Greece men's national water polo team

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
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)
Last updated: 8 August 2021

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       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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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
  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

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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
  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

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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
  1985 8th
  1987 8th
  1993 7th
  1995 6th
  1997  
  1999 7th
  2002 5th
  2006 7th
  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
  2002 4th
  2003 5th
  2004  
  2005 5th
  2006  
  2008 8th
  2016  
  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
  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

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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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