Water polo at the World Aquatics Championships

Water polo at the World Aquatics Championships
Sport	Water polo
Founded	1973 (men) ; 1986 (women)
No. of teams	16 (finals)
Continent	International (FINA)
Most recent; champion(s)	Croatia (men, 3rd title); United States (women, 8th title)
Most titles	Hungary and Italy; (men; 4 titles each); United States (women; 8 titles)

Water polo at the World Aquatics Championships is an international water polo tournament held every two years as part of the World Aquatics Championships.^[1] The reigning champions are Croatia in men's and the United States in women's competition.^[2]

Events[edit]

Event	1973	1975	1978	1982	1986	1991	1994	1998	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024	Editions
Men's tournament	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	21
Women's tournament					X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	17

Total	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2

Men's tournament[edit]

Results summary[edit]

Year^[1]	Host	Gold	Score	Silver	Bronze	Score	4th place
1973 Details	Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Hungary	Round-robin (5–4)	Soviet Union	Yugoslavia	Round-robin (4–5)	Italy
1975 Details	Cali, Colombia	Soviet Union	Round-robin (5–4)	Hungary	Italy	Round-robin (4–4)	Cuba
1978 Details	West Berlin, West Germany	Italy	Round-robin (4–4)	Hungary	Yugoslavia	Round-robin (6–4)	Soviet Union
1982 Details	Guayaquil, Ecuador	Soviet Union	Round-robin (7–7)	Hungary	West Germany	Round-robin (5–3)	Netherlands
1986 Details	Madrid, Spain	Yugoslavia	12–11 (4 OT)	Italy	Soviet Union	8–6 (2 OT)	United States
1991 Details	Perth, Australia	Yugoslavia	8–7	Spain	Hungary	13–12	United States
1994 Details	Rome, Italy	Italy	10–5	Spain	Russia	14–13 (OT)	Croatia
1998 Details	Perth, Australia	Spain	6–4	Hungary	Yugoslavia	9–5	Australia
2001 Details	Fukuoka, Japan	Spain	4–2	Yugoslavia	Russia	7–6	Italy
2003 Details	Barcelona, Spain	Hungary	11–9 (OT)	Italy	Serbia and Montenegro	5–3	Greece
2005 Details	Montreal, Canada	Serbia and Montenegro	8–7	Hungary	Greece	11–10 (OT)	Croatia
2007 Details	Melbourne, Australia	Croatia	9–8 (OT)	Hungary	Spain	9–9 (OT) (9–8 pen.)	Serbia
2009 Details	Rome, Italy	Serbia	7–7 (OT) (7–6 pen.)	Spain	Croatia	8–6	United States
2011 Details	Shanghai, China	Italy	8–7 (OT)	Serbia	Croatia	12–11	Hungary
2013 Details	Barcelona, Spain	Hungary	8–7	Montenegro	Croatia	10–8	Italy
2015 Details	Kazan, Russia	Serbia	11–4	Croatia	Greece	7–7 (4–2 pen.)	Italy
2017 Details	Budapest, Hungary	Croatia	8–6	Hungary	Serbia	11–8	Greece
2019 Details	Gwangju, South Korea	Italy	10–5	Spain	Croatia	10–7	Hungary
2022 Details	Budapest, Hungary	Spain	9–9 (6–5 pen.)	Italy	Greece	9–7	Croatia
2023 Details	Fukuoka, Japan	Hungary	10–10 (4–3 pen.)	Greece	Spain	9–6	Serbia
2024 Details	Doha, Qatar	Croatia	11–11 (4–2 pen.)	Italy	Spain	14–10	France
2025 Details	Kallang, Singapore
2027 Details	Budapest, Hungary
2029 Details	Beijing, China

Confederation statistics[edit]

Best performances by tournament[edit]

This is a summary of the best performances of each confederation in each tournament.^[1]

Legend

1^st – Champions
2^nd – Runners-up
3^rd – Third place
4^th – Fourth place
Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament

Confederation	1973	1975	1978	1982	1986	1991	1994	1998	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024
Africa – CANA	—	—	—	15th	—	15th	15th	14th	—	—	15th	14th	15th	16th	15th	12th	16th	12th	12th	16th	15th
Americas – ASUA	5th	4th	5th	5th	4th	4th	6th	7th	7th	6th	11th	9th	4th	6th	9th	7th	12th	9th	6th	7th	9th
Asia – AASF	—	15th	—	10th	—	14th	12th	11th	12th	15th	14th	13th	12th	11th	12th	11th	10th	11th	9th	11th	12th
Europe – LEN	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st
Oceania – OSA	14th	11th	9th	11th	10th	8th	10th	4th	10th	7th	10th	10th	10th	9th	8th	8th	7th	6th	11th	10th	11th
Nations	16	16	16	16	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16

Team statistics[edit]

Participating teams[edit]

Note: Results of qualification tournaments are not included.

Legend

1st – Champions
2nd – Runners-up
3rd – Third place
4th – Fourth place
Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
– Hosts
^† – Defunct team

Men's team^[1]	1973	1975	1978	1982	1986	1991	1994	1998	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024	Years
Africa – CANA (2 teams)
Egypt				15th		15th																2
South Africa							15th	14th			15th	14th	15th	16th	15th	12th	16th	12th	12th	16th	15th	13
Americas – ASUA (7 teams)
Men's team^[1]	1973	1975	1978	1982	1986	1991	1994	1998	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024	Years
Argentina																16th				13th		2
Brazil					12th			12th	13th	13th			13th	14th		10th	12th	13th	15th	WD	14th	11
Canada		14th	14th	14th	13th	13th	14th	13th	15th	14th	13th	12th	8th	10th	11th	9th	15th		16th	12th		18
Colombia		16th																				1
Cuba	6th	4th	10th	5th	7th	11th	11th				12th											8
Mexico	9th	9th	15th																			3
United States	5th	8th	5th	6th	4th	4th	6th	7th	7th	6th	11th	9th	4th	6th	9th	7th	13th	9th	6th	7th	9th	21
Asia – AASF (5 teams)
Men's team^[1]	1973	1975	1978	1982	1986	1991	1994	1998	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024	Years
China				10th		14th				16th	16th	13th	12th	15th	14th	15th				15th	12th	11
Iran		15th						15th														2
Japan									16th	15th	14th	16th		11th		13th	10th	11th	9th	11th	13th	11
Kazakhstan	Part of Soviet Union						12th	11th	12th				16th	13th	12th	11th	11th	14th	14th	14th	16th	12
South Korea																		15th				1
Europe – LEN (22 teams)
Men's team^[1]	1973	1975	1978	1982	1986	1991	1994	1998	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024	Years
Bulgaria	13th	12th	8th																			3
Croatia	Part of Yugoslavia						4th	9th	8th	9th	4th	1st	3rd	3rd	3rd	2nd	1st	3rd	4th	9th	1st	15
France				13th	8th	12th											14th			6th	4th	6
Georgia	Part of Soviet Union																		10th			1
Germany	See West Germany					5th	9th		14th	11th	9th	8th	6th	8th	10th			8th	13th			11
Great Britain	15th																					1
Greece	12th		12th	12th	11th	10th	7th	8th	6th	4th	3rd	6th			6th	3rd	4th	7th	3rd	2nd	5th	18
Hungary	1st	2nd	2nd	2nd	9th	3rd	5th	2nd	5th	1st	2nd	2nd	5th	4th	1st	6th	2nd	4th	7th	1st	7th	21
Israel	16th		16th		15th																	3
Italy	4th	3rd	1st	9th	2nd	6th	1st	5th	4th	2nd	8th	5th	11th	1st	4th	4th	6th	1st	2nd	5th	2nd	21
Montenegro	Part of Yugoslavia						Part of FRY / SCG						9th	7th	2nd	5th	5th	10th	8th	8th	8th	9
Men's team	1973	1975	1978	1982	1986	1991	1994	1998	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024	Years
Netherlands	8th	7th	13th	4th	14th		8th		9th													7
North Macedonia	Part of Yugoslavia												14th									1
Romania	7th	5th	6th			9th	13th			12th	6th	11th	7th	12th	13th						10th	12
Russia	Part of Soviet Union						3rd	6th	3rd	10th	7th	7th				14th	8th		DQ	DQ	DQ	8
Serbia	Part of Yugoslavia						Part of FRY / SCG					4th	1st	2nd	7th	1st	3rd	5th	5th	4th	6th	10
Serbia and Montenegro^†^[a]	Part of Yugoslavia							3rd	2nd	3rd	1st	Defunct										4
Slovakia	Part of Czechoslovakia							10th	11th	8th												3
Soviet Union^†	2nd	1st	4th	1st	3rd	7th	Defunct															6
Spain	10th	10th	11th	8th	5th	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	5th	5th	3rd	2nd	5th	5th		9th	2nd	1st	3rd	3rd	20
West Germany^†	11th	6th	7th	3rd	6th	See Germany																5
Yugoslavia^†	3rd	13th	3rd	7th	1st	1st	Defunct															6
Oceania – OSA (2 teams)
Men's team^[1]	1973	1975	1978	1982	1986	1991	1994	1998	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024	Years
Australia	14th	11th	9th	11th	10th	8th	10th	4th	10th	7th	10th	10th	10th	9th	8th	8th	7th	6th	11th	10th	11th	21
New Zealand				16th		16th	16th	16th				15th			16th			16th				7

Total teams	16	16	16	16	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16

Finishes in the top four[edit]

The following table is pre-sorted by total finishes in the top four (in descending order), number of gold medals (in descending order), number of silver medals (in descending order), number of bronze medals (in descending order), name of the team (in ascending order), respectively.

Legend

^* – Host team
^† – Defunct team

Rk	Men's team^[1]	Total	Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	First	Last
1	Hungary	14	4 (1973, 2003, 2013, 2023)	7 (1975, 1978, 1982, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2017^*)	1 (1991)	2 (2011, 2019)	1973	2023
2	Italy	13	4 (1978, 1994^*, 2011, 2019)	4 (1986, 2003, 2022, 2024)	1 (1975)	4 (1973, 2001, 2013, 2015)	1973	2024
3	Croatia	11	3 (2007, 2017, 2024)	1 (2015)	4 (2009, 2011, 2013, 2019)	3 (1994, 2005, 2022)	1994	2024
4	Spain	10	3 (1998, 2001, 2022)	4 (1991, 1994, 2009, 2019)	2 (2007, 2023, 2024)		1991	2024
5	Serbia	6	2 (2009, 2015)	1 (2011)	1 (2017)	2 (2007, 2023)	2007	2023
6	Greece	6		1 (2023)	3 (2005, 2015, 2022)	2 (2003, 2017)	2003	2023
7	Soviet Union^†	5	2 (1975, 1982)	1 (1973)	1 (1986)	1 (1978)	1973	1986
8	Yugoslavia^†	4	2 (1986, 1991)		2 (1973^*, 1978)		1973	1991
9	Yugoslavia^†^[a] / Serbia and Montenegro^†	4	1 (2005)	1 (2001)	2 (1998, 2003)		1998	2005
10	United States	3				3 (1986, 1991, 2009)	1986	2009
11	Russia	2			2 (1994, 2001)		1994	2001
12	Montenegro	1		1 (2013)			2013	2013
13	West Germany^†	1			1 (1982)		1982	1982
14	Australia	1				1 (1998^*)	1998	1998
	Cuba					1 (1975)	1975	1975
	France					1 (2024)	2024	2024
	Netherlands					1 (1982)	1982	1982
Rk	Men's team	Total	Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	First	Last

Medal table[edit]

The following table is pre-sorted by number of gold medals (in descending order), number of silver medals (in descending order), number of bronze medals (in descending order), name of the team (in ascending order), respectively.

Legend

^† – Defunct team


Rank	Men's team	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Hungary	4	7	1	12
2	Italy	4	4	1	9
3	Spain	3	4	3	10
4	Croatia	3	1	4	8
5	Serbia	2	1	1	4
5	Soviet Union^†	2	1	1	4
7	Yugoslavia^†	2	0	2	4
8	Yugoslavia^†^[a] / Serbia and Montenegro^†	1	1	2	4
9	Greece	0	1	3	4
10	Montenegro	0	1	0	1
11	Russia	0	0	2	2
12	West Germany^†	0	0	1	1
Totals (12 entries)		21	21	21	63

Champions (results and squads)[edit]

The following table shows results of world champions in men's water polo by tournament.

Legend

6 – Winning 6 matches during the tournament
4 – Drawing 4 matches during the tournament
2 – Losing 2 matches during the tournament
100.0% – Winning all matches during the tournament
team – Winning streak (winning three or more world championships in a row)
– Host team
^† – Defunct team

Abbreviation

MP – Matches played
W – Won
D – Drawn
L – Lost
GF – Goals for
GA – Goals against
GD – Goals difference
GF/MP – Goals for per match
GA/MP – Goals against per match
GD/MP – Goals difference per match

**Results of champions by tournament**
#	Men's tournament	Champion	MP	W	D	L	Win %	GF	GA	GD	GF/MP	GA/MP	GD/MP
1	Belgrade 1973	Hungary (1st title)	8	7	1	0	87.5%	58	24	34	7.250	3.000	4.250
2	Cali 1975	Soviet Union^† (1st title)	8	6	2	0	75.0%	49	26	23	6.125	3.250	2.875
3	West Berlin 1978	Italy (1st title)	8	5	3	0	62.5%	41	31	10	5.125	3.875	1.250
4	Guayaquil 1982	Soviet Union^† (2nd title)	7	6	1	0	85.7%	68	41	27	9.714	5.857	3.857
5	Madrid 1986	Yugoslavia^† (1st title)	6	5	1	0	83.3%	61	43	18	10.167	7.167	3.000
6	Perth 1991	Yugoslavia^† (2nd title)	7	6	0	1	85.7%	81	46	35	11.571	6.571	5.000
7	Rome 1994	Italy (2nd title)	7	7	0	0	100.0%	65	39	26	9.286	5.571	3.714
8	Perth 1998	Spain (1st title)	8	8	0	0	100.0%	65	35	30	8.125	4.375	3.750
9	Fukuoka 2001	Spain (2nd title)	8	8	0	0	100.0%	63	27	36	7.875	3.375	4.500
10	Barcelona 2003	Hungary (2nd title)	6	5	1	0	83.3%	62	37	25	10.333	6.167	4.167
11	Montreal 2005	Serbia and Montenegro^† (1st title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	69	29	40	11.500	4.833	6.667
12	Melbourne 2007	Croatia (1st title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	65	40	25	10.833	6.667	4.167
13	Rome 2009	Serbia (1st title)	7	5	1	1	71.4%	80	60	20	11.429	8.571	2.857
14	Shanghai 2011	Italy (3rd title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	59	33	26	9.833	5.500	4.333
15	Barcelona 2013	Hungary (3rd title)	7	5	1	1	71.4%	76	54	22	10.857	7.714	3.143
16	Kazan 2015	Serbia (2nd title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	73	43	30	12.167	7.167	5.000
17	Budapest 2017	Croatia (2nd title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	70	47	23	11.667	7.833	3.833
18	Gwangju 2019	Italy (4th title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	60	40	20	10.000	6.667	3.333
19	Budapest 2022	Spain (3rd title)	5	5	0	0	100.0%	74	39	35	14.800	7.800	7.000
20	Fukuoka 2023	Hungary (4th title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	88	67	21	14.667	11.167	3.500
21	Doha 2024	Croatia (3rd title)	7	6	0	1	85.7%	117	70	47	16.174	10.000	6.174
#	Men's tournament	Total	141	126	11	4	89.4%	1444	871	573	10.241	6.177	4.064
#	Men's tournament	Champion	MP	W	D	L	Win %	GF	GA	GD	GF/MP	GA/MP	GD/MP

Sources:

Official Reports (FINA) (PDF): "World Championship" (p. 15);
Todor66: "Men's Water Polo World Championship".

The following table shows men's teams that won all matches during the tournament.

**Winning all matches during the tournament**
#	Year	Champion	MP	W	D	L	Win %
1	1994	Italy (2nd title)	7	7	0	0	100.0%
2	1998	Spain (1st title)	8	8	0	0	100.0%
3	2001	Spain (2nd title)	8	8	0	0	100.0%
4	2005	Serbia and Montenegro^† (1st title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
5	2007	Croatia (1st title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
6	2011	Italy (3rd title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
7	2015	Serbia (2nd title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
8	2017	Croatia (2nd title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
9	2019	Italy (4th title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
10	2022	Spain (3rd title)	5	5	0	0	100.0%
11	2023	Hungary (4th title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
#	Year	Champion	MP	W	D	L	Win %

The following tables show records of goals for per match.

**Top 5 most goals for per match**
Rk	Year	Champion	MP	GF	GF/MP
1	2024	Croatia (3rd title)	7	117	16.174
2	2022	Spain (3rd title)	5	74	14.800
3	2023	Hungary (4th title)	6	88	14.667
4	2015	Serbia (2nd title)	6	73	12.167
5	2017	Croatia (2nd title)	6	70	11.667

**Top 5 fewest goals for per match**
Rk	Year	Champion	MP	GF	GF/MP
1	1978	Italy (1st title)	8	41	5.125
2	1975	Soviet Union^† (1st title)	8	49	6.125
3	1973	Hungary (1st title)	8	58	7.250
4	2001	Spain (2nd title)	8	63	7.875
5	1998	Spain (1st title)	8	65	8.125

**Historical progression of records – goals for per match**
Goals for per match	Achievement	Year	Champion	Date of winning gold	Duration of record
7.250	Set record	1973	Hungary (1st title)	9 September 1973	8 years, 332 days
9.714	Broke record	1982	Soviet Union^† (2nd title)	7 August 1982	4 years, 15 days
10.167	Broke record	1986	Yugoslavia^† (1st title)	22 August 1986	4 years, 144 days
11.571	Broke record	1991	Yugoslavia^† (2nd title)	13 January 1991	24 years, 207 days
12.167	Broke record	2015	Serbia (2nd title)	8 August 2015	6 years, 329 days
14.800	Broke record	2022	Spain (3rd title)	3 July 2022	1 year, 229 days
16.174	Broke record	2024	Croatia (3rd title)	17 February 2024	61 days

The following tables show records of goals against per match.

**Top 5 most goals against per match**
Rk	Year	Champion	MP	GA	GA/MP
1	2023	Hungary (4th title)	6	67	11.167
2	2024	Croatia (3rd title)	7	70	10.000
3	2009	Serbia (1st title)	7	60	8.571
4	2017	Croatia (2nd title)	6	47	7.833
5	2022	Spain (3rd title)	5	39	7.800

**Top 5 fewest goals against per match**
Rk	Year	Champion	MP	GA	GA/MP
1	1973	Hungary (1st title)	8	24	3.000
2	1975	Soviet Union^† (1st title)	8	26	3.250
3	2001	Spain (2nd title)	8	27	3.375
4	1978	Italy (1st title)	8	31	3.875
5	1998	Spain (1st title)	8	35	4.375

The following tables show records of goals difference per match.

**Top 5 most goals difference per match**
Rk	Year	Champion	MP	GD	GD/MP
1	2022	Spain (3rd title)	5	35	7.000
2	2005	Serbia and Montenegro^† (1st title)	6	40	6.667
3	2024	Croatia (3rd title)	7	47	6.174
4	1991	Yugoslavia^† (2nd title)	7	35	5.000
4	2015	Serbia (2nd title)	6	30	5.000

**Top 5 fewest goals difference per match**
Rk	Year	Champion	MP	GD	GD/MP
1	1978	Italy (1st title)	8	10	1.250
2	2009	Serbia (1st title)	7	20	2.857
3	1975	Soviet Union^† (1st title)	8	23	2.875
4	1986	Yugoslavia^† (1st title)	6	18	3.000
5	2013	Hungary (3rd title)	7	22	3.143

Player statistics[edit]

(C)	Captain	Apps	Appearances	Ref	Reference	Rk	Rank
L/R	Handedness	Pos	Playing position	FP	Field player	GK	Goalkeeper

Multiple gold medalists[edit]

The following table is pre-sorted by number of gold medals (in descending order), number of silver medals (in descending order), number of bronze medals (in descending order), date of receiving the last gold medal (in ascending order), date of receiving the first gold medal (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

Serbian player Slobodan Nikić is the first and only male athlete to win three gold medals in water polo at the World Aquatics Championships.^[3]

There are thirty five male athletes who won two gold medals in water polo at the World Aquatics Championships.

Legend

– Hosts

**Male athletes who won three or more gold medals in water polo at the World Aquatics Championships**
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament							Period (age of first/last)	Medals				Ref
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament							Period (age of first/last)	G	S	B	T	Ref
1	Slobodan Nikić	1983	1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)	Serbia and Montenegro	FP	2003	2005	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	12 years (20/32)	3	1	1	5	^[3]
1	Slobodan Nikić	1983	1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)	Serbia	FP	Does not appear	Does not appear	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	12 years (20/32)	3	1	1	5	^[3]

Multiple medalists[edit]

The following table is pre-sorted by total number of medals (in descending order), number of gold medals (in descending order), number of silver medals (in descending order), date of receiving the last medal (in ascending order), date of receiving the first medal (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

Nine male athletes won five or more medals in water polo at the World Aquatics Championships. Aside from Brazilian-born Spanish player Felipe Perrone^[4] (who won six medals), Serbian player Slobodan Nikić^[3] and Spanish player Blai Mallarach^[5] (who won five medals each), all others were members of the Croatia men's national water polo team. Andro Bušlje is the first and only athlete (man or woman) to win seven medals in water polo at the World Aquatics Championships (two gold, one silver and four bronze).^[6]

Legend

– Hosts

**Male athletes who won five or more medals in water polo at the World Aquatics Championships**
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament													Period (age of first/last)	Medals				Ref
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament													Period (age of first/last)	G	S	B	T	Ref
1	Andro Bušlje	1986	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	Croatia	FP	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	14 years (19/33)	2	1	4	7	^[6]
2	Maro Joković	1987	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	Croatia	FP	2007	Does not appear	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	12 years (19/31)	2	1	3	6	^[7]
3	Felipe Perrone	1986	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	Spain	FP	Does not appear	Does not appear	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	Does not appear	Does not appear	2019	2022	2023	2024	22 years (15/37)	1	2	3	6	^[4]
3	Felipe Perrone	1986	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	Brazil	FP	2001	2003	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	2015	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	22 years (15/37)	1	2	3	6	^[4]
4	Slobodan Nikić	1983	1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)	Serbia and Montenegro	FP	2003	2005	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	12 years (20/32)	3	1	1	5	^[3]
4	Slobodan Nikić	1983	1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)	Serbia	FP	Does not appear	Does not appear	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	12 years (20/32)	3	1	1	5	^[3]
5	Marko Bijač	1991	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	Croatia	GK	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	11 years (22/33)	2	1	2	5	^[8]
5	Luka Lončar	1987	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	Croatia	FP	2013	2015	2017	2019	Does not appear	Does not appear	2024	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	10 years (26/36)	2	1	2	5	^[9]
7	Blai Mallarach	1987	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)	Spain	FP	2009	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	2019	2022	2023	2024	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	15 years (21/36)	1	2	2	5	^[5]
8	Josip Pavić	1982	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	Croatia	GK	2001	Does not appear	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	14 years (19/33)	1	1	3	5	^[10]
8	Sandro Sukno	1990	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	Croatia	FP	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	8 years (19/27)	1	1	3	5	^[11]
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament													Period (age of first/last)	G	S	B	T	Ref
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament													Period (age of first/last)	Medals				Ref

Women's tournament[edit]

Results summary[edit]

Year^[1]	Host	Gold	Score	Silver	Bronze	Score	4th place
1986 Details	Madrid, Spain	Australia	Round-robin (8–7)	Netherlands	United States	Round-robin (7–7)	Canada
1991 Details	Perth, Australia	Netherlands	13–6	Canada	United States	11–9	Hungary
1994 Details	Rome, Italy	Hungary	7–5	Netherlands	Italy	14–9	United States
1998 Details	Perth, Australia	Italy	7–6	Netherlands	Australia	8–5	Russia
2001 Details	Fukuoka, Japan	Italy	7–3	Hungary	Canada	6–5	United States
2003 Details	Barcelona, Spain	United States	8–6	Italy	Russia	9–7	Canada
2005 Details	Montreal, Canada	Hungary	10–7 (OT)	United States	Canada	8–3	Russia
2007 Details	Melbourne, Australia	United States	6–5	Australia	Russia	9–8	Hungary
2009 Details	Rome, Italy	United States	7–6	Canada	Russia	10–9	Greece
2011 Details	Shanghai, China	Greece	9–8	China	Russia	8–7	Italy
2013 Details	Barcelona, Spain	Spain	8–6	Australia	Hungary	10–8	Russia
2015 Details	Kazan, Russia	United States	5–4	Netherlands	Italy	7–7 (5–3 pen.)	Australia
2017 Details	Budapest, Hungary	United States	13–6	Spain	Russia	11–9	Canada
2019 Details	Gwangju, South Korea	United States	11–6	Spain	Australia	10–9	Hungary
2022 Details	Budapest, Hungary	United States	9–7	Hungary	Netherlands	7–5	Italy
2023 Details	Fukuoka, Japan	Netherlands	12–12 (5–4 pen.)	Spain	Italy	16–14	Australia
2024 Details	Doha, Qatar	United States	8–7	Hungary	Spain	10–9	Greece
2025 Details	Kallang, Singapore
2027 Details	Budapest, Hungary

Confederation statistics[edit]

Best performances by tournament[edit]

This is a summary of the best performances of each confederation in each tournament.^[1]

Legend

1st – Champions
2nd – Runners-up
3rd – Third place
4th – Fourth place
Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament

Confederation	1986	1991	1994	1998	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024
Africa – CANA	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	16th	15th	15th	16th	16th	14th	13th	12th	14th
Americas – ASUA	3rd	2nd	4th	6th	3rd	1st	2nd	1st	1st	6th	5th	1st	1st	1st	1st	5th	1st
Asia – AASF	—	—	12th	12th	8th	11th	15th	13th	11th	2nd	9th	5th	10th	10th	11th	13th	10th
Europe – LEN	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st	3rd	3rd	1st	1st	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	2nd
Oceania – OSA	1st	5th	6th	3rd	5th	7th	6th	2nd	6th	5th	2nd	4th	8th	3rd	6th	4th	6th
Nations	9	9	12	12	12	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16

Team statistics[edit]

Participating teams[edit]

Note: Results of qualification tournaments are not included.

Legend

1st – Champions
2nd – Runners-up
3rd – Third place
4th – Fourth place
Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
– Hosts
^† – Defunct team

Women's team^[1]	1986	1991	1994	1998	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024	Years
Africa – CANA (1 team)
South Africa									16th	15th	15th	16th	16th	14th	13th	12th	14th	9
Americas – ASUA (8 teams)
Women's team^[1]	1986	1991	1994	1998	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024	Years
Argentina															12th	16th		2
Brazil		8th	11th	10th	10th	13th	13th	10th	13th	14th	14th	10th	14th		14th	WD	15th	14
Canada	4th	2nd	5th	6th	3rd	4th	3rd	6th	2nd	8th	8th	11th	4th	9th	9th	7th	8th	17
Colombia															16th			1
Cuba							9th	15th		10th				15th				4
Puerto Rico								16th										1
United States	3rd	3rd	4th	8th	4th	1st	2nd	1st	1st	6th	5th	1st	1st	1st	1st	5th	1st	17
Venezuela						14th	14th											2
Asia – AASF (7 teams)
Women's team^[1]	1986	1991	1994	1998	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024	Years
China							16th	14th	11th	2nd	9th	5th	10th	11th	WD	13th	10th	10
Japan					11th	11th						15th	13th	13th	WD	14th	WD	6
Kazakhstan	Part of URS		12th	12th	8th	12th		13th	14th	13th	11th	12th	15th	10th	11th	15th	12th	14
Singapore																	16th	1
South Korea														16th				1
Thailand															15th			1
Uzbekistan	Part of URS						15th		15th	16th	16th							4
Europe – LEN (13 teams)
Women's team^[1]	1986	1991	1994	1998	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024	Years
Belgium	7th																	1
France		9th	9th			15th						14th	11th		8th	9th	13th	8
Germany	FRG	6th	8th			10th	8th	11th	10th									6
Great Britain	9th					16th					13th						11th	4
Greece				5th	7th	9th	5th	8th	4th	1st	6th	6th	7th	8th	7th	8th	4th	14
Hungary	5th	4th	1st	7th	2nd	5th	1st	4th	7th	9th	3rd	9th	5th	4th	2nd	6th	2nd	17
Israel																10th		1
Italy			3rd	1st	1st	2nd	7th	5th	9th	4th	10th	3rd	6th	6th	4th	3rd	7th	15
Netherlands	2nd	1st	2nd	2nd	9th	6th	10th	9th	5th	7th	7th	2nd	9th	7th	3rd	1st	5th	17
Norway	8th																	1
Russia	Part of URS		7th	4th	6th	3rd	4th	3rd	3rd	3rd	4th	8th	3rd	5th	DQ	DQ	DQ	12
Spain				9th		8th	11th	7th	8th	11th	1st	7th	2nd	2nd	5th	2nd	3rd	13
West Germany^†	6th	See Germany																1
Oceania – OSA (2 teams)
Women's team^[1]	1986	1991	1994	1998	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2022	2023	2024	Years
Australia	1st	5th	6th	3rd	5th	7th	6th	2nd	6th	5th	2nd	4th	8th	3rd	6th	4th	6th	17
New Zealand		7th	10th	11th	12th		12th	12th	12th	12th	12th	13th	12th	12th	10th	11th	9th	15

Total teams	9	9	12	12	12	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16

Finishes in the top four[edit]

The following table is pre-sorted by total finishes in the top four (in descending order), number of gold medals (in descending order), number of silver medals (in descending order), number of bronze medals (in descending order), name of the team (in ascending order), respectively.

Legend

^* – Host team

Rk	Women's team^[1]	Total	Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	First	Last
1	United States	13	8 (2003, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2024)	1 (2005)	2 (1986, 1991)	2 (1994, 2001)	1986	2024
2	Hungary	9	2 (1994, 2005)	3 (2001, 2022^*, 2024)	1 (2013)	3 (1991, 2007, 2019)	1991	2024
3	Italy	8	2 (1998, 2001)	1 (2003)	3 (1994^*, 2015, 2023)	2 (2011, 2022)	1994	2023
4	Russia	8			5 (2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2017)	3 (1998, 2005, 2013)	1998	2017
5	Netherlands	7	2 (1991, 2023)	4 (1986, 1994, 1998, 2015)	1 (2022)		1986	2023
6	Australia	7	1 (1986)	2 (2007^*, 2013)	2 (1998^*, 2019)	2 (2015, 2023)	1986	2023
7	Canada	7		2 (1991, 2009)	2 (2001, 2005^*)	3 (1986, 2003, 2017)	1986	2017
8	Spain	5	1 (2013^*)	3 (2017, 2019, 2023)	1 (2024)		2013	2024
9	Greece	3	1 (2011)			2 (2009, 2024)	2009	2024
10	China	1		1 (2011^*)			2011	2011
Rk	Women's team	Total	Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	First	Last

Medal table[edit]

The following table is pre-sorted by number of gold medals (in descending order), number of silver medals (in descending order), number of bronze medals (in descending order), name of the team (in ascending order), respectively.


Rank	Women's team	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	8	1	2	11
2	Netherlands	2	4	1	7
3	Hungary	2	3	1	6
4	Italy	2	1	3	6
5	Spain	1	3	1	5
6	Australia	1	2	2	5
7	Greece	1	0	0	1
8	Canada	0	2	2	4
9	China	0	1	0	1
10	Russia	0	0	5	5
Totals (10 entries)		17	17	17	51

Champions (results and squads)[edit]

The following table shows results of world champions in women's water polo by tournament.

Legend

6 – Winning 6 matches during the tournament
4 – Drawing 4 matches during the tournament
2 – Losing 2 matches during the tournament
100.0% – Winning all matches during the tournament
team – Winning streak (winning three or more world championships in a row)
– Host team
^† – Defunct team

Abbreviation

MP – Matches played
W – Won
D – Drawn
L – Lost
GF – Goals for
GA – Goals against
GD – Goals difference
GF/MP – Goals for per match
GA/MP – Goals against per match
GD/MP – Goals difference per match

**Results of champions by tournament**
#	Women's tournament	Champion	MP	W	D	L	Win %	GF	GA	GD	GF/MP	GA/MP	GD/MP
1	Madrid 1986	Australia (1st title)	7	7	0	0	100.0%	83	36	47	11.857	5.143	6.714
2	Perth 1991	Netherlands (1st title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	71	47	24	11.833	7.833	4.000
3	Rome 1994	Hungary (1st title)	7	6	0	1	85.7%	55	38	17	7.857	5.429	2.429
4	Perth 1998	Italy (1st title)	8	5	0	3	62.5%	77	57	20	9.625	7.125	2.500
5	Fukuoka 2001	Italy (2nd title)	8	6	1	1	75.0%	77	45	32	9.625	5.625	4.000
6	Barcelona 2003	United States (1st title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	62	31	31	10.333	5.167	5.167
7	Montreal 2005	Hungary (2nd title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	64	35	29	10.667	5.833	4.833
8	Melbourne 2007	United States (2nd title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	56	38	18	9.333	6.333	3.000
9	Rome 2009	United States (3rd title)	7	6	0	1	85.7%	77	53	24	11.000	7.571	3.429
10	Shanghai 2011	Greece (1st title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	62	51	11	10.333	8.500	1.833
11	Barcelona 2013	Spain (1st title)	6	5	0	1	83.3%	88	53	35	14.667	8.833	5.833
12	Kazan 2015	United States (4th title)	7	6	0	1	85.7%	72	36	36	10.286	5.143	5.143
13	Budapest 2017	United States (5th title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	92	37	55	15.333	6.167	9.167
14	Gwangju 2019	United States (6th title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	93	26	67	15.500	4.333	11.167
15	Budapest 2022	United States (7th title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	94	33	61	15.667	5.500	10.167
16	Fukuoka 2023	Netherlands (2nd title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	104	50	54	17.333	8.333	9.000
17	Doha 2024	United States (8th title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%	92	41	51	15.333	6.833	8.500
#	Women's tournament	Total	110	101	1	8	91.8%	1319	707	612	11.991	6.427	5.564
#	Women's tournament	Champion	MP	W	D	L	Win %	GF	GA	GD	GF/MP	GA/MP	GD/MP

Sources:

Official Reports (FINA) (PDF): "World Championship" (p. 57);
Todor66: "Women's Water Polo World Championship".

The following table shows women's teams that won all matches during the tournament.

**Winning all matches during the tournament**
#	Year	Champion	MP	W	D	L	Win %
1	1986	Australia (1st title)	7	7	0	0	100.0%
2	1991	Netherlands (1st title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
3	2003	United States (1st title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
4	2005	Hungary (2nd title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
5	2007	United States (2nd title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
6	2011	Greece (1st title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
7	2017	United States (5th title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
8	2019	United States (6th title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
9	2022	United States (7th title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
10	2023	Netherlands (2nd title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
11	2024	United States (8th title)	6	6	0	0	100.0%
#	Year	Champion	MP	W	D	L	Win %

The following tables show records of goals for per match.

**Top 5 most goals for per match**
Rk	Year	Champion	MP	GF	GF/MP
1	2023	Netherlands (2nd title)	6	104	17.333
2	2022	United States (7th title)	6	94	15.667
3	2019	United States (6th title)	6	93	15.500
4	2017	United States (5th title)	6	92	15.333
4	2024	United States (8th title)	6	92	15.333

**Top 5 fewest goals for per match**
Rk	Year	Champion	MP	GF	GF/MP
1	1994	Hungary (1st title)	7	55	7.857
2	2007	United States (2nd title)	6	56	9.333
3	1998	Italy (1st title)	8	77	9.625
3	2001	Italy (2nd title)	8	77	9.625
5	2015	United States (4th title)	7	72	10.286

**Historical progression of records – goals for per match**
Goals for per match	Achievement	Year	Champion	Date of winning gold	Duration of record
11.857	Set record	1986	Australia (1st title)	22 August 1986	26 years, 345 days
14.667	Broke record	2013	Spain (1st title)	2 August 2013	3 years, 360 days
15.333	Broke record	2017	United States (5th title)	28 July 2017	1 year, 363 days
15.500	Broke record	2019	United States (6th title)	26 July 2019	2 years, 341 days
15.667	Broke record	2022	United States (7th title)	2 July 2022	1 year, 26 days
17.333	Broke record	2023	Netherlands (2nd title)	28 July 2023	265 days

The following tables show records of goals against per match.

**Top 5 most goals against per match**
Rk	Year	Champion	MP	GA	GA/MP
1	2013	Spain (1st title)	6	53	8.833
2	2011	Greece (1st title)	6	51	8.500
3	2023	Netherlands (2nd title)	6	50	8.333
4	1991	Netherlands (1st title)	6	47	7.833
5	2009	United States (3rd title)	7	53	7.571

**Top 5 fewest goals against per match**
Rk	Year	Champion	MP	GA	GA/MP
1	2019	United States (6th title)	6	26	4.333
2	1986	Australia (1st title)	7	36	5.143
2	2015	United States (4th title)	7	36	5.143
4	2003	United States (1st title)	6	31	5.167
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Water polo at the World Aquatics Championships

Events[edit]

Men's tournament[edit]

Results summary[edit]

Confederation statistics[edit]

Best performances by tournament[edit]

Team statistics[edit]

Participating teams[edit]

Finishes in the top four[edit]

Medal table[edit]

Champions (results and squads)[edit]

Player statistics[edit]

Multiple gold medalists[edit]

Multiple medalists[edit]

Women's tournament[edit]

Results summary[edit]

Confederation statistics[edit]

Best performances by tournament[edit]

Team statistics[edit]

Participating teams[edit]

Finishes in the top four[edit]

Medal table[edit]

Champions (results and squads)[edit]

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