Water polo at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships – Men's tournament

Water polo at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships – Men's tournament

Tournament details
Host country	Japan
Venue(s)	Marine Messe, Fukuoka
Dates	17–29 July
Teams	16 (from 5 confederations)
Final positions
Champions	Hungary (4th title)
Runner-up	Greece
Third place	Spain
Fourth place	Serbia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	48
Goals scored	1,177 (24.52 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Strahinja Rašović (25 goals)
Best player	Gergő Zalánki
Best goalkeeper	Emmanouil Zerdevas
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The men's water polo tournament at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships was held from 17 to 29 July 2023. This was the 20th time that the men's water polo tournament has been played since the first edition in 1973. ^[1]

Hungary claimed their fourth title by defeating Greece in the final. ^[2]

Qualification

Event	Dates	Hosts	Quota	Qualifier(s)
Host nation	—	—	1	Japan
2022 World League	8 January – 27 July 2022	Strasbourg	2	Italy   United States
2022 World Championships	21 June – 3 July 2022	Budapest	4	Spain   Greece   Croatia   Serbia
2022 European Championship	29 August – 10 September 2022	Split	3	Hungary   France   Montenegro
2022 Asian Championship	7–14 November 2022	Samut Prakan	2	China   Kazakhstan
2023 Pan American Water Polo Championships	3–8 April 2023	Bauru	2	Canada   Brazil   Argentina
African Wildcard	—	—	1	South Africa
Oceanian Wildcard	—	—	1	Australia
Total			16

Due the limited budget and the proximity of the date of the championship with the 2023 Pan American Games, Brazil opted for the withdrawal before the tournament and was replaced by Argentina. ^{[3] [4]}

Draw

The draw was held on 18 April 2023. ^[5]

Seeding

The pots were announced on 12 April 2023. ^[6]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Spain   Greece   Croatia   Italy	Serbia   United States   Canada   Hungary	Argentina   Montenegro   France   Australia	South Africa   Japan   China   Kazakhstan

The draw resulted in the following groups:

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
United States	China	Croatia	South Africa
Australia	France	Hungary	Serbia
Kazakhstan	Canada	Argentina	Montenegro
Greece	Italy	Japan	Spain

Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC+9). ^[7]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Greece	3	3	0	0	0	46	25	+21	9	Quarterfinals
2	United States	3	2	0	0	1	48	28	+20	6	Playoffs
3	Australia	3	1	0	0	2	39	35	+4	3
4	Kazakhstan	3	0	0	0	3	13	58	−45	0

Source: Sportresult
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) Goal difference.

17 July 2023 09:00	Report	Kazakhstan	5–18	United States	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Chisato Kurosaki (JPN), David Gómez (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 1–5, 4–4, 0–4, 0–5
		Markovich 3	Goals	Abramson 5

17 July 2023 10:30	Report	Australia	9–13	Greece	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Adrian-Tiberiu Alexandrescu (ROU), Veselin Mišković (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 1–3, 3–3, 3–5
		Power 4	Goals	Argyropoulos 3

---

19 July 2023 17:30	Report	Greece	18–2	Kazakhstan	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Raffaele Colombo (ITA), Germán Moller (ARG)
		Score by quarters:6–1, 5–0, 4–1, 3–0
		three players 3	Goals	Akhmetov, Ruday 1

19 July 2023 20:30	Report	United States	16–8	Australia	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 3–4, 3–2, 4–1, 6–1
		Daube 5	Goals	Pavillard, Power 3

---

21 July 2023 13:30	Report	United States	14–15	Greece	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Frank Ohme (GER)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 6–1, 2–4, 3–7
		Irving 6	Goals	Genidounias, Papanastasiou 4

21 July 2023 16:00	Report	Australia	22–6	Kazakhstan	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN), David Gómez (ESP)
		Score by quarters:7–2, 3–0, 4–2, 8–2
		Negus, Poot 4	Goals	Artyukh 2

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Italy	3	3	0	0	0	55	17	+38	9	Quarterfinals
2	France	3	2	0	0	1	38	32	+6	6	Playoffs
3	Canada	3	1	0	0	2	30	49	−19	3
4	China	3	0	0	0	3	23	48	−25	0

Source: Sportresult
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) Goal difference.

17 July 2023 12:00	Report	Canada	13–10	China	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN), Nenad Peris (CRO)
		Score by quarters:4–0, 3–6, 4–4, 2–0
		Constantin-Bicari, Gardijan 3	Goals	Peng 4

17 July 2023 13:30	Report	France	6–13	Italy	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Vojin Putniković (SRB), Michiel Zwartt (NED)
		Score by quarters:3–2, 2–3, 0–3, 1–5
		Crousillat, Khasz 2	Goals	Fondelli 4

---

19 July 2023 09:00	Report	Italy	24–6	Canada	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN), David Gómez (ESP)
		Score by quarters:6–0, 4–2, 8–4, 6–0
		three players 4	Goals	Constantin-Bicari 3

19 July 2023 10:30	Report	China	8–17	France	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Michiel Zwartt (NED), Veselin Mišković (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 1–4, 4–6, 0–4, 3–3
		Chen R., Xie 2	Goals	Marzouki 4

---

21 July 2023 17:30	Report	China	5–18	Italy	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Veselin Mišković (MNE), Germán Moller (ARG)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 1–7, 2–6, 0–3
		Chen Z. 2	Goals	Condemi, Di Fulvio 4

21 July 2023 20:30	Report	France	15–11	Canada	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nenad Peris (CRO), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters:5–4, 5–3, 3–2, 2–2
		three players 3	Goals	three players 3

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Hungary	3	3	0	0	0	49	31	+18	9	Quarterfinals
2	Croatia	3	2	0	0	1	51	29	+22	6	Playoffs
3	Japan (H)	3	1	0	0	2	40	42	−2	3
4	Argentina	3	0	0	0	3	27	65	−38	0

Source: Sportresult
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) Goal difference.
(H) Host

17 July 2023 16:00	Report	Argentina	5–24	Croatia	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: David Couper (NZL), Jennifer McCall (USA)
		Score by quarters: 2–8, 1–4, 0–7, 2–5
		five players 1	Goals	Marinić Kragić 5

17 July 2023 19:00	Report	Hungary	16–8	Japan	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Zhang Liang (CHN), Nicola Johnson (AUS)
		Score by quarters: 4–4, 3–2, 3–1, 6–1
		Jansik, Zalánki 4	Goals	Suzuki, Takata 2

---

19 July 2023 12:00	Report	Croatia	10–12	Hungary	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Adrian-Tiberiu Alexandrescu (ROU), Frank Ohme (GER)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 2–2, 3–3, 4–4
		three players 2	Goals	Zalánki 3

19 July 2023 19:00	Report	Japan	20–9	Argentina	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Zhang Liang (CHN), Darren Spiritsanto (USA)
		Score by quarters:6–1, 4–2, 4–2, 6–4
		Watanabe 5	Goals	Martino 3

---

21 July 2023 09:00	Report	Hungary	21–13	Argentina	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Zhang Liang (CHN), Alessia Ferrari (ITA)
		Score by quarters:7–1, 5–4, 4–4, 5–4
		Vigvári 4	Goals	Camnasio, Corsi 3

21 July 2023 19:00	Report	Croatia	17–12	Japan	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Michiel Zwartt (NED)
		Score by quarters:4–3, 3–3, 8–3, 2–3
		Kharkov 4	Goals	Adachi 4

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	3	3	0	0	0	54	27	+27	9	Quarterfinals
2	Serbia	3	1	1	0	1	57	34	+23	5	Playoffs
3	Montenegro	3	1	0	1	1	55	34	+21	4
4	South Africa	3	0	0	0	3	21	92	−71	0

Source: Sportresult
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) Goal difference.

17 July 2023 17:30	Report	Montenegro	35–10	South Africa	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Sebastien Dervieux (FRA), Georgios Stavridis (GRE)
		Score by quarters:6–1, 10–0, 9–5, 10–4
		Radović 7	Goals	four players 2

17 July 2023 20:30	Report	Serbia	14–16	Spain	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Raffaele Colombo (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 3–5, 5–5, 4–3
		Rašović 6	Goals	Granados 5

---

19 July 2023 13:30	Report	Spain	11–7	Montenegro	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Sebastien Dervieux (FRA)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 3–2, 4–2, 2–1
		Perrone 5	Goals	Đurđić 2

19 July 2023 16:00	Report	South Africa	5–30	Serbia	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: David Couper (NZL), Chisato Kurosaki (JPN)
		Score by quarters: 1–8, 1–9, 1–7, 2–6
		Laurenson 2	Goals	Jakšić, Rašović 6

---

21 July 2023 10:30	Report	South Africa	6–27	Spain	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Sebastien Dervieux (FRA), Natalia Markopoulou (GRE)
		Score by quarters: 2–8, 2–7, 2–8, 0–4
		Badenhorst 2	Goals	Valera 5

21 July 2023 12:00	Report	Serbia	17–15	Montenegro	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Adrian-Tiberiu Alexandrescu (ROU), Darren Spiritsanto (USA)
		Score by quarters: 3–6, 4–2, 2–3, 4–2   PSO:4–2
		Vučinić 5	Goals	Matković 3

Knockout stage

Bracket

Championship bracket

Playoffs

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

25 July

Greece

10

23 July

Montenegro

9

Croatia

12

27 July

Montenegro

13

Greece

13

Serbia

7

25 July

Italy

11 (3)

23 July

Serbia (PSO)

11 (4)

Japan

10

29 July

Serbia

16

Greece

10 (3)

Hungary (PSO)

10 (4)

25 July

Hungary

13

23 July

United States

12

United States

13

27 July

Canada

10

Hungary

12

Spain

11

Third place

25 July

29 July

Spain

7

Serbia

6

23 July

France

6

Spain

9

Australia

8

France

11

5th place bracket

	5th–8th place semifinals				Fifth place game
	27 July
	Montenegro	6
					29 July
	Italy	10
					Italy	16
	27 July
					France	9
	United States	13 (3)
	France (PSO)	13 (5)
					Seventh place game
					29 July
					Montenegro	12 (3)
					United States (PSO)	12 (5)

9th place bracket

	9th–12th place semifinals				Ninth place game
	25 July
	Canada	5
					27 July
	Croatia	13
					Croatia	17
	25 July
					Australia	10
	Australia	16
	Japan	15
					Eleventh place game
					27 July
					Canada	11
					Japan	23

13th place bracket

	13th–16th place semifinals				13th place game
	23 July
	Kazakhstan	12
					25 July
	China	5
					Kazakhstan	7
	23 July
					Argentina	11
	Argentina	15
	South Africa	6
					15th place game
					25 July
					China	16
					South Africa	8

Playoffs

23 July 2023 14:00	Report	United States	13–10	Canada	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Sebastien Dervieux (FRA), David Gómez (ESP)
		Score by quarters:3–1, 3–4, 2–1, 5–4
		Daube 7	Goals	Constantin-Bicari 4

---

23 July 2023 15:30	Report	Australia	8–11	France	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Adrian-Tiberiu Alexandrescu (ROU), Darren Spiritsanto (USA)
		Score by quarters: 0–4, 5–2, 2–4, 1–1
		Negus, Pavillard 2	Goals	Vernoux 4

---

23 July 2023 17:00	Report	Croatia	12–13	Montenegro	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Michiel Zwartt (NED)
		Score by quarters:3–2, 0–3, 5–4, 4–4
		Marinić Kragić 4	Goals	Matković, Radović 4

---

23 July 2023 18:30	Report	Japan	10–16	Serbia	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN), Veselin Mišković (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 2–3, 2–7, 3–3
		Inaba 4	Goals	Radulović, Rašović 3

Quarterfinals

25 July 2023 15:00	Report	Greece	10–9	Montenegro	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN)
		Score by quarters:2–1, 4–3, 1–3, 3–2
		Genidounias 5	Goals	Radović 3

---

25 July 2023 16:30	Report	Italy	14–15	Serbia	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Michiel Zwartt (NED), Frank Ohme (GER)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 2–2, 4–4, 2–2   PSO: 3–4
		Di Fulvio 3	Goals	Rašović 4

---

25 July 2023 18:00	Report	Hungary	13–12	United States	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Adrian-Tiberiu Alexandrescu (ROU), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 4–4, 3–1, 3–2, 3–5
		Zalánki 6	Goals	Bowen 4

---

25 July 2023 19:30	Report	Spain	7–6	France	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Raffaele Colombo (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 1–2, 1–2, 2–1, 3–1
		Tahull 2	Goals	Bouet, Crousillat 2

13–16th place semifinals

23 July 2023 09:00	Report	Kazakhstan	12–5	China	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Chisato Kurosaki (JPN), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 1–1, 4–0, 3–1, 4–3
		Markovich 4	Goals	Xie Z. 3

---

23 July 2023 10:30	Report	Argentina	15–6	South Africa	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nóra Debreceni (HUN), David Couper (NZL)
		Score by quarters:3–0, 4–2, 5–1, 3–3
		Camnasio 4	Goals	Wheeler 2

9–12th place semifinals

25 July 2023 12:00	Report	Canada	5–13	Croatia	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Veselin Mišković (MNE), Zhang Liang (CHN)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 1–3, 1–5, 1–2
		five players 1	Goals	Butić, Lazić 3

---

25 July 2023 13:30	Report	Australia	16–15	Japan	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: David Gómez (ESP), Darren Spiritsanto (USA)
		Score by quarters:5–3, 4–7, 4–3, 3–2
		Pavillard 4	Goals	Adachi, Takata 4

5–8th place semifinals

27 July 2023 14:00	Report	Montenegro	6–10	Italy	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Adrian-Tiberiu Alexandrescu (ROU), Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 1–1, 1–3, 2–3, 2–3
		Perković 3	Goals	Damonte 3

---

27 July 2023 15:30	Report	United States	16–18	France	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Michiel Zwartt (NED), David Gómez (ESP)
		Score by quarters:3–1, 3–3, 5–4, 2–5  PSO: 3–5
		Bowen 5	Goals	Crousillat, Vernoux 3

Semifinals

27 July 2023 17:00	Report	Greece	13–7	Serbia	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nenad Peris (CRO), Raffaele Colombo (ITA)
		Score by quarters:3–2, 3–0, 3–3, 4–2
		Argyropoulos, Kakaris 3	Goals	Jakšić, Rašović 2

---

27 July 2023 18:30	Report	Hungary	12–11	Spain	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Frank Ohme (GER)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 1–3, 3–2, 5–3
		Manhercz 3	Goals	three players 2

15th place game

25 July 2023 09:00	Report	China	16–8	South Africa	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Germán Moller (ARG), Hélène Painchaud (CAN)
		Score by quarters:3–2, 4–2, 4–1, 5–3
		Chen Z. 7	Goals	Badenhorst, Howard 2

13th place game

25 July 2023 10:30	Report	Kazakhstan	7–11	Argentina	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Marta Cabanas (ESP), Lee-Anne Stewart (RSA)
		Score by quarters: 1–5, 1–1, 3–3, 2–2
		Markovich, Vuksanovich 2	Goals	Corsi 4

Eleventh place game

27 July 2023 09:00	Report	Canada	11–23	Japan	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Vojin Putniković (SRB), Darren Spiritosanto (USA)
		Score by quarters: 3–6, 3–6, 2–8, 3–3
		Djerkovic 3	Goals	Inaba 5

Ninth place game

27 July 2023 10:30	Report	Croatia	17–10	Australia	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Veselin Mišković (MNE)
		Score by quarters:3–2, 5–4, 6–2, 3–2
		Vukičević 5	Goals	Poot 3

Seventh place game

29 July 2023 11:30	Report	Montenegro	15–17	United States	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Matan Schwartz (ISR), Zhang Liang (CHN)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 4–4, 3–3, 2–2   PSO: 3–5
		three players 2	Goals	Hallock 4

Fifth place game

29 July 2023 16:30	Report	Italy	16–9	France	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN), Veselin Mišković (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 1–2, 3–2, 7–3, 5–2
		Di Fulvio 5	Goals	Crousillat 3

Third place game

29 July 2023 13:00	Report	Serbia	6–9	Spain	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Frank Ohme (GER), Raffaele Colombo (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 2–3, 0–2, 1–1
		Rašović 3	Goals	Granados 3

Final

29 July 2023 18:00	Report	Greece	13–14	Hungary	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Michiel Zwartt (NED), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 2–4, 2–1, 3–2, 3–3   PSO: 3–4
		Genidounias 4	Goals	Manhercz, Zalánki 3

Final ranking

Rank [8] Team   Hungary   Greece   Spain 4   Serbia 5   Italy 6   France 7   United States 8   Montenegro 9   Croatia 10   Australia 11   Japan 12   Canada 13   Argentina 14   Kazakhstan 15   China 16   South Africa Qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics

2023 Men's Water Polo World Champions Hungary Fourth title

Statistics and awards

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals [9]	Shots	%
1	Strahinja Rašović	25	45	56
2	Hannes Daube	22	48	46
3	Nikola Jakšić	20	43	47
4	Gergő Zalánki	19	36	53
5	Konstantinos Genidounias	18	39	46
	Đuro Radović		35	51
7	Francesco Di Fulvio	17	34	50
	Yusuke Inaba		45	38
9	Ugo Crousillat	16	34	47
	Taiyo Watanabe		33	48

Awards

The awards were announced on 29 July 2023. ^[2]

All-star team
Goalkeeper	Emmanouil Zerdevas
Field player	Hannes Daube
	Krisztián Manhercz
	Alexandros Papanastasiou
	Felipe Perrone
	Strahinja Rašović
	Gergő Zalánki
Other awards
MVP	Gergő Zalánki
Best goalkeeper	Emmanouil Zerdevas

References

1. "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. p. 14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
2. "Hungary overcomes Greece in sudden-death shootout". worldaquatics.com. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
3. "Two vacancies at World Championships: Brazilian teams don't arrive in Fukuoka". total-waterpolo.com. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
4. "Argentina In – World Aquatics Championships will now feature Argentina in the Men's and Women's Water Polo Tournaments". worldaquatics.com. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
5. "Draw for World Championships in Fukuoka: Two reigning champions in "Group of death"". total-waterpolo.com. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
6. "The field is now set – Qualified teams for the Men's and Women's Water Polo Tournament for Fukuoka". worldaquatics.com. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
7. "World Championships, schedule: Spain's ladies and men feature in opening day's derbies". total-waterpolo.com. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
8. "World Aquatics Championships - Fukuoka 2023-Final Standings". worldaquatics.com. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
9. Top scorers

External links

• 20th FINA World Championships Fukuoka 2023 FINA Water Polo website
• Records and statistics (reports by Omega) Archived 2024-02-17 at the Wayback Machine
• Water polo at the 2023 World Championships – Men's tournament total-waterpolo.com
• Men Water Polo XX World Championship 2023 Fukuoka, Japan todor66.com