Hungary men's national water polo team

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Hungary
FINA codeHUN
AssociationHungarian Water Polo Federation
ConfederationLEN (Europe)
Head coachZsolt Varga
Asst coachAndrás Gárdonyi
Balázs Nyéki
CaptainSzilárd Jansik
Most capsTibor Benedek (384)
FINA ranking (since 2008)
Current4 (as of 9 August 2021)
Highest1 (2008, 2013)
Lowest7 (2011)
Olympic Games (team statistics)
Appearances23 (first in 1912)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (1932, 1936, 1952, 1956, 1964, 1976, 2000, 2004, 2008)
5-time Olympian(s)Dezső Gyarmati (1948–1964)
Tibor Benedek (1992–2008)
Tamás Kásás (1996–2012)
Most medalsDezső Gyarmati (5 medals, 3 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze)
Top scorer(s)Tibor Benedek (65 goals, 1992–2008)
Flag bearer(s)István Szívós Sr. (1980)
Péter Biros (2012)
World Championship
Appearances21 (first in 1973)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (1973, 2003, 2013, 2023)
Most titlesNorbert Madaras (2003, 2013)
World Cup
Appearances14 (first in 1979)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (1979, 1995, 1999, 2018)
Most medalsRajmund Fodor (6 medals, 2 gold, 3 silver, and 1 bronze)
World League
Appearances10 (first in 2002)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (2003, 2004)
European Championship
Appearances34 (first in 1926)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (1926, 1927, 1931, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1977, 1997, 1999, 2020)
Europa Cup
Appearances2 (first in 2018)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (2019)
Media
Websitewaterpolo.hu (in Hungarian)
Last updated: 3 July 2021

The Hungary men's national water polo team represents Hungary in international men's water polo competitions and is controlled by the Hungarian Water Polo Association. It is considered the world's top power in the history of water polo, having won 16 Olympic, 12 World Championship,[1] 10 FINA World Cup, eight FINA World League, 26 European Championship and 17 Summer Universiade medals for a total of 91.

Competitive record[edit]

Medals[edit]

Updated after 2023 World Championships

Competition 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Total
Olympic Games 9 3 4 16
Friendship Games 0 1 0 1
World Championship 4 7 1 12
World Cup 4 4 2 10
World League 2 5 1 8
European Championship 13 7 6 26
Europa Cup 1 0 0 1
Mediterranean Games 0 0 0 0
Summer Universiade 5 6 6 17
Total 38 33 20 91

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

Olympic Games[edit]

Hungary missed five Olympics, but they have won the title nine times, which is a record. As of today, there are only seven tournaments in which Hungary participated but did not receive a medal.[2]

Games Round Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
France 1900 Paris did not participate
United States 1904 St. Louis
United Kingdom 1908 London
Sweden 1912 Stockholm First round 5th of 6 2 0 0 2 9 11 −2
Belgium 1920 Antwerp did not participate
France 1924 Paris Quarter-finals 5th of 13 4 2 0 2 17 17 0
Netherlands 1928 Amsterdam Runners-up 2nd of 14 4 3 0 1 26 8 +18
United States 1932 Los Angeles Champions 1st of 5 3 3 0 0 31 2 +29
Germany 1936 Berlin Champions 1st of 16 7 6 1 0 44 4 +40
United Kingdom 1948 London Runners-up 2nd of 18 7 5 1 1 34 17 +17
Finland 1952 Helsinki Champions 1st of 21 8 6 2 0 53 16 +37
Australia 1956 Melbourne Champions 1st of 10 6 6 0 0 26 4 +22
Italy 1960 Rome Third place 3rd of 16 7 4 2 1 37 18 +19
Japan 1964 Tokyo Champions 1st of 13 6 5 1 0 34 13 +21
Mexico 1968 Mexico City Third place 3rd of 15 8 7 0 1 54 26 +28
West Germany 1972 Munich Runners-up 2nd of 16 8 6 2 0 42 21 +21
Canada 1976 Montreal Champions 1st of 12 8 7 1 0 45 32 +13
Soviet Union 1980 Moscow Third place 3rd of 12 8 5 1 2 51 44 +7
United States 1984 Los Angeles did not participate
South Korea 1988 Seoul 5th–8th placement 5th of 12 7 3 2 2 72 57 +15
Spain 1992 Barcelona 5th–8th placement 6th of 12 7 3 2 2 65 62 +3
United States 1996 Atlanta Fourth place 4th of 12 8 6 0 2 83 73 +10
Australia 2000 Sydney Champions 1st of 12 8 6 0 2 78 57 +21
Greece 2004 Athens Champions 1st of 12 7 7 0 0 59 39 +20
China 2008 Beijing Champions 1st of 12 7 6 1 0 85 55 +30
United Kingdom 2012 London Match for 5th place 5th of 12 8 5 0 3 98 80 +18
Brazil 2016 Rio de Janeiro Match for 5th place 5th of 12 8 4 4 0 91 66 +25
Japan 2020 Tokyo Third place 3rd of 12 8 5 1 2 94 60 +34
France 2024 Paris Qualified
Total 24/29 9 Titles 154 110 21 23 1,228 782 +446

World Championships[edit]

Hungary has taken part in every World Championships. They have won this championship four times: in 1973, 2003, 2013 and 2023.[2]

Year Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1973
Colombia 1975
West Germany 1978
Ecuador 1982
Spain 1986 9th
Australia 1991
Italy 1994 5th
Australia 1998
Japan 2001 5th
Spain 2003
Canada 2005
Australia 2007
Italy 2009 5th
China 2011 4th
Spain 2013 7 5 1 1 76 54 +22
Russia 2015 6th 6 4 0 2 81 40 +41
Hungary 2017 6 4 1 1 62 37 +25
South Korea 2019 4th 6 4 0 2 87 51 +36
Hungary 2022 7th 6 4 0 2 79 56 +23
Japan 2023 6 6 0 0 84 64 +20
Qatar 2024 7th 6 3 1 2 86 54 +32
Total 21/21

World Cup[edit]

The Hungarian national team missed three editions of the World Cup, but they won it four times: in 1979, 1995, 1999 and 2018.[2]

Year Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1979 7 5 1 1 37 28 +9
United States 1981 6th 7 3 0 4 64 56 +8
United States 1983 7th 7 0 4 3 57 64 −7
West Germany 1985 did not participate
Greece 1987
West Germany 1989 5 3 0 2 40 36 +4
Spain 1991 4th 5 2 1 2 48 42 +6
Greece 1993 5 4 0 1 39 30 +9
United States 1995 5 4 1 0 51 34 +17
Greece 1997 5 3 1 1 38 29 +9
Australia 1999 5 4 0 1 44 24 +20
Serbia and Montenegro 2002 6 3 0 3 48 43 +5
Hungary 2006 5 4 0 1 57 35 +22
Romania 2010 did not participate
Kazakhstan 2014 6 4 2 0 61 35 +26
Germany 2018 6 5 0 1 70 57 +13
United States 2023 4th 3 1 0 2 27 28 −1
Total 14/17 77 45 10 22 681 541 +140

World League[edit]

Hungary has taken part in the first edition of the FINA Water Polo World League in 2002. They have won the gold medal one and two years later. In 2006 and from 2008 to 2012, Hungary did not participate in the World League.[2]

Year Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
Greece 2002 16 13 0 3 188 119 +69
United States 2003 5 5 0 0 56 35 +21
United States 2004 14 11 0 3 150 114 +36
Serbia and Montenegro 2005 14 11 0 3 178 113 +65
Greece 2006 did not participate
Germany 2007 14 13 0 1 187 100 +87
Italy 2008 did not participate
Montenegro 2009
Serbia 2010
Italy 2011
Kazakhstan 2012
Russia 2013 6 4 0 2 66 59 +7
United Arab Emirates 2014 10 8 0 2 103 73 +30
Italy 2015 6th 12 9 0 3 156 105 +51
China 2016 did not participate
Russia 2017
Hungary 2018 10 6 2 2 106 73 +33
Serbia 2019 5th 6 3 2 1 78 67 +11
Georgia (country) 2020 did not qualify
France 2022
Total 10/20 107 83 4 20 1,268 858 +410

European Championships[edit]

semi-final against Italy in 2014 Men's European Water Polo Championship
supporters celebrate the Hungarian team

Hungary missed only one European Championship, in 1950, and they have won the tournament 13 times, which is (as in the World Championships) a record. No team has a better result than Hungary in history of the European Championship.

Year Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
Hungary 1926 3 3 0 0 16 3 +13
Italy 1927 3 3 0 0 14 6 +8
France 1931
Germany 1934
United Kingdom 1938
Monaco 1947 4th
Austria 1950 did not participate
Italy 1954
Hungary 1958
East Germany 1962
Netherlands 1966 5th
Spain 1970
Austria 1974
Sweden 1977
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1981
Italy 1983
Bulgaria 1985 5th
France 1987 5th
West Germany 1989 9th
Greece 1991 5th
United Kingdom 1993
Austria 1995
Spain 1997
Italy 1999
Hungary 2001
Slovenia 2003
Serbia 2006
Spain 2008
Croatia 2010 4th
Netherlands 2012
Hungary 2014
Serbia 2016
Spain 2018 8th 7 2 1 4 52 54 −2
Hungary 2020 6 4 2 0 89 43 +46
Croatia 2022 6 5 0 1 92 44 +48
Croatia 2024 4th 6 3 0 3 58 59 −1
Total 35/36

Friendship Games[edit]

Year Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
Cuba 1984 5 3 1 1 68 43 +25
Total 2/6 5 3 1 1 68 43 +25

Europa Cup[edit]

Team[edit]

Current squad[edit]

Roster for the 2024 World Aquatics Championships.[3]

Head coach: Zsolt Varga

Individual all-time records[edit]

  Still active players are highlighted.

Most appearances and goals[edit]

Total number of matches played in official competitions only.

# Player Years Matches Goals
1 Tibor Benedek 1990–2008 384
2 ifj. István Szívós 1966–1980 308
3 Dániel Varga 2005–present 278
4 Norbert Hosnyánszky 2005–present 258
4 Tamás Faragó 1970–1985 258
6 Dénes Varga 2004–present 246
7 György Gerendás 1975–1986 230
8 Zoltán Kósz 1986–2001, 2006 228
9 Endre Molnár 1966–1980 189
10 László Sárosi 1966–1978 634

Statistics accurate as of matches played 18 January 2016

Olympic statistics[edit]

Five-time Olympians[edit]

Olympians with four or more medals[edit]

  • Dezső Gyarmati: 5 medals, 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze (1948 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 1952 1st place, gold medalist(s), 1956 1st place, gold medalist(s), 1960 3rd place, bronze medalist(s), 1964 1st place, gold medalist(s));
  • György Kárpáti: 4 medals, 3 gold and 1 bronze (1952 1st place, gold medalist(s), 1956 1st place, gold medalist(s), 1960 3rd place, bronze medalist(s), 1964 1st place, gold medalist(s)).
  • András Bodnár: 4 medals, 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze (1960 3rd place, bronze medalist(s), 1964 1st place, gold medalist(s), 1968 3rd place, bronze medalist(s), 1972 2nd place, silver medalist(s)).
  • ifj. István Szívós: 4 medals, 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze (1968 3rd place, bronze medalist(s), 1972 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 1976 1st place, gold medalist(s), 1980 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)).

Olympians with three gold medals[edit]

World Championship statistics[edit]

Players with four or more medals[edit]

  • Norbert Madaras: 4 medals, 2 gold and 2 silver (2003 1st place, gold medalist(s), 2005 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2007 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2013 1st place, gold medalist(s));
  • Rajmund Fodor: 4 medals, 1 gold and 3 silver (1998 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2003 1st place, gold medalist(s), 2005 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2007 2nd place, silver medalist(s));
  • Tamás Kásás: 4 medals, 1 gold and 3 silver (1998 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2003 1st place, gold medalist(s), 2005 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2007 2nd place, silver medalist(s));
  • Gergely Kiss: 4 medals, 1 gold and 3 silver (1998 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2003 1st place, gold medalist(s), 2005 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2007 2nd place, silver medalist(s));
  • Tamás Molnár: 4 medals, 1 gold and 3 silver (1998 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2003 1st place, gold medalist(s), 2005 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2007 2nd place, silver medalist(s));
  • Tibor Benedek: 4 medals, 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1991 3rd place, bronze medalist(s), 1998 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2003 1st place, gold medalist(s), 2007 2nd place, silver medalist(s)).

Players with two gold medals[edit]

World Cup statistics[edit]

Players with four or more medals[edit]

  • Rajmund Fodor: 6 medals, 2 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze (1993 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 1995 1st place, gold medalist(s), 1997 3rd place, bronze medalist(s), 1999 1st place, gold medalist(s), 2002 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2006 2nd place, silver medalist(s));
  • Tamás Kásás: 5 medals, 2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1995 1st place, gold medalist(s), 1997 3rd place, bronze medalist(s), 1999 1st place, gold medalist(s), 2002 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2006 2nd place, silver medalist(s));
  • Tibor Benedek: 4 medals, 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1993 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 1995 1st place, gold medalist(s), 1997 3rd place, bronze medalist(s), 2002 2nd place, silver medalist(s));
  • Gergely Kiss: 4 medals, 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1997 3rd place, bronze medalist(s), 1999 1st place, gold medalist(s), 2002 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2006 2nd place, silver medalist(s));
  • Tamás Molnár: 4 medals, 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1997 3rd place, bronze medalist(s), 1999 1st place, gold medalist(s), 2002 2nd place, silver medalist(s), 2006 2nd place, silver medalist(s)).

Players with two gold medals[edit]

Awards[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Hungary makes it title #3 with a heart-stopper over Montenegro". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "21st World Aquatics World Championships Men's Water Polo Team Roster HUN" (PDF). Omega Timing. 5 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.

External links[edit]