Water polo at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships – Women's tournament facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Water polo at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships – Women's tournament

Tournament details
Dates	4–16 February
Teams	16 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	United States (8th title)
Runner-up	Hungary
Third place	Spain
Fourth place	Greece
Tournament statistics
Matches	48
Goals scored	1163 (24.23 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Morgan McDowall (31 goals)
Best player	Rita Keszthelyi
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The women's water polo tournament at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships was a big event. It took place from February 4 to 16, 2024, in Doha. This was the 17th time that women's water polo has been part of these championships. The first tournament was held in 1986.

The United States team played amazingly. They won their eighth championship title overall!

How Teams Qualified for the Tournament

Sixteen teams from around the world competed in this tournament. Many of the teams, thirteen to be exact, had also played in the 2023 World Championships.

Some teams made a special return or debut. The Singapore team qualified for the very first time! They got their spot after the Japan team had to pull out. Singapore is only the second country from Southeast Asia to play in this event. The Great Britain team returned after eleven years away. The Brazil team also qualified again after missing the 2023 event.

Qualification Events and Teams

Teams earned their spots through different competitions. These included the 2023 World Cup and the 2023 World Championships. Other events were the 2022 Asian Games and the 2023 Pan American Games. The 2024 European Championship also provided qualification spots. Finally, teams from Africa and Oceania were selected.

Event	Dates	Hosts	Quota	Qualifier(s)
2023 World Cup	11 April – 25 June 2023	Long Beach	2	United States  Netherlands
2023 World Championships	16–28 July 2023	Fukuoka	4	Spain  Italy  Australia  Hungary
2022 Asian Games	25 September – 1 October 2023	Hangzhou	3	China  Japan  Kazakhstan  Singapore
2023 Pan American Games	30 October – 4 November 2023	Santiago	2	Canada  Brazil
2024 European Championship	5–13 January 2024	Eindhoven	3	Greece  France  Great Britain
African selection	N/A	N/A	1	South Africa
Oceanian selection	N/A	N/A	1	New Zealand
Total			16

• Japan had to withdraw from the tournament due to budget reasons. Singapore took their place.

Tournament Schedule

The tournament had different rounds, starting with group matches and leading up to the finals. All times listed are local to Doha, Qatar (UTC+3).

Group Stage Matches

The 16 teams were divided into four groups: A, B, C, and D. Each team played against the other teams in their group. The goal was to earn points and move on to the next stage.

Group A Standings

Group B Standings

Group C Standings

Group D Standings

Knockout Stage

After the group stage, the top teams moved on to the knockout rounds. This is where teams played single-elimination matches. If you lost, you were out of the running for the championship!

Championship Bracket

Playoffs

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

12 February

United States

10

10 February

Australia

9

Australia

20

14 February

Great Britain

8

United States

11

Spain

9

12 February

Spain

12

10 February

Canada

9

New Zealand

12

16 February

Canada

14

United States

8

Hungary

7

12 February

Hungary (PSO)

8 (5)

10 February

Netherlands

8 (4)

Netherlands

16

14 February

China

14

Hungary (PSO)

9 (4)

Greece

9 (2)

Third place

12 February

16 February

Italy

12

Spain

10

10 February

Greece

14

Greece

9

Kazakhstan

5

Greece

24

Playoffs

These matches decided which teams would advance to the quarterfinals.

10 February 2024 12:00	Netherlands	16–14	China	Aspire Dome, Doha Referees: Jennifer McCall (USA), Lucas Letshabo (RSA)
	Score by quarters: 5–5, 3–2, 5–4, 3–3
	three players 3	Goals	Lu 5

10 February 2024 16:00	Kazakhstan	5–24	Greece	Aspire Dome, Doha Referees: Ashleigh Kaeshler (AUS), Cheng Beng Guan (SGP)
	Score by quarters: 2–8, 0–4, 1–7, 2–5
	five players 1	Goals	Ninou 4

10 February 2024 17:30	Australia	20–8	Great Britain	Aspire Dome, Doha Referees: Natalia Markopoulou (GRE), Yuri Maciel (BRA)
	Score by quarters: 6–1, 6–2, 4–1, 4–4
	A. Andrews 6	Goals	Cutler, Falvey 2

10 February 2024 19:00	New Zealand	12–14	Canada	Aspire Dome, Doha Referees: Nóra Debreceni (HUN), Viktor Salnichenko (KAZ)
	Score by quarters: 2–5, 3–5, 4–2, 3–2
	Houghton 5	Goals	Crevier 3

Quarterfinals

The winners of the playoffs joined the top teams from the group stage in the quarterfinals.

12 February 2024 16:00	United States	10–9	Australia	Aspire Dome, Doha Referees: Frank Ohme (GER), David Couper (NZL)
	Score by quarters: 2–2, 3–1, 3–0, 2–6
	Musselman 3	Goals	four players 2

12 February 2024 17:30	Spain	12–9	Canada	Aspire Dome, Doha Referees: Zhang Liang (CHN), Natalia Markopoulou (GRE)
	Score by quarters: 3–1, 4–1, 2–3, 3–4
	Forca 5	Goals	Crevier 3

12 February 2024 19:00	Hungary	13–12	Netherlands	Aspire Dome, Doha Referees: Sébastien Dervieux (FRA), Jennifer McCall (USA)
	Score by quarters: 1–1, 3–1, 1–2, 3–4  PSO: 5–4
	Keszthelyi 3	Goals	three players 2

12 February 2024 20:30	Italy	12–14	Greece	Aspire Dome, Doha Referees: Matan Schwartz (ISR), Ashleigh Kaeshler (AUS)
	Score by quarters: 0–3, 3–4, 4–4, 5–3
	Picozzi 3	Goals	Ninou 5

Semifinals

The four winning teams from the quarterfinals played in the semifinals.

14 February 2024 16:00	United States	11–9	Spain	Aspire Dome, Doha Referees: Michiel Zwart (NED), Alessandro Severo (ITA)
	Score by quarters: 3–1, 3–3, 4–3, 1–2
	Flynn 3	Goals	Piralkova, E. Ruiz 3

14 February 2024 17:30	Hungary	13–11	Greece	Aspire Dome, Doha Referees: Frank Ohme (GER), Zhang Liang (CHN)
	Score by quarters: 3–3, 3–3, 1–1, 2–2  PSO: 4–2
	Parkes 3	Goals	Ninou 4

Third Place Game

The teams that lost in the semifinals played for the bronze medal.

16 February 2024 11:30	Spain	10–9	Greece	Aspire Dome, Doha Referees: Michiel Zwart (NED), Hélène Painchaud (CAN)
	Score by quarters: 2–1, 4–4, 1–1, 3–3
	Forca 3	Goals	Ninou 3

The Final Match

The two winning teams from the semifinals battled it out for the gold medal!

16 February 2024 17:30	United States	8–7	Hungary	Aspire Dome, Doha Referees: Xavi Buch (ESP), Natalia Markopoulou (GRE)
	Score by quarters: 3–2, 2–2, 0–1, 3–2
	Fattal 3	Goals	Garda, Keszthelyi 2

Final Ranking of Teams

Here's how all the teams finished in the tournament:

Rank Team  United States  Hungary  Spain 4  Greece 5  Netherlands 6  Australia 7  Italy 8  Canada 9  New Zealand 10  China 11  Great Britain 12  Kazakhstan 13  France 14  South Africa 15  Brazil 16  Singapore Qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics

2024 Women's Water Polo World Champions United States Eighth title

Top Players and Awards

After the tournament, special awards were given to outstanding players.

Top Goalscorers

These players scored the most goals during the tournament.

Rank	Name	Goals	Shots	%
1	Morgan McDowall	31	42	74
2	Eirini Ninou	24	37	65
3	Rita Keszthelyi	20	37	54
4	Kitty-Lynn Joustra	19	19	100
5	Emmerson Houghton	18	47	38
6	Gréta Gurisatti	17	33	52
	Simone van de Kraats		25	68
	Alice Williams		32	53
9	Roberta Bianconi	16	33	48
	Sofia Giustini		27	59
	Zhang Jing		31	52

Awards for Best Players

The best players were recognized on February 16, 2024.

All-star team
Goalkeeper	Ashleigh Johnson
Centre Forward	Maica García
Field player	Jenna Flynn
	Rita Keszthelyi
	Morgan McDowall
	Eleftheria Plevritou
	Simone van de Kraats
Other awards
Most Valuable Player	Rita Keszthelyi
Best Goalkeeper	Ashleigh Johnson

Images for kids

• 

  The United States team won their eighth title.