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Greece men's national water polo team

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Greece
FINA codeGRE
Nickname(s)Galanolefki (The Blue-white)
Ethniki (The National)
AssociationHellenic Swimming Federation
ConfederationLEN (Europe)
Head coachThodoris Vlachos
Asst coachAnastasios Schizas
CaptainIoannis Fountoulis
Top scorer(s)Ioannis Fountoulis
FINA ranking (since 2008)
Current3 (as of 31 July 2023)
Highest1 (2021–2022)
Lowest16 (2011)
Olympic Games (team statistics)
Appearances17 (first in 1920)
Best result2nd place, silver medalist(s) (2020)
5-time Olympian(s)George Mavrotas (1984–2000)
Georgios Afroudakis (1996–2012)
Top scorer(s)Kyriakos Giannopoulos (44 goals, 1980–1992)
World Championship
Appearances18 (first in 1973)
Best result2nd place, silver medalist(s) (2023)
World Cup
Appearances9 (first in 1985)
Best result2nd place, silver medalist(s) (1997)
World League
Appearances7 (first in 2002)
Best result3rd place, bronze medalist(s) (2004, 2006, 2016, 2020)
European Championship
Appearances19 (first in 1970)
Best result4th place (1999, 2016)
Mediterranean Games
Appearances8 (first in 1951)
Best result2nd place, silver medalist(s) (2018)
Media
Websitekoe.org.gr (in Greek)
Medal record
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo Team
World Championship
Silver medal – second place 2023 Fukuoka Team
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Montreal Team
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Kazan Team
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Budapest Team
World Cup
Silver medal – second place 1997 Athens
World League
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Long Beach
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Athens
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Huizhou
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tbilisi
Mediterranean Games
Silver medal – second place 2018 Tarragona Team
Bronze medal – third place 1951 Alexandria Team
Bronze medal – third place 1991 Athens Team
Bronze medal – third place 1993 Languedoc-Roussillon Team
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Tarragona Team
Last updated: 8 August 2021

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

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Competition 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 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

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World Championship

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World Cup

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World League

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Mediterranean Games

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Competitive record

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Olympic Games

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Main article: Greece men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics

Greece 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
Belgium 1920 8th
France 1924 13th
United Kingdom 1948 15th
Mexico 1968 14th
West Germany 1972 14th
Soviet Union 1980 10th
United States 1984 8th
South Korea 1988 9th
Spain 1992 10th
United States 1996 6th
Australia 2000 10th
Greece 2004 4th
China 2008 7th
United Kingdom 2012 9th
Brazil 2016 6th
Japan 2020
France 2024 5th
Total 17/28

World Championship

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Greece 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.

Christos Afroudakis (left) and Manolis Mylonakis (right) are the two players who have won both the 2005 and the 2015 bronze medals of Greece at the World Championship.
Year Position
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1973 12th
West Germany 1978 12th
Ecuador 1982 12th
Spain 1986 11th
Australia 1991 10th
Italy 1994 7th
Australia 1998 8th
Japan 2001 6th
Spain 2003 4th
Canada 2005
Australia 2007 6th
Spain 2013 6th
Russia 2015
Hungary 2017 4th
South Korea 2019 7th
Hungary 2022
Japan 2023
Qatar 2024 5th
Total 18/21

World Cup

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Greece 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
West Germany 1985 8th
Greece 1987 8th
Greece 1993 7th
United States 1995 6th
Greece 1997
Australia 1999 7th
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 2002 5th
Hungary 2006 7th
United States 2023 5th
Total 9/17

World League

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Greece 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
Greece 2002 4th
United States 2003 5th
United States 2004
Serbia and Montenegro 2005 5th
Greece 2006
Italy 2008 8th
China 2016
Georgia (country) 2020
Total 8/20

European Championship

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As 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
Spain 1970 10th
Bulgaria 1985 8th
West Germany 1989 11th
Greece 1991 6th
United Kingdom 1993 7th
Austria 1995 9th
Spain 1997 7th
Italy 1999 4th
Hungary 2001 7th
Slovenia 2003 8th
Serbia 2006 6th
Spain 2008 11th
Croatia 2010 9th
Netherlands 2012 6th
Hungary 2014 6th
Serbia 2016 4th
Spain 2018 5th
Hungary 2020 7th
Croatia 2022 5th
Croatia 2024 5th
Serbia 2026 Qualified
Total 21/36

Team

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Current squad

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Roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The roster was announced on 6 July 2024.[3]

Head coach: Thodoris Vlachos[4]

World Championship medal-winning squads

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The following are the medal-winning Greek rosters in the men's water polo tournaments of the Water polo at the World Aquatics Championships:

Notable coaches

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Alessandro Campagna

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Το χάλκινο μετάλλιο της Εθνικής ομάδας πόλο των ανδρών στο Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα του 2005 στο Μόντρεαλ sport24.gr, 30 July 2014 (in Greek)
  3. ^ "Οι «13» του Θοδωρή Βλάχου για τους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες". koe.org.gr. 6 July 2024. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Team roster: Greece" (PDF). Olympics.com. 26 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  5. ^ Water polo at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships - Final Standings - Games - Rosters www.worldaquatics.com
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ "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
  8. ^ "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
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