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

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Water polo at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships – Men's tournament
Tournament details
Host country	Japan
Dates	17–29 July
Teams	16 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)	Marine Messe, Fukuoka
Final positions
Champions	Hungary (4th title)
Runner-up	Greece
Third place	Spain
Fourth place	Serbia
Tournament statistics
Matches	48
Goals scored	1177 (24.52 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Strahinja Rašović (25 goals)
Best player	Gergő Zalánki
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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.

Hungary claimed their fourth title by defeating Greece in the final.

Qualification

Event	Dates	Hosts	Quota	Qualifier(s)
Host nation	N/A	N/A	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	N/A	N/A	1	South Africa
Oceanian Wildcard	N/A	N/A	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.

Draw

The draw was held on 18 April 2023.

Seeding

The pots were announced on 12 April 2023.

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).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts

Source:
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	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	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	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	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	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	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

Source:
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	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	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	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	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	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	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

Source:
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 16:00	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	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	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	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	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	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

Source:
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	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	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	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	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	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	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

23 July

Montenegro

Croatia

27 July

Montenegro

Greece

Serbia

25 July

Italy

11 (3)

23 July

Serbia (PSO)

11 (4)

Japan

29 July

Serbia

Greece

10 (3)

Hungary (PSO)

10 (4)

25 July

Hungary

23 July

United States

United States

27 July

Canada

Hungary

Spain

Third place

25 July

29 July

Spain

Serbia

23 July

France

Spain

Australia

France

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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	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	Team
1	Hungary
2	Greece
3	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	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
5	Đuro Radović	18	35	51
7	Francesco Di Fulvio	17	34	50
7	Yusuke Inaba	17	45	38
9	Ugo Crousillat	16	34	47
9	Taiyo Watanabe	16	33	48

Awards

The awards were announced on 29 July 2023.

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

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Water polo at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships – Men's tournament Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.

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

Contents

Qualification

Draw

Seeding

Preliminary round

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Knockout stage

Bracket

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

13–16th place semifinals

9–12th place semifinals

5–8th place semifinals

Semifinals

15th place game

13th place game

Eleventh place game

Ninth place game

Seventh place game

Fifth place game

Third place game

Final

Final ranking

Statistics and awards

Top goalscorers

Awards