| Water polo at the 2020 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Qualification | ||
| men | women | |
| Tournaments | ||
| men | women | |
| Rosters | ||
| men | women | |
The qualification for the 2020 women's Olympic water polo tournament (postponed to 2021 [1] due to the COVID-19 pandemic ) allocated ten teams quota spots: the hosts, the top team in the World League, the top team in the World Championships, five continental Olympic qualification tournament champions, and the two top teams at an Olympic qualifying tournament. [2]
| Event | Dates | Hosts | Quota | Qualifier(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host nation | — | — | 1 |  Japan |
| 2019 FINA World League | 4–9 June 2019 |  Hungary | 1 |  United States |
| 2019 FINA World Championships | 14–26 July 2019 |  Gwangju | 1 |  Spain |
| 2019 Pan American Games | 4–10 August 2019 |  Lima | 1 |  Canada |
| Oceanian Continental Selection | — | — | 1 |  Australia |
| African Continental Selection | — | — | 1 |  South Africa |
| 2020 European Championships | 12–25 January 2020 | Budapest | 1 |  ROC |
| 2018 Asian Games [3] [4] [5] | 16–21 August 2018 |  Jakarta | 1 |  China |
| World Qualification Tournament | 19–24 January 2021 [6] |  Trieste | 2 | Hungary |
 Netherlands | ||||
| Total | 10 | |||
The best team in the 2019 World League qualified for the Olympics.
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
 | United States |
 | Italy |
 |  Russia |
| 4 | Netherlands |
| 5 | Australia |
| 6 | Hungary |
| 7 | Canada |
| 8 | China |
The top team in the 2019 World Championships qualified for the Olympics.
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
| United States 1 |
| Spain |
| Australia |
| 4 | Hungary |
| 5 | Russia |
| 6 | Italy |
| 7 | Netherlands |
| 8 |  Greece |
| 9 | Canada |
| 10 |  Kazakhstan |
| 11 | China |
| 12 |  New Zealand |
| 13 | Japan |
| 14 | South Africa |
| 15 |  Cuba |
| 16 | South Korea |
1 The United States qualified for the Olympics by winning the 2019 World League.
One team from each continental qualifying event qualifies for the Olympics.
Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, was supposed to host the Asian continental tournament from 12 to 16 February. [7] In late January the event was cancelled as the Kazakh Government suspended all flights and visas from China due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic in the Eastern part of the country. [3] In mid-February AASF decided to use the final ranking of 2018 Asian Games to allocate its continental quotas to the winners and the slots in the WQT to the following teams in said ranking. [8] [4] The decision was later made official by FINA and the berths for the Olympic Games and for the WQT went to China and Kazakhstan respectively; since the remaining eligible teams from the Asian Games (Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong) all declined to participate in the WQT, FINA invited Uzbekistan. [5]
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
| China |
| Kazakhstan |
| Japan 1 |
| 4 |  Thailand |
| 5 | Indonesia |
| 6 |  Hong Kong |
1Japan qualified for the Olympics as host.
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
| Spain 1 |
| Russia |
| Hungary |
| 4 | Netherlands |
| 5 | Italy |
| 6 | Greece |
| 7 |  France |
| 8 |  Slovakia |
| 9 |  Israel |
| 10 |  Croatia |
| 11 |  Germany |
| 12 |  Serbia |
1 Spain qualified for the Olympics by finishing second in the 2019 World Championships.
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
| United States 1 |
| Canada |
|  Brazil |
| 4 | Cuba |
| 5 |  Puerto Rico |
| 6 |  Mexico |
| 7 |  Venezuela |
| 8 | Peru |
1 The United States qualified for the Olympics by winning the 2019 World League.
The tournament was scheduled to be contested in Trieste, Italy, from 17 to 24 May but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The draw of pools was held at FINA headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 11 February 2020. The top two teams qualified for the Olympics. [8] It now takes place from 19 to 24 January 2021.
The draw took place on 11 February 2020 in Lausanne, Switzerland. [9]
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
Netherlands France Italy  Uzbekistan Slovakia | Greece Hungary Israel New Zealand Kazakhstan |
| Qualified for the Summer Olympics |
| Rank | Team [10] |
|---|---|
| Hungary |
| Netherlands |
| Greece |
| 4 | Italy |
| 5 | France |
| 6 | Kazakhstan |
| 7 | Israel |
| 8 | Slovakia |
The FINA Water Polo World League was an international water polo league organized by FINA, which played annually, typically from winter through to June. League play featured continental tournaments for men and women, from which the top teams emerged to play in the championship tournament where the league champion team is crowned.
The 2012 Men's Water Polo Olympic Qualification Tournament was held at the Kinsman Sports Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 1 to 8 April 2012.
The 2012 Women's Water Polo Olympic Qualification Tournament was held at the Polo Natatorio Bruno Bianchi in Trieste, Italy, from 15 to 22 April 2012.
The water polo tournaments at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place at the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center in Kōtō. Twenty-two teams competed in the tournament, an increase of two from the previous editions. Men's Water polo was also the last final played before the closing ceremony.
The 2016 Men's Water Polo Olympic Qualification Tournament was held in Trieste, Italy, from 3 to 10 April 2016, at the Polo Natatorio "Bruno Bianchi". The top four teams advanced to the Olympics.
The men's water polo tournament at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships, organised by the FINA, was held in Budapest, Hungary from 17 to 29 July 2017.
The qualification for the 2020 Women's Olympic Handball Tournament assigned quota places to twelve teams: the hosts, the World champion, four continental champions and six teams from the World Olympic qualification tournaments respectively. The 2020 Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The qualification for the 2020 men's Olympic water polo tournament allocated twelve teams quota spots: the hosts, the top team in the World League, the top two teams in the World Championships, five continental Olympic qualification tournament champions, and the three top teams at an Olympic qualifying tournament.
Hungary competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hungarian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, except for two occasions. Hungary was not invited to the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, because of its role in the first World War, and was also part of the Soviet boycott, when Los Angeles hosted the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Spain competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020 but postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the nation's official debut in 1920, Spanish athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, as a part of the boycott against the Soviet invasion of Hungary. Spain competed in all sports except baseball, rugby sevens, wrestling and surfing.
The men's tournament of water polo at the 2020 Summer Olympics at Tokyo, Japan began on 25 July and ended on 8 August 2021. It was held at the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center. It was the 27th official appearance of the tournament, which was not held in 1896 and was a demonstration sport in 1904 but otherwise had been held at every Olympics.
The women's tournament of water polo at the 2020 Summer Olympics at Tokyo, Japan was played from 24 July to 7 August 2021 at the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center. It was the sixth appearance of the women's tournament, which had been held consecutively since 2000 and also was the first time on history that the tournament had 10 teams competing.
Kazakhstan competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the nation's seventh consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era.
The 2020 FINA Men's Water Polo World League was the 19th edition of the annual men's international water polo tournament. It was played between November 2019 and July 2021 and open to all men's water polo national teams. After participating in a preliminary round, eight teams qualified to play in a final tournament, called the Super Final, originally scheduled from 23 to 28 June 2020. The tournament was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2020, it was announced that it would be played in from January to July 2021.
The 2020 FINA Women's Water Polo World League was the 17th edition of the annual women's international water polo tournament. It was played between October 2019 and June 2021 and opened to all women's water polo national teams. After participating in a preliminary round, eight teams qualified to play in a final tournament, called the Super Final, originally from 9–14 June 2020. The tournament was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2020, it was announced that it would be played in from January to June 2021.
The 2020 Men's European Water Polo Championship was the 34th edition of the major European water polo tournament for national teams. It was held at the Danube Arena in Budapest, Hungary, from 14 to 26 January 2020.
The 2020 Women's European Water Polo Championship was the 18th edition of the major European water polo tournament for national teams. It was held at the Danube Arena in Budapest, Hungary, from 12 to 25 January 2020.
The 2020 Men's Water Polo Olympic Qualification Tournament took place from 14 to 21 February 2021 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The top three teams advanced to the Olympics.
The 2020 Women's Water Polo Olympic Qualification Tournament took place in Trieste, Italy. The top two teams advanced to the Olympics.
The 2023 Pan American Water Polo Championships was the 10th edition of the continental championship, organised by the Swimming Union of the Americas. The competition was the 10th for men and 8th for women. This is the first tournament since being renamed as the 2023 Pan American Water Polo Championships. The event was held in Bauru, Brazil.
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| Qualifications |
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| Squads |
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| Statistics |
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| Miscellaneous | |||||
 Qualification for the 2020 Summer Olympics | |
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