The elite together - our young water polo players in a hell of a group at the world championships

The group composition for the eighth edition of the U18 World Water Polo Championship has been announced.

Twenty national teams now know the path to the world title, and the tournament is scheduled for June 27 - July 4 in Portugal, with the Montenegrin water polo players going to defend their bronze.

And they will be in a group with all the greats - Hungary, which won gold in Buenos Aires at the previous World Cup, Serbia, which won silver at that tournament, and Croatia.

So, a group that brings together the very elite of European water polo, with three national teams that were on the podium in Argentina.

Group B consists of the remaining four teams from Division 1: China, Spain, the United States and Italy - teams that have the quality and ambition to compete for a medal.

The host of the championship, Portugal, will play in Group F along with Argentina and Canada, while Group C consists of Colombia, Singapore and New Zealand.

Group D will feature Turkey, Hong Kong and Brazil, while Group E consists of South Africa, Greece and Australia.

A total of 20 teams qualified for this year's championship, which is divided into two divisions.

The competition system stipulates that the first and second-placed teams from groups A and B will qualify directly for the quarter-finals.

The third- and fourth-placed teams from those groups after the first phase will continue their play-offs for a place in the quarter-finals against the winners of groups C to F.