Contents

2023 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup

Sports season

2023 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup
League	FINA Water Polo World Cup
Sport	Water polo
Duration	8 March – 2 July
Super Final
Finals champions	Spain
Runners-up	Italy
FINA Water Polo World Cup seasons
← 2018 2024 →

The 2023 Men's FINA Water Polo World Cup was the 17th edition of the tournament. It ran from 8 March to 2 July 2023.^[1] The Super final took place between 30 June and 2 July 2023 in Los Angeles, United States.^[2]

From this year on, the tournament was replacing the FINA Water Polo World League.^[3]

Spain won their first title after defeating Italy in the final.^[4]

Format[edit]

There were two divisions. In Division 1, the top twelve teams from the World Championships played. They played all matches in March in Zagreb and Podgorica. All other teams could have signed up in Division 2, in which each continent hosted a qualification tournament. The top two teams from each of those tournaments played in an intercontinental tournament. The top-six teams of Division 1 and the top-two teams from Division 2 competed in the super final, held from 30 June to 2 July 2023.^[5][6] At the end of the tournament, the last-ranked team was relegated to Division 2 and the winner of Division 2 moved to Division 1 for the following year. A win gave a team three points, a win after penalties two, a loss after penalites one and a loss after regular time zero points.^[7]

Division 1[edit]

The draw was held on 1 December 2022.^[8] Group A played their tournament in Zagreb, Croatia and Group B in Podgorica, Montenegro between 8 and 14 March 2023.^[6][9]

Group A[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Italy	5	5	0	0	0	63	46	+17	15	Super final
2	United States	5	3	0	0	2	64	61	+3	9
3	Hungary	5	3	0	0	2	57	47	+10	9
4	Croatia (H)	5	3	0	0	2	65	56	+9	9
5	Japan	5	1	0	0	4	51	72	−21	3
6	France	5	0	0	0	5	45	63	−18	0	Division 2

All times are local (UTC+1).

8 March 2023 17:30	Report	Italy	13–7	Japan	Zagreb Referees: Maro Savinović (CRO), Marta Cabañas (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 3–1, 4–1, 4–3, 2–2
		three players3	Goals	Inaba3

8 March 2023 19:00	Report	Croatia	16–14	United States	Zagreb Referees: Michiel Zwart (NED), Andreja Stanojević (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 5–5, 5–2, 4–3, 2–4
		Kharkov6	Goals	Bowen4

8 March 2023 20:30	Report	France	6–10	Hungary	Zagreb Referees: Nikolaos Boudramis (GRE), Stanko Ivanovski (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 3–2, 1–4, 1–1, 1–3
		Crousillat2	Goals	Vámos3

9 March 2023 18:30	Report	Croatia	12–7	France	Zagreb Referees: Michiel Zwart (NED), Daniel Bartels (AUS)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 4–1, 3–1, 2–2
		Burić3	Goals	seven players1

9 March 2023 20:30	Report	United States	13–11	Japan	Zagreb Referees: Stanko Ivanovski (MNE), Andreja Stanojević (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 5–3, 4–2, 2–3, 2–3
		Bowen4	Goals	Inaba3

10 March 2023 18:30	Report	Hungary	8–9	Italy	Zagreb Referees: Marta Cabañas (ESP), Michiel Zwart (NED)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 2–2, 2–5, 2–0
		Burián, Vigvári2	Goals	Bruni3

10 March 2023 20:30	Report	France	9–12	United States	Zagreb Referees: Maro Savinović (CRO), Nikolaos Boudramis (GRE)
		Score by quarters: 1–1, 4–3, 2–2, 2–6
		Crousillat3	Goals	Daube4

11 March 2023 18:30	Report	Italy	14–13	Croatia	Zagreb Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Veselin Mišković (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 2–4, 4–4, 1–4, 7–1
		Marziali3	Goals	Marinić4

11 March 2023 20:30	Report	Japan	7–17	Hungary	Zagreb Referees: Vojin Putniković (SRB), David Gómez (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 2–4, 2–4, 2–5, 1–4
		Inaba2	Goals	three players3

12 March 2023 18:30	Report	Croatia	14–8	Japan	Zagreb Referees: Daniel Bartels (AUS), Veselin Mišković (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 5–2, 5–3, 4–1, 0–2
		Fatović5	Goals	Adachi, Inaba2

12 March 2023 20:30	Report	France	8–11	Italy	Zagreb Referees: Levan Berishvili (GEO), David Gómez (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 5–2, 1–6, 0–2, 2–1
		Vernoux3	Goals	Di Somma5

13 March 2023 18:30	Report	United States	15–9	Hungary	Zagreb Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Daniel Bartels (AUS)
		Score by quarters: 4–2, 5–1, 4–2, 2–4
		Irving5	Goals	Zalánki4

13 March 2023 20:30	Report	Japan	18–15	France	Zagreb Referees: Vojin Putniković (SRB), Levan Berishvili (GEO)
		Score by quarters: 10–5, 0–2, 8–4, 0–4
		Watanabe5	Goals	Crousillat6

14 March 2023 18:30	Report	Hungary	13–10	Croatia	Zagreb Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 2–1, 5–4, 3–2, 3–3
		Zalánki7	Goals	three players2

14 March 2023 20:30	Report	Italy	16–10	United States	Zagreb Referees: Veselin Mišković (MNE), David Gómez (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 1–1, 4–2, 4–1, 7–6
		Di Somma5	Goals	Hallock3

Group B[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Spain	5	4	0	1	0	68	41	+27	13	Super final
2	Greece	5	3	0	0	2	68	45	+23	9
3	Serbia	5	2	1	1	1	55	51	+4	9
4	Montenegro (H)	5	3	0	0	2	48	51	−3	9
5	Georgia	5	1	1	0	3	53	73	−20	5
6	Australia	5	0	0	0	5	42	73	−31	0	Division 2

All times are local (UTC+1).

8 March 2023 15:30	Report	Australia	6–10	Serbia	Podgorica Referees: Darren Spiritosanto (USA), Julien Bourges (FRA)
		Score by quarters: 2–1, 1–3, 0–3, 3–3
		Edwards, Pavillard2	Goals	Stanojević3

8 March 2023 17:30	Report	Greece	8–11	Spain	Podgorica Referees: Frank Ohme (GER), Alessandro Severo (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 3–2, 3–3, 1–2, 1–4
		Fountoulis2	Goals	Munárriz5

8 March 2023 19:30	Report	Montenegro	13–12	Georgia	Podgorica Referees: Nóra Debreceni (HUN), Andrej Franulović (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 5–5, 3–0, 4–4
		Đu. Radović4	Goals	Shushiashvili, Vasić3

9 March 2023 17:30	Report	Montenegro	6–10	Spain	Podgorica Referees: Nóra Debreceni (HUN), Frank Ohme (GER)
		Score by quarters: 0–1, 2–5, 3–2, 1–2
		Averka2	Goals	Tahull3

9 March 2023 19:30	Report	Georgia	13–12	Australia	Podgorica Referees: Julien Bourges (FRA), Kazuzo Moribayashi (JPN)
		Score by quarters: 1–2, 2–2, 7–4, 3–4
		Jelača3	Goals	Pavillard5

10 March 2023 17:30	Report	Spain	20–10	Georgia	Podgorica Referees: Nóra Debreceni (HUN), Andrej Franulović (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 6–2, 6–1, 6–2, 2–5
		four players3	Goals	Magrakvelidze, Shushiashvili3

10 March 2023 19:30	Report	Serbia	14–16	Greece	Podgorica Referees: Frank Ohme (GER), Darren Spiritosanto (USA)
		Score by quarters: 2–4, 1–4, 6–5, 5–3
		Rašović5	Goals	four players3

11 March 2023 17:30	Report	Montenegro	9–11	Serbia	Podgorica Referees: Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN), Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 3–3, 2–5, 2–1
		three players2	Goals	Radulović3

11 March 2023 19:30	Report	Greece	20–5	Australia	Podgorica Referees: Sébastien Dervieux (FRA), Nenad Periš (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 7–0, 3–1, 3–2, 7–2
		Papanastasiou5	Goals	five players1

12 March 2023 17:30	Report	Montenegro	12–11	Australia	Podgorica Referees: Darren Spiritosanto (USA), Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 4–4, 4–5, 2–0
		Perković3	Goals	Power3

12 March 2023 19:30	Report	Spain	13–14	Serbia	Podgorica Referees: Raffaele Colombo (ITA), Nenad Periš (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 3–0, 2–5, 2–2, 2–2  PSO: 4–5
		Sanahuja5	Goals	Mandić4

13 March 2023 17:30	Report	Greece	17–7	Georgia	Podgorica Referees: Sébastien Dervieux (FRA), Raffaele Colombo (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 3–2, 6–1, 3–2, 5–2
		Skoumpakis3	Goals	Dzikhtsiarenka, Magrakvelidze2

13 March 2023 19:30	Report	Australia	8–18	Spain	Podgorica Referees: Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN), Kazuzo Moribayashi (JPN)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 2–4, 3–5, 2–6
		Power2	Goals	Munárriz5

14 March 2023 17:30	Report	Georgia	23–22	Serbia	Podgorica Referees: Nenad Periš (CRO), Darren Spiritosanto (USA)
		Score by quarters: 4–2, 2–3, 2–3, 3–3  PSO: 12–11
		Shushiashvili, Vasić5	Goals	Mandić, Vučinić5

14 March 2023 19:30	Report	Montenegro	8–7	Greece	Podgorica Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 2–2, 2–1, 1–1
		V. Radović2	Goals	Fountoulis3

Division 2[edit]

The draw was held on 13 April 2023.^[10] The tournament took place in Berlin, Germany between 5 and 7 May 2023.^[2]

All times are local (UTC+2).

Group A[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany (H)	3	3	0	0	0	56	23	+33	9	Crossover
2	China	3	2	0	0	1	45	28	+17	6
3	Malta	3	1	0	0	2	26	41	−15	3
4	South Africa	3	0	0	0	3	21	56	−35	0

5 May 2023 11:30	Report	China	16–6	South Africa	Berlin Referees: John Waldow (NZL), Viktor Salnichenko (KAZ)
		Score by quarters: 4–2, 5–0, 4–0, 3–4
		Zhang C.5	Goals	Stone, Swanepoel2

5 May 2023 13:00	Report	Germany	15–5	Malta	Berlin Referees: Mihail Bălănescu (ROU), Masoud Rezvani (IRI)
		Score by quarters: 5–2, 3–2, 2–1, 5–0
		Bozic4	Goals	N. Zammit3

5 May 2023 19:00	Report	China	18–6	Malta	Berlin Referees: Masoud Rezvani (IRI), John Waldow (NZL)
		Score by quarters: 5–2, 5–0, 4–3, 4–1
		Zhang C.5	Goals	Plumpton, D. Zammit2

5 May 2023 20:30	Report	Germany	25–7	South Africa	Berlin Referees: Viktor Salnichenko (KAZ), Mihail Bălănescu (ROU)
		Score by quarters: 7–1, 5–3, 5–2, 8–1
		Chiru6	Goals	Bungane, Swanepoel2

6 May 2023 14:00	Report	Malta	15–8	South Africa	Berlin Referees: Mihail Bălănescu (ROU), Viktor Salnichenko (KAZ)
		Score by quarters: 3–4, 5–3, 5–1, 2–0
		A. Galea, Gialanze3	Goals	Swanepoel2

6 May 2023 19:15	Report	Germany	16–11	China	Berlin Referees: Ursula Wengenroth (SUI), John Waldow (NZL)
		Score by quarters: 6–2, 3–5, 5–2, 2–2
		Bozic, Strelezkij4	Goals	Chen5

Group B[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Romania	3	3	0	0	0	50	16	+34	9	Crossover
2	Kazakhstan	3	2	0	0	1	22	34	−12	6
3	Iran	3	1	0	0	2	27	36	−9	3
4	New Zealand	3	0	0	0	3	30	43	−13	0

5 May 2023 08:30	Report	Romania	15–4	Iran	Berlin Referees: Zhang Liang (CHN), Sander Gransjean (NED)
		Score by quarters: 3–0, 6–2, 4–1, 2–1
		three players3	Goals	Mehri2

5 May 2023 10:00	Report	New Zealand	9–10	Kazakhstan	Berlin Referees: Massimo Angileri (MLT), Dasch Barber (RSA)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 3–2, 2–1, 2–4
		Ogilvie-Lee, Wicken3	Goals	Shakenov4

5 May 2023 16:00	Report	Romania	19–5	Kazakhstan	Berlin Referees: Sander Gransjean (NED), Hendrik Schopp (GER)
		Score by quarters: 6–2, 6–1, 2–2, 5–0
		Fulea4	Goals	Akhmetov3

5 May 2023 17:30	Report	New Zealand	14–17	Iran	Berlin Referees: Massimo Angileri (MLT), Ursula Wengenroth (SUI)
		Score by quarters: 2–5, 2–4, 6–3, 4–5
		Wicken4	Goals	Rostamian5

6 May 2023 15:45	Report	New Zealand	7–16	Romania	Berlin Referees: Hendrik Schopp (GER), Zhang Liang (CHN)
		Score by quarters: 0–4, 4–5, 2–3, 1–4
		three players2	Goals	Vancsik4

6 May 2023 17:30	Report	Kazakhstan	7–6	Iran	Berlin Referees: Sander Gransjean (NED), Dasch Barber (RSA)
		Score by quarters: 1–2, 2–3, 3–0, 1–1
		Tsoy3	Goals	Almasi3

Classification games[edit]

7 May 2023 15:45	Report	New Zealand	7–9	South Africa	Berlin Referees: Hendrik Schopp (GER), Mihail Bălănescu (ROU)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 1–1, 2–3, 3–2
		Wicken4	Goals	Faber3

7 May 2023 14:00	Report	Iran	15–9	Malta	Berlin Referees: Viktor Salnichenko (KAZ), Dasch Barber (RSA)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 4–3, 3–0, 6–4
		Yazdankhah5	Goals	A. Galea4

Crossover[edit]

The winners qualified for the super final.

7 May 2023 17:30	Report	Romania	18–9	China	Berlin Referees: Masoud Rezvani (IRI), Sander Gransjean (NED)
		Score by quarters: 5–1, 5–1, 3–3, 5–4
		three players3	Goals	Zhang C.4

7 May 2023 19:15	Report	Germany	12–1	Kazakhstan	Berlin Referees: Zhang Liang (CHN), Ursula Wengenroth (SUI)
		Score by quarters: 3–0, 0–0, 7–1, 2–0
		Chiru, Gansen3	Goals	Shakenov1

Super final[edit]

2023 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup

Tournament details
Host country	United States
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	30 June – 2 July
Teams	8 (from 2 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	12
Goals scored	262 (21.83 per match)
Best player	Edoardo Di Somma
Best goalkeeper	Unai Aguirre

The tournament took place at the University of Southern CaliforniainLos Angeles, United States between 30 June and 2 July 2023.^[2] The quarterfinal matchups were announced on 7 May 2023.^[11]

Bracket[edit]

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	30 June
	Germany	9
					1 July
	Spain	18
					Spain	10
	30 June
					Hungary	8
	Hungary	6
									2 July
	Greece	4
									Spain	10
	30 June
									Italy	4
	Italy	20
					1 July
	Romania	2
					Italy	15
	30 June
					United States	12			Third place
	Serbia	9
									2 July
	United States	10
									Hungary	13
									United States	14

Fifth place bracket

	5–8th place semifinals				Fifth place
	1 July
	Germany	6
					2 July
	Greece	19
					Greece	11
	1 July
					Romania	8
	Romania	17
	Serbia	14
					Seventh place
					2 July
					Germany	8
					Serbia	15

All times are local (UTC−7).

Quarterfinals[edit]

30 June 2023 13:00	Report	Germany	9–18	Spain	Los Angeles Referees: Mihai Balanescu (ROU), Levon Dermendjian (USA)
		Score by quarters: 2–6, 2–3, 2–5, 3–4
		Cuk3	Goals	Munárriz5

30 June 2023 15:00	Report	Italy	20–2	Romania	Los Angeles Referees: Gernot Häntschel (GER), György Kun (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 5–0, 5–1, 5–0, 5–1
		five players3	Goals	Fulea, Neamtu1

30 June 2023 17:00	Report	Hungary	6–4	Greece	Los Angeles Referees: Stanko Ivanovski (MNE), Alessandro Severo (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 1–0, 1–2, 2–0
		Jansik, Varga2	Goals	four players1

30 June 2023 19:00	Report	Serbia	9–10	United States	Los Angeles Referees: Nikolaos Boudramsi (GRE), Xevi Buch (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 5–3, 1–0, 3–3, 0–4
		Rašović4	Goals	Irving3

5th–8th place semifinals[edit]

1 July 2023 13:00	Report	Germany	6–19	Greece	Los Angeles Referees: Mihai Balanescu (ROU), Levon Dermendjian (USA)
		Score by quarters: 0–3, 2–4, 2–6, 2–6
		Sekulic, Strelezkij2	Goals	three players3

1 July 2023 15:00	Report	Romania	17–14	Serbia	Los Angeles Referees: Gernot Häntschel (GER), Alessandro Severo (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 7–4, 3–3, 3–4, 4–3
		Fulea5	Goals	Radulović7

Semifinals[edit]

1 July 2023 17:00	Report	Spain	10–8	Hungary	Los Angeles Referees: Nikolaos Boudramsi (GRE), Ivan Raković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 1–0, 4–3, 4–1, 1–4
		Munárriz3	Goals	Angyal, Vámos2

1 July 2023 19:00	Report	Italy	15–12	United States	Los Angeles Referees: Stanko Ivanovski (MNE), Mikhail Dykman (CAN)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 3–3, 6–3, 3–3
		Di Somma5	Goals	Bowen, Daube4

Seventh place game[edit]

2 July 2023 13:00	Report	Germany	8–15	Serbia	Los Angeles Referees: Levon Dermendjian (USA), Mikhail Dykman (CAN)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 3–2, 2–7, 2–3
		Schütze2	Goals	three players3

Fifth place game[edit]

2 July 2023 15:00	Report	Greece	11–8	Romania	Los Angeles Referees: Ivan Raković (SRB), György Kun (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 1–2, 1–3, 4–1, 5–2
		Genidounias4	Goals	Colodrovschi, Fulea2

Bronze medal game[edit]

2 July 2023 17:00	Report	Hungary	13–14	United States	Los Angeles Referees: Xevi Buch (ESP), Alessandro Severo (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 5–6, 3–3, 4–1, 1–4
		Varga3	Goals	Irving4

Gold medal game[edit]

2 July 2023 19:00	Report	Spain	10–4	Italy	Los Angeles Referees: Nikolaos Boudramsi (GRE), Stanko Ivanovski (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 5–1, 2–2, 3–1, 0–0
		Granados4	Goals	four players1

Final standings[edit]

Rank[1][12] Team  Spain  Italy  United States 4  Hungary 5  Greece 6  Romania 7  Serbia 8  Germany

2023 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup  Spain First title

See also[edit]

• 2023 FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• FINA Official site
• Rules and Regulations 2023