The Greece men's national water polo team represents Greece in international men's water polo competitions and it is organized and run by the Hellenic Swimming Federation.
Greece has a long tradition of strong presence at international level, with their major successes being the silver medal at the 2020 Olympic Games and three bronze medals won at the World Championship in 2005, 2015 and 2022. The Greeks have also won a silver medal at the World Cup in 1997, three bronze medals at the World League in 2004, 2006 and 2016, as well as one silver (2018) and four bronze medals (1951, 1991, 1993, 2013) at the Mediterranean Games.
Moreover, they have closely missed a medal in the 2016 European Championship, the 2004 Olympic Games, the 2003 World Championship and the 1999 European Championship, ending up in the 4th place in all four of them. Greece is one of only nine national teams in the world to have won (at least) a medal in the World Championship, currently occupying the eighth place on the medal table, one above Germany. They have qualified at least for the quarter-finals in all their World Championship participations since 1994, winning the two aforementioned bronze medals and never finishing below the 6th place from 2001 and on.
Honours
edit| Competition |  |
 |
 |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| World Championship | – | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| World Cup | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| World League | – | – | 4 | 4 |
| European Championship | – | – | – | – |
| Mediterranean Games | – | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Total | – | 4 | 11 | 15 |
Olympic Games
edit
Silver medal:
World Championship
edit
World Cup
edit- Silver medal:
World League
editMediterranean Games
editCompetitive record
editOlympic Games
editGreece has participated 16 times at the Olympic Games, always present in the tournament since 1980. Their best result is the 2nd place at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, after losing 13–10 to Serbia in the gold medal game. The Greeks have secured a quarter-finals' presence in six occasions.[1]
| Year | Position |
|---|---|
 1920 |
8th |
 1924 |
13th |
 1948 |
15th |
 1968 |
14th |
 1972 |
14th |
 1980 |
10th |
 1984 |
8th |
 1988 |
9th |
 1992 |
10th |
| 1996 |
6th |
 2000 |
10th |
 2004 |
4th |
 2008 |
7th |
| 2012 |
9th |
 2016 |
6th |
 2020 |
|
| 2024 |
5th |
| Total | 17/28 |
World Championship
editGreece has a strong presence at the World Aquatics Championships, where they have been placed third in the world in two occasions.[1] The first was in 2005 in Montreal, after their 11–10 victory over Croatia in the bronze medal game, with Georgios Afroudakis scoring the winning goal, with a spectacular backhand shot, with only 11 seconds left in the overtime.[2] The second one was in 2015 in Kazan, after their penalty shootout win over Italy in the bronze medal game. Greece has qualified at least for the quarter-finals in all their tournament participations since 1994, with a 7th place being their lowest position from 2001 and on when the team qualified.
| Year | Position |
|---|---|
 1973 |
12th |
| 1978 |
12th |
 1982 |
12th |
| 1986 |
11th |
| 1991 |
10th |
 1994 |
7th |
| 1998 |
8th |
| 2001 |
6th |
| 2003 |
4th |
 2005 |
|
| 2007 |
6th |
| 2013 |
6th |
 2015 |
|
 2017 |
4th |
| 2019 |
7th |
| 2022 |
|
| 2023 |
|
 2024 |
5th |
| Total | 18/21 |
World Cup
editGreece had qualified for the FINA Water Polo World Cup in all but two occasions between 1985 and 2006, winning the silver medal in 1997 in Athens, losing 5–8 to the United States in the final.[1]
| Year | Position |
|---|---|
| 1985 |
8th |
| 1987 |
8th |
| 1993 |
7th |
| 1995 |
6th |
| 1997 |
|
| 1999 |
7th |
 2002 |
5th |
| 2006 |
7th |
| 2023 |
5th |
| Total | 9/17 |
World League
editGreece had a regular presence at the FINA Water Polo World League during the first years of the competition, starting from 2002. They have won four bronze medals so far in 2004, 2006, 2016 and 2020.[1]
| Year | Position |
|---|---|
| 2002 |
4th |
| 2003 |
5th |
| 2004 |
|
| 2005 |
5th |
| 2006 |
|
| 2008 |
8th |
| 2016 |
|
 2020 |
|
| Total | 8/20 |
European Championship
editAs one of the most competitive European nations in water polo, Greece is a regular contestant at the European Water Polo Championship since 1989, although they have yet to win a medal, with their best results being the 4th place in 1999 in Florence and in 2016 in Belgrade.
| Year | Position |
|---|---|
| 1970 |
10th |
 1985 |
8th |
| 1989 |
11th |
| 1991 |
6th |
| 1993 |
7th |
 1995 |
9th |
| 1997 |
7th |
| 1999 |
4th |
| 2001 |
7th |
 2003 |
8th |
 2006 |
6th |
| 2008 |
11th |
 2010 |
9th |
 2012 |
6th |
| 2014 |
6th |
| 2016 |
4th |
| 2018 |
5th |
| 2020 |
7th |
| 2022 |
5th |
| 2024 |
5th |
| 2026 |
Qualified |
| Total | 21/36 |
Team
editCurrent squad
editRoster for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The roster was announced on 6 July 2024.[3]
Head coach: Thodoris Vlachos[4]
- 1 Emmanouil Zerdevas GK
- 2 Konstantinos Genidounias D
- 3 Dimitrios Skoumpakis CB
- 4 Efstathios Kalogeropoulos D
- 5 Ioannis Fountoulis (c) D
- 6 Alexandros Papanastasiou D
- 7 Nikos Gillas D
- 8 Stylianos Argyropoulos CB
- 9 Nikolaos Papanikolaou CF
- 10 Konstantinos Kakaris CF
- 11 Dimitris Nikolaidis CF
- 12 Angelos Vlachopoulos D
- 13 Panagiotis Tzortzatos GK
World Championship medal-winning squads
editThe following are the medal-winning Greek rosters in the men's water polo tournaments of the Water polo at the World Aquatics Championships:
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|
|
|
Notable coaches
edit
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. pp. 4, 14, 25, 40, 48. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ^ Το χάλκινο μετάλλιο της Εθνικής ομάδας πόλο των ανδρών στο Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα του 2005 στο Μόντρεαλ sport24.gr, 30 July 2014 (in Greek)
- ^ "Οι «13» του Θοδωρή Βλάχου για τους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες". koe.org.gr. 6 July 2024. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
- ^ "Team roster: Greece" (PDF). Olympics.com. 26 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ^ Water polo at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships - Final Standings - Games - Rosters www.worldaquatics.com
- ^ "Water polo at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships - 3rd place match: Greece - Italy 11-9" (PDF). waterpolo.sportresult.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-11-12.
- ^ "Water polo at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships - 3rd place match:: Greece - Croatia 9-7" (PDF). waterpolo.sportresult.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-06-08. waterpolo.sportresult.com
- ^ "Water polo at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships - Final: Hungary - Greece 14-13 (pen.)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-03-30. waterpolo.sportresult.com
External links
edit
- Official website
(in Greek)