# U20 World Championship **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [April 12, 2025, 2:16pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231 "2025-04-12T14:16:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WPolo9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@WPolo9](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/WPolo9)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2025, 2:16pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/1 "2025-04-12T14:16:33Z")
Who is the US coach and selected players for the US U20 team for the world championships in Zagreb, Croatia that will take place in Mid June? ---
**Author:** ![polofan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/848f3c/32.png) [@polofan](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/polofan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/2 "2025-04-12T15:12:43Z")
I believe Jack Kocur and roster is not selected yet. ---
**Author:** ![WPolo9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@WPolo9](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/WPolo9)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2025, 4:27pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/3 "2025-04-12T16:27:20Z")
One would think there would be an initial squad practicing and scrimmaging as the championship is in about 3 months🤷‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![Wapomama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@Wapomama](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/Wapomama)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2025, 9:15pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/4 "2025-04-12T21:15:40Z")
The roster is almost finalized as far as I am aware and they will train with the senior men’s team throughout the month of May and for at least 10 days together in Croatia before the tournament starts. ---
**Author:** ![polofan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/848f3c/32.png) [@polofan](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/polofan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 11:57am UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/5 "2025-06-13T11:57:53Z")
https://www.youtube.com/embed/jVcAW_QpJpo?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLg25OJAWYpDL-gt3yY0UPq_WqfEqDtTP_ ---
**Author:** ![Getit2theset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@Getit2theset](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/Getit2theset)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 11:46am UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/6 "2025-06-14T11:46:54Z")
Great coverage on YouTube. High production value and Wes is a good announcer. ---
**Author:** ![polofan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/848f3c/32.png) [@polofan](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/polofan)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 12:54pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/7 "2025-06-14T12:54:56Z")
Wes hope they sell good lozenges in Croatia !! That is a lot of games. Grt coverage so. far. ---
**Author:** ![Getit2theset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@Getit2theset](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/Getit2theset)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 4:08pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/8 "2025-06-14T16:08:30Z")
The Hungarians appear to be good at water polo. Who knew? 😉 Seriously though, the other takeaways from these first few games: good lefties are impactful (duh!); at least a couple of the current college players for non-US teams are among, if not, the best on their squads; everyone seems to be mixing/running Brescia Zone; and lots of goals! ---
**Author:** ![retiredguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@retiredguy](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/retiredguy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 9:00pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/9 "2025-06-14T21:00:33Z")
Croatia also good at water polo. Just my two cents, but it seems like USA is filled with big bodies that don’t have the shooting skill to score other than Dodd. Center play was solid earning tons of exclusions, but when only one player can shoot against 5 man Croatia, it gets hard quick. ---
**Author:** ![Gibson](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex004/user_avatar/waterpoloexchange.com/gibson/32/316_2.png) [@Gibson](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/Gibson)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 9:21pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/10 "2025-06-14T21:21:36Z")
Watching some of the other teams, I’d agree that many of them have more pure shooters. Hard shots, quick releases, good accuracy. ---
**Author:** ![Poloforlife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@Poloforlife](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/Poloforlife)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 9:24pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/11 "2025-06-14T21:24:32Z")
A little shout out to the two incompetent refs of the game that could not figure out that Croatia was pulling the goal forward and holding it so the sprinter could push off the bar for the sprint. If you can’t pay enough attention to the beginning of the quarters then how can be taken seriously. ---
**Author:** ![WPolo9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@WPolo9](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/WPolo9)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 9:38pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/12 "2025-06-14T21:38:14Z")
While I get the frustration with the officiating, I don’t think the outcome hinged on the sprints or even the refs. The real issue wasn’t also a lack of shooters—we’ve got plenty. But credit to the Croatian defense: they shut down our outside threats with discipline and tactical awareness. What stood out more was the glaring transition gap. For a team that’s supposed to be fast on paper, Team USA looked sluggish on counters especially on defensive transition. Every missed shot in the second half turned into a numbers disadvantage, with Croatia consistently a man or two up on the break. That’s not about bad calls—that’s about effort, organization, and urgency. Croatia simply out-executed. ---
**Author:** ![polofan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/848f3c/32.png) [@polofan](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/polofan)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 10:25pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/13 "2025-06-14T22:25:37Z")
Agree and also an abundance of turnovers that led to the counters. Hopefully chalk it up to some first game jitters in pool and get the next one. ---
**Author:** ![Getit2theset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@Getit2theset](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/Getit2theset)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/15 "2025-06-15T17:13:51Z")
First, Happy Father’s Day to the Dads on here! That was a better performance today and we certainly had our chances, but some of the non-calls down the stretch were downright baffling. Can we still advance with a win vs MNE? ---
**Author:** ![WaPo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@WaPo](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/WaPo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 5:32pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/16 "2025-06-15T17:32:05Z")
I believe even fourth place teams in Groups A and B can advance. ---
**Author:** ![retiredguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@retiredguy](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/retiredguy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 6:01pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/17 "2025-06-15T18:01:27Z")
Correct 3rd and 4th place teams have a cross with the lower seeded brackets to advance to quarterfinals. Definitely game plan today much better against a very strong Hungarian team. Fun to see the couple of US Collegiate players too for Hungary. Again our center play with Castillo and Schneider was pretty phenomenal in that game. ---
**Author:** ![Brlslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@Brlslap](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/Brlslap)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 6:21pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/18 "2025-06-15T18:21:53Z")
So many earned exclusions from those two ---
**Author:** ![polofan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/848f3c/32.png) [@polofan](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/polofan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 6:25pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/19 "2025-06-15T18:25:27Z")
Yes much better and yes I believe you also can backdoor through the lower seed winners . I _think_ ---
**Author:** ![Getit2theset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@Getit2theset](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/Getit2theset)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 6:51pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/20 "2025-06-15T18:51:35Z")
There was a certain dunk that everyone seemed to think was a five meter (except the refs…😂) that was not called. Just emblematic of the high level of play from our centers/drivers! ---
**Author:** ![WPolo9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@WPolo9](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/WPolo9)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231/21 "2025-06-15T20:27:46Z")
Yes 4th place finishers on top 2 groups will play against the winner of the 1st place finishers from the bottom half of the groups. If US ends 4th they will play the winner of 1 place finishers from Group D and Group C (most likely against Brazil)! [Next page](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/u20-world-championship/1231.md?page=2)