At the 1904 Summer Olympics, a water polo tournament was contested, with three club teams of seven players each. A German team tried to enter, but its entry was refused because their players did not play for the same club.
Water polo at the 2004 Summer Olympics took place at the Olympic Aquatic Centre where women competed for only the second time in the event at the Summer Olympics.
Water polo at the 1980 Summer Olympics as usual was a part of the swimming sport, other two parts were swimming and diving. They were not three separate sports, because they all were governed by one federation — FINA. Water Polo discipline consisted of one event: men's team. In the preliminary round 12 teams were divided into three groups. Two best teams from each group advanced to Group A of the final round to determine places 1 through 6. The rest of teams played in Group B of the final round to determine places 7 through 12.
The 2003 FINA Men's Water Polo World League was the second edition of the annual event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the FINA. After two preliminary rounds, held in São Paulo, Brazil and Budapest, Hungary, the Super Final was held in New York, United States from August 22 to August 24, 2003.
The 1979 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup was the first edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the International Swimming Federation (FINA). The event took place in Rijeka and in the Tašmajdan Swimming Pool in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
The 1983 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup was the third edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the International Swimming Federation (FINA). The event took place in Malibu, United States as a test event to the 1984 Summer Olympics. The eight participating teams played a round robin to decide the winner of what would be a bi-annual event until 1999.
The 1985 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup was the fourth edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the International Swimming Federation (FINA). The event took place in Duisburg, West Germany and was contested at the Schwimmstadion pool. The eight participating teams, the first eight of the 1984 Summer Olympics, played a round robin to decide the winner of what would be a bi-annual event until 1999.
The 1979 FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup was the first edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the International Swimming Federation (FINA). The event took place in Merced, United States, from June 29 to July 1, 1979. The five participating teams played a round robin to decide the first ever winner of the event.
The 1980 FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup was the second edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the International Swimming Federation (FINA). The event took place in Breda, Netherlands, from July 11 to July 13, 1980. The five participating teams, including the Dutch youth team (out-of-competition), played a round robin to decide the winner of the event.
The 1975 Men's World Water Polo Championship was the second edition of the men's water polo tournament at the World Aquatics Championships, organised by the world governing body in aquatics, the FINA. The tournament was held from 19 to 26 July 1975, and was incorporated into the 1975 World Aquatics Championships in Cali, Colombia.
The 1987 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup was the fifth edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the International Swimming Federation (FINA). The event took place in Thessalonica, Greece. Eight teams participated to decide the winner of what would be a bi-annual event until 1999.
The 1989 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup was the sixth edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the International Swimming Federation (FINA). The event took place in Berlin, West Germany. Eight teams participated to decide the winner of what would be a bi-annual event until 1999.
The 1991 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup was the seventh edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the International Swimming Federation (FINA). The event took place in Barcelona, Spain as test event to 1992 Summer Olympics. Eight teams participated to decide the winner of what would be a bi-annual event until 1999.
The 1993 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup was the eighth edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the International Swimming Federation (FINA). The event took place in Athens, Greece. Eight teams participated to decide the winner of what would be a bi-annual event until 1999.
The 2004 FINA Men's Water Polo World League was the third edition of the annual event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the FINA. After a preliminary round, the Super Final was held in Long Beach, United States.
The water polo events at the 1986 World Aquatics Championships were held from 13 to 23 August 1986, in Madrid, Spain.
The water polo events at the 1991 World Aquatics Championships were held from 3 to 13 January 1991, in Perth, Western Australia.
The water polo events at the 1994 World Aquatics Championships were held from 1 to 11 September 1994, in Rome, Italy.
This article contains lists of achievements in major senior-level international water polo tournaments according to first-place, second-place and third-place results obtained by teams representing different nations. The objective is not to create combined medal tables; the focus is on listing the best positions achieved by teams in major international tournaments, ranking the nations according to the most podiums accomplished by teams of these nations.
The FINA Water Polo World Rankings is a ranking system for men's and women's national teams in water polo. The teams of the member nations of FINA, water polo's world governing body, are ranked based on their competitions results with the most successful teams being ranked highest.
URS 
YUG 
CUB 
USA 
ESP 
HUN 
AUS 
BUL 
