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

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Water polo at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships – Women's tournament
Tournament details
Host country	Japan
Dates	16–28 July
Teams	16 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)	Marine Messe, Fukuoka
Final positions
Champions	Netherlands (2nd title)
Runner-up	Spain
Third place	Italy
Fourth place	Australia
Tournament statistics
Matches	48
Goals scored	1157 (24.1 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Judith Forca (23 goals)
Best player	Elena Ruiz
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The women's water polo tournament at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships was held from 16 to 28 July 2023. This was the 16th time that the women's water polo tournament has been played since the first edition in 1986. Netherlands won their second title after defeating Spain in the final.

Qualification

Event	Dates	Hosts	Quota	Qualifier(s)
Host nation	N/A	N/A	1	Japan
2022 World League	25 January – 6 November 2022	Santa Cruz de Tenerife	2	Spain Hungary
2022 World Championships	20 June – 2 July 2022	Budapest	4	United States Netherlands Italy Australia
2022 European Championship	27 August – 10 September 2022	Split	3	Greece Israel France
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	New Zealand
Total			16

Due the limited budget and the proximity of the date of the championship with the 2023 Pan American Games, Brazil withdrew 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
United States Hungary Netherlands Italy	Spain Australia Canada Greece	Argentina Israel France New Zealand	South Africa Japan China Kazakhstan

The draw resulted in the following groups:

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
China	Spain	Argentina	Canada
France	Israel	Greece	New Zealand
United States	Netherlands	Italy	Hungary
Australia	Kazakhstan	South Africa	Japan

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.

16 July 2023 09:00	United States	15–6	China	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nóra Debreceni (HUN), Frank Ohme (GER)
	Score by quarters: 1–0, 6–2, 3–1, 5–3
	Musselman 4	Goals	Zhang Jin. 3

16 July 2023 10:30	France	8–10	Australia	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Hélène Painchaud (CAN), Germán Moller (ARG)
	Score by quarters: 3–3, 2–4, 2–1, 1–2
	Bouloukbachi 3	Goals	Andrews, Fasala 2

18 July 2023 17:30	Australia	5–9	United States	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Natalia Markopoulou (GRE), Nóra Debreceni (HUN)
	Score by quarters: 3–5, 0–0, 1–3, 1–1
	Williams 3	Goals	three players 2

18 July 2023 20:30	China	11–12	France	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN), Alessia Ferrari (ITA)
	Score by quarters: 4–3, 1–3, 4–1, 2–5
	Wang H. 3	Goals	Dhalluin 4

20 July 2023 13:00	China	7–11	Australia	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Raffaele Colombo (ITA), Hélène Painchaud (CAN)
	Score by quarters: 1–4, 3–2, 1–3, 2–2
	Lu, Zhang Jin. 2	Goals	five players 2

20 July 2023 16:00	France	5–16	United States	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Chisato Kurosaki (JPN), Alessia Ferrari (ITA)
	Score by quarters: 1–5, 1–2, 0–4, 3–5
	Bouloukbachi 2	Goals	Prentice 4

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.

16 July 2023 12:00	Netherlands	7–6	Spain	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Alessia Ferrari (ITA), Nenad Peris (CRO)
	Score by quarters: 1–2, 1–1, 3–2, 2–1
	three players 2	Goals	E. Ruiz 3

16 July 2023 13:30	Israel	17–6	Kazakhstan	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Natalia Markopoulou (GRE), Lee-Anne Stewart (RSA)
	Score by quarters: 5–3, 6–1, 2–2, 4–0
	three players 4	Goals	Khritankova, Mirshina 2

18 July 2023 09:00	Kazakhstan	2–30	Netherlands	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Hélène Painchaud (CAN), Germán Moller (ARG)
	Score by quarters: 0–10, 1–7, 1–9, 0–4
	Mirshina, Pochinok 1	Goals	Van de Kraats 8

18 July 2023 10:30	Spain	22–5	Israel	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Lee-Anne Stewart (RSA), David Couper (NZL)
	Score by quarters: 5–2, 5–1, 5–0, 7–2
	Camus, A. Ruiz 4	Goals	five players 1

20 July 2023 17:30	Spain	24–5	Kazakhstan	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nóra Debreceni (HUN), Lee-Anne Stewart (RSA)
	Score by quarters: 5–3, 8–1, 5–0, 6–1
	Peña 4	Goals	Novikova, Tsoy 2

20 July 2023 20:30	Israel	8–24	Netherlands	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Natalia Markopoulou (GRE), David Couper (NZL)
	Score by quarters: 1–7, 1–6, 2–5, 4–6
	Futorian 3	Goals	Joustra 5

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.

16 July 2023 16:00	Italy	27–1	Argentina	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Adil Aimbetov (KAZ), Sébastien Dervieux (FRA)
	Score by quarters: 3–1, 7–0, 6–0, 11–0
	Avegno 4	Goals	Leonard 1

16 July 2023 17:30	Greece	24–2	South Africa	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nicola Johnson (AUS), Darren Spiritsanto (USA)
	Score by quarters: 7–1, 6–1, 6–0, 5–0
	Fountotou, E. Plevritou 4	Goals	Sileno, Zondo 1

18 July 2023 12:00	South Africa	2–24	Italy	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Jennifer McCall (USA), Chisato Kurosaki (JPN)
	Score by quarters: 1–2, 0–7, 1–7, 0–8
	MacDonell, Meecham 1	Goals	Bettini, Giustini 4

18 July 2023 13:30	Argentina	2–21	Greece	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Adil Aimbetov (KAZ), Nicola Johnson (AUS)
	Score by quarters: 1–6, 0–5, 1–6, 0–4
	Bacigalupo, Hatcher 1	Goals	three players 3

20 July 2023 09:00	Argentina	9–12	South Africa	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: David Gómez (ESP), Jennifer McCall (USA),
	Score by quarters: 2–2, 3–5, 2–2, 2–3
	Auliel 4	Goals	Meecham 3

20 July 2023 10:30	Greece	16–12	Italy	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nenad Peris (CRO), Matan Schwartz (ISR)
	Score by quarters: 6–4, 4–1, 3–2, 3–5
	four players 3	Goals	four players 2

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.

16 July 2023 19:00	New Zealand	17–16	Japan	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Jennifer McCall (USA), Matan Schwartz (ISR)
	Score by quarters: 5–5, 4–3, 4–5, 4–3
	Doyle 5	Goals	Ura 5

16 July 2023 20:30	Hungary	11–10	Canada	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Marta Cabanas (ESP), Zhang Liang (CHN)
	Score by quarters: 5–3, 2–2, 1–2, 3–3
	Keszthelyi 4	Goals	four players 2

18 July 2023 16:00	Canada	13–11	New Zealand	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Marta Cabanas (ESP), Darren Spiritsanto (USA)
	Score by quarters: 7–4, 1–3, 3–0, 2–4
	La Roche 3	Goals	Howarth 4

18 July 2023 19:00	Japan	21–26	Hungary	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Matan Schwartz (ISR), Frank Ohme (GER)
	Score by quarters: 4–5, 6–8, 5–7, 6–6
	Arima 7	Goals	Hajdú 5

20 July 2023 12:00	New Zealand	5–23	Hungary	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Veselin Mišković (MNE), Marta Cabanas (ESP),
	Score by quarters: 3–6, 0–3, 2–9, 0–5
	Doyle, Houghton 2	Goals	Szilágyi 5

20 July 2023 19:00	Canada	17–12	Japan	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Adil Aimbetov (KAZ), Nicola Johnson (AUS)
	Score by quarters: 5–1, 3–3, 5–4, 4–4
	Lemay-Lavoie 5	Goals	Arima, Kawaguchi 4

Knockout stage

Bracket

Championship bracket

Playoffs

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

24 July

United States

22 July

Italy

26 July

New Zealand

Italy

Netherlands

24 July

Netherlands

22 July

Canada

South Africa

28 July

Canada

Netherlands (PSO)

12 (5)

Spain

12 (4)

24 July

Greece

22 July

Australia

26 July

Israel

Australia

Spain

Third place

24 July

28 July

Hungary

Italy

22 July

Spain

Australia

France

Spain

5th place bracket

5th–8th place semifinals		Fifth place game

26 July

United States	16
		28 July
Canada	4
		United States (PSO)	11 (4)
26 July
		Hungary	11 (2)
Greece	9

Hungary	10
		Seventh place game

		28 July

		Canada (PSO)	10 (4)

		Greece	10 (2)

9th place bracket

9th–12th place semifinals		Ninth place game

24 July

Israel	15
		26 July
New Zealand	12
		Israel	7
24 July
		France	11
France	20

South Africa	6
		Eleventh place game

		26 July

		New Zealand	25

		South Africa	6

13th place bracket

13th–16th place semifinals		13th place game

22 July

China	16
		24 July
Kazakhstan	6
		China	18
22 July
		Japan	10
Argentina	11

Japan	21
		15th place game

		24 July

		Kazakhstan	10

		Argentina	8

Playoffs

22 July 2023 14:00	Australia	16–7	Israel	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Marta Cabanas (ESP), Adil Aimbetov (KAZ)
	Score by quarters: 7–2, 4–1, 3–1, 2–3
	Armit 4	Goals	Kordonskaia 3

22 July 2023 15:30	France	9–16	Spain	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Matan Schwartz (ISR), Raffaele Colombo (ITA)
	Score by quarters: 1–3, 4–4, 2–5, 2–4
	Bouloukbachi, Dhalluin 2	Goals	Forca 5

22 July 2023 17:00	Italy	14–7	New Zealand	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Germán Moller (ARG), Chisato Kurosaki (JPN)
	Score by quarters: 4–1, 6–2, 1–3, 3–1
	Bettini 3	Goals	Doyle 2

22 July 2023 18:30	South Africa	6–21	Canada	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nicola Johnson (AUS), David Couper (NZL)
	Score by quarters: 1–6, 1–4, 1–4, 3–7
	Thornton-Dibb 2	Goals	Wright 4

Quarterfinals

24 July 2023 15:00	United States	7–8	Italy	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Matan Schwartz (ISR), Zhang Liang (CHN)
	Score by quarters: 2–3, 2–1, 2–2, 1–2
	Steffens 4	Goals	Giustini 3

24 July 2023 16:30	Netherlands	17–10	Canada	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Marta Cabanas (ESP), Natalia Markopoulou (GRE)
	Score by quarters: 6–2, 5–3, 3–4, 3–1
	three players 3	Goals	McKelvey 4

24 July 2023 18:00	Greece	8–9	Australia	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Jennifer McCall (USA), Sébastien Dervieux (FRA)
	Score by quarters: 4–3, 1–4, 3–2, 0–0
	Xenaki 3	Goals	four players 2

24 July 2023 19:30	Hungary	9–12	Spain	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Alessia Ferrari (ITA), Nenad Peris (CRO)
	Score by quarters: 2–3, 2–3, 3–4, 2–2
	Garda 4	Goals	Forca 5

13–16th place semifinals

22 July 2023 09:00	China	16–6	Kazakhstan	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Jennifer McCall (USA), Hélène Painchaud (CAN)
	Score by quarters: 3–1, 6–2, 3–2, 4–1
	Yan S., Zhang J. 4	Goals	Kaplun 3

22 July 2023 10:30	Argentina	11–21	Japan	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Alessia Ferrari (ITA), Lee-Anne Stewart (RSA)
	Score by quarters: 0–8, 3–4, 5–4, 3–5
	Bacigalupo 3	Goals	Arima, Nishiyama 4

9–12th place semifinals

24 July 2023 12:00	Israel	15–12	New Zealand	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nóra Debreceni (HUN), Chisato Kurosaki (JPN)
	Score by quarters: 3–1, 5–3, 5–2, 2–6
	Strugo 4	Goals	Houghton, Nicholson 3

24 July 2023 13:30	France	20–6	South Africa	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Hélène Painchaud (CAN), Germán Moller (ARG)
	Score by quarters: 4–1, 6–0, 5–4, 5–1
	Vernoux 6	Goals	Thornton-Dibb 3

5–8th place semifinals

26 July 2023 14:00	United States	16–4	Canada	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Alessia Ferrari (ITA), Lee-Anne Stewart (RSA)
	Score by quarters: 5–1, 2–1, 6–1, 3–1
	Flynn 5	Goals	Browne 2

26 July 2023 15:30	Greece	9–10	Hungary	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Matan Schwartz (ISR), Zhang Liang (CHN)
	Score by quarters: 1–2, 2–2, 4–5, 2–1
	Ninou 3	Goals	Garda, Keszthelyi 3

Semifinals

26 July 2023 17:00	Italy	8–9	Netherlands	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Sébastien Dervieux (FRA), Nóra Debreceni (HUN)
	Score by quarters: 2–4, 3–2, 2–2, 1–1
	Marletta 3	Goals	L. Rogge, Wolves 2

26 July 2023 18:30	Australia	10–12	Spain	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Jennifer McCall (USA)
	Score by quarters: 2–5, 4–3, 2–2, 2–2
	Kearns 3	Goals	E. Ruiz 4

15th place game

24 July 2023 09:00	Kazakhstan	10–8	Argentina	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Raffaele Colombo (ITA), Nicola Johnson (AUS)
	Score by quarters: 3–0, 3–3, 2–4, 2–1
	Khritankova, Novikova 3	Goals	Bacigalupo 4

13th place game

24 July 2023 10:30	China	18–10	Japan	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Adil Aimbetov (KAZ), Lee-Anne Stewart (RSA)
	Score by quarters: 4–3, 5–3, 4–3, 5–1
	Lu, Yan J. 3	Goals	Ura 3

Eleventh place game

26 July 2023 09:00	New Zealand	25–6	South Africa	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Chisato Kurosaki (JPN), Adil Aimbetov (KAZ)
	Score by quarters: 7–0, 6–3, 6–1, 6–2
	Houghton 7	Goals	Meecham, Versfeld 2

Ninth place game

26 July 2023 10:30	Israel	7–11	France	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nicola Johnson (AUS), Natalia Markopoulou (GRE)
	Score by quarters: 2–3, 1–4, 1–4, 3–0
	Bogachenko 4	Goals	Millot 3

Seventh place game

28 July 2023 11:30	Canada	14–12	Greece	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nóra Debreceni (HUN), Nicola Johnson (AUS)
	Score by quarters: 4–1, 1–4, 4–1, 1–4 PSO: 4–2
	Wright 3	Goals	Xenaki 3

Fifth place game

28 July 2023 16:30	United States	15–13	Hungary	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Zhang Liang (CHN), Marta Cabanas (ESP)
	Score by quarters: 4–2, 1–3, 5–4, 1–2 PSO: 4–2
	Raney 3	Goals	Keszthelyi 4

Third place game

28 July 2023 13:00	Italy	16–14	Australia	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Darren Spiritosanto (USA), Matan Schwartz (ISR)
	Score by quarters: 5–4, 5–6, 3–1, 3–3
	Bianconi 6	Goals	Williams 3

Final

28 July 2023 18:00	Netherlands	17–16	Spain	Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nenad Peris (CRO), Alessia Ferrari (ITA)
	Score by quarters: 4–3, 2–3, 3–1, 3–5 PSO: 5–4
	Van de Kraats, Sleeking 3	Goals	Forca 5

Final ranking

Rank	Team
	Netherlands
	Spain
	Italy
4	Australia
5	United States
6	Hungary
7	Canada
8	Greece
9	France
10	Israel
11	New Zealand
12	South Africa
13	China
14	Japan
15	Kazakhstan
16	Argentina

	Qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics

2023 Women's Water Polo World Champions Netherlands Second title

Statistics and awards

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals	Shots	%
1	Judith Forca	23	45	51
2	Simone van de Kraats	20	33	61
3	Rita Keszthelyi	19	39	49
3	Yumi Arima	19	40	48
5	Emmerson Houghton	18	32	56
6	Roberta Bianconi	16	37	43
6	Sofia Giustini	16	33	48
8	Claudia Marletta	15	27	56
8	Elena Ruiz	15	30	50
10	Alice Williams	14	39	36
	Eirini Ninou		30	47
	Eruna Ura		23	61
	Bernadette Doyle		34	41

Awards

The awards were announced on 29 July 2023.

All-star team
Goalkeeper	Laura Aarts
Field player	Yumi Arima
	Roberta Bianconi
	Judith Forca
	Elena Ruiz
	Simone van de Kraats
	Alice Williams
Other awards
MVP	Elena Ruiz
Best goalkeeper	Laura Aarts

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

Water polo at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships – Women'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