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)
Appearances16 (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
Appearances17 (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 place2023 FukuokaTeam
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

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
Competition1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)Total
Olympic Games –1–1
World Championship –134
World Cup –1–1
World League ––44
European Championship ––––
Mediterranean Games –145
Total–41115

Olympic Games

World Championship

World Cup

World League

Mediterranean Games

Competitive record

Olympic Games
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 19208th
France 192413th
United Kingdom 194815th
Mexico 196814th
West Germany 197214th
Soviet Union 198010th
United States 19848th
South Korea 19889th
Spain 199210th
United States 19966th
Australia 200010th
Greece 20044th
China 20087th
United Kingdom 20129th
Brazil 20166th
Japan 2020
France 2024
Total17/28

World Championship

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 197312th
West Germany 197812th
Ecuador 198212th
Spain 198611th
Australia 199110th
Italy 19947th
Australia 19988th
Japan 20016th
Spain 20034th
Canada 2005
Australia 20076th
Spain 20136th
Russia 2015
Hungary 20174th
South Korea 20197th
Hungary 2022
Japan 2023
Total17/20

World Cup

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 19858th
Greece 19878th
Greece 19937th
United States 19956th
Greece 1997
Australia 19997th
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 20025th
Hungary 20067th
United States 20235th
Total9/17

World League

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 20024th
United States 20035th
United States 2004
Serbia and Montenegro 20055th
Greece 2006
Italy 20088th
China 2016
Georgia (country) 2020
Total8/20

European Championship

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 197010th
Bulgaria 19858th
West Germany 198911th
Greece 19916th
United Kingdom 19937th
Austria 19959th
Spain 19977th
Italy 19994th
Hungary 20017th
Slovenia 20038th
Serbia 20066th
Spain 200811th
Croatia 20109th
Netherlands 20126th
Hungary 20146th
Serbia 20164th
Spain 20185th
Hungary 20207th
Croatia 20225th
Israel 2024Qualified
Total20/36

Team

Current squad

Roster for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.[3]

Head coach: Thodoris Vlachos

World Championship medal-winning squads

The following are the bronze medal-winning Greek rosters in the men's water polo tournaments of the 2005 and the 2015 World Championships:

Notable coaches
Alessandro Campagna

See also

References
  1. "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. "20th World Aquatics World Championships Men's Water Polo Team Roster GRE" (PDF). Omega Timing. 15 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
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