The Malta waterpolo were handed a tough group at the European Championship finals as the draws of the continental competition were held in Barcelona, on Wednesday.

Malta were drawn in Group B alongside Montenegro, France and Spain.

Karl Izzo’s men open their campaign against hosts Spain in the tournament that will be played between July 14 and 28.

Malta booked their place in the European Championship finals when they had the better of Belarus in a two-legged play-off.

The Maltese sealed their passage in emphatic style on Saturday when they beat the Belarussians 16-9 to complete a 23-17 aggregate victory.

This will be the national team’s second participation in the European Championships and again they will be up against the French national team in the group stage.

In 2016, Malta beat Turkey in the play-off for 15th place after completing a shoot-out victory in Belgrade.

The European Championship format will be the same as two years ago the men’s competition will feature 16 teams, drawn to four groups of four.

After the round robin the knockout phase commences, group winners will qualify directly to the quarter-finals while the second and third- ranked sides should play crossover matches and the teams finishing fourth will play for the places 13-16th.

GROUP A: Germany; Georgia; Italy; Hungary.

GROUP B: Montenegro; Malta; France; Spain.

GROUP C: Croatia; Turkey; Netherlands; Greece.

GROUP D: Russia; Serbia; Slovakia; Romania.

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