyo and the World League title. Within a short period of time, they can add two more triumphs and with the European Championships, which will also take place this summer, they could unite the five major titles in water polo.

In the group phase of the current World Cup, they first won against the United States and Australia. The Serbs did not jump any higher than they had to. Last Saturday, there was the match against Kazakhstan, which the Dolphins won clearly with 22:3. Strahinja Rasovic from Champions League finalist Novi Beograd was particularly outstanding with six goals.

Predicted line-up of Serbia:
Dobozanov, Mitrovic – Mandic, Subotic, Randelovic, Lazic, Vico, Rasovic, Lukic, Jaksic, Radulovic, Drasovic, Rasovic – Coach: Savic

Croatia – Statistics & current form

In essence, it doesn’t matter what previous performances the Croats have brought to the World Cup, because when it comes to Serbia, the clocks are always set to zero. And it’s not like Hrvatska performed completely badly at the World Cup now either. Ivica Tucak’s team was the only team that had to return to the pool undefeated already in the round of 16.

Barracudas undefeated at World Cup

What this means in reverse is that on Wednesday two teams will meet who are still undefeated in the title matches so far. However, the Croats have always had their weak phases in their games. In the opening match, they managed an 8:8 draw against the strong Greeks. After that, there were three victories against Germany, Japan and most recently against Georgia in the last 16.

Until the middle of the second quarter, the match against the Georgians, who were unpleasant to play against, was still even. Only gradually did the Barracudas pull away, and at 7:4 at the break they already had half the battle in the bag. In the end, the Croatians won 13:7, which sounds good, but the game itself was not quite so clear-cut.

However, it has to be said that the Croatians entered the World Cup with a newly formed team. Therefore, the naturalised Russian Konstantin Kharkov was the best scorer with four goals. However, with four goals in ten attempts, there is still a lot of room for improvement. On the other hand, keeper Toni Popadic was again strong with 46 percent of defended throws.

Croatia’s likely line-up:
Bijac, Popadic – Buric, Fatovic, Krapic, Lazic, Bukic, Vukicevic, Zuvela, Marinic Kragic, Vrlic, Basic, Kharkov – Coach: Tucak

Serbia – Croatia Direct Comparison / H2H-Balance

Since the World League in the summer of 2009, the paths of the teams from Serbia and Croatia have crossed a total of 21 times. The direct comparison during this period also shows how the balance of power looks in total between these two teams. The Serbian Dolphins are 13:6 ahead after victories. Two duels ended in a draw during this period.

The last encounter was just over a year ago. In the preliminary round of the Tokyo Olympics, the Barracudas won 14:12. Until today, that was the last defeat ever for the Serbs, who nevertheless secured Olympic gold, while the Croats had to settle for fifth place in the end. If you like, it was the wake-up call for the Serbs, who have since impressed with a winning streak.

Serbia – Croatia Tip

When the water polo teams from Serbia and Croatia meet, anything is always possible. An example of this is the last direct duel at the Olympic Games last year. At that time, the Croats won, but Olympic gold went to the Serbian Sharks. That defeat was the last one the Olympic champions had to accept.

The Serbs are currently on a streak of 15 wins in a row. The Barracudas cannot present nearly such a series, but at the World Cup in Hungary Hrvatska is also still without a defeat.

There probably won’t be too much of a handicap between these two teams. Those who are inclined to bet on a Serbian handicap win should perhaps not expect a big difference. We are therefore holding back a little in this respect and have decided to play the betting odds on a Serbian handicap win (-1.5) in the duel between Serbia and Croatia.