18U 2026 World Championship

I watched snippets of the team’s second game against Italy. Italy secured the silver medal two years ago in the 16U competition. The USA emerged victorious with a score of 17-10, which is a significant achievement. More importantly, the team demonstrated remarkable teamwork and exceptional water polo skills. The Italian team, and hopefully many others in the later stages, failed to find an effective solution to Tyler Anderson. I was very proud to witness the team’s performance and the high level of water polo they showcased. The future looks promising for USA Water Polo!

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Anyone willing to provide a link to box scores? I don’t know why I can never seem to find it on the world aquatics website. When I click the score it shows the rosters but not the stats for the games. Thanks

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USA v HUN in the QF.

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7 minutes left in the game. USA up 3 over Hungary.

That was a wild finish . . . Next up, MNE.

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Great game. Looking at the stats, there is wide range in shooting efficiency on this team. 40% is about as low as you can go as a team and expect to win consistently. During the extended stretch (about half of the game) where they scored most of their goals (between 6:42 of Q2 through 6:12 of Q4), they were 10 for 16 on shooting (63%) during the rest of the time, they were 2 for 13 (15%).

30% of the shots so far have come from 5 shooters averaging 25%. In the Spain game, those guys were 3 for 11 (27%). In the Hungary game, 2 for 6. Fewer shots from low percentage shooters seems like a good strategy.

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The defense during the aforementioned stretch was great. During that stretch, the boys had excellent spacing, shot-blocking, close-out and recovery into zone, 2Md positioning and trapping. Very little of that ends up in the stat book.

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That field block in the 4th!

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It was one of the best blocks I have seen :raising_hands:t3:

Jett showed up big in that game!

Only got to see parts of the 3rd and 4th quarters. From what I saw the passing looked really clean and everyone looked like a threat and had strong shots. That was a huge field block to close it out! Great game!

It is worth noting the coaching adjustments after the start. The players did great, but the change in the plan early turned it around when it looked like it could get away from the team early.

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Great performance by Team USA! Came out ready to play from the first whistle. Shared the ball, executed on both offense and defense, and outcoached MNE.

And certainly not to take anything away from our boys, but MNE came out like they were expecting to just roll the ball out there and win. Once the US came out and made it clear they weren’t going quietly, they never got it together.

Excited for our best finish ever in this championship!

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Anderson was a hard man to deal with, and the squad picked up every opportunity to score. Great work all around.

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Hard to stop the big man! Kids are playing great and they have a chance to bring gold home​:folded_hands::crossed_fingers:

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