# Water polo at the 2020 Summer Olympics

The water polo tournaments at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place at the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center in Kōtō. Twenty-two teams (twelve for men and ten for women) competed in the tournament, an increase of two from the previous editions. Men's Water polo was also the last final played before the closing ceremony.
It was originally scheduled to be held in 2020, but on 24 March 2020, the Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Schedule

The match schedule as of 9 March 2021.
| DateEvent | Sat 24 | Sun 25 | Mon 26 | Tue 27 | Wed 28 | Thu 29 | Fri 30 | Sat 31 | Sun 1 | Mon 2 | Tue 3 | Wed 4 | Thu 5 | Fri 6 | Sat 7 | Sat 7 | Sun 8 | Sun 8 |
| Men | | G | | G | | G | | G | | G | | ¼ | | ½ | | | B | F |
| Women | G | | G | | G | | G | | G | | ¼ | | ½ | | B | F | | |

## Qualification
### Qualification summary

| Nation | Men's | Women's | Athletes |
| Australia | | | 26 |
| Canada | | | 13 |
| China | | | 13 |
| Croatia | | | 13 |
| Greece | | | 13 |
| Hungary | | | 26 |
| Italy | | | 13 |
| Japan | | | 26 |
| Kazakhstan | | | 13 |
| Montenegro | | | 13 |
| Netherlands | | | 13 |
| ROC | | | 13 |
| South Africa | | | 26 |
| Serbia | | | 13 |
| Spain | | | 26 |
| United States | | | 26 |
| Total: 16 NOCs | 12 | 10 | 286 |

### Men's qualification

| Event | Dates | Hosts | Quota | Qualifier(s) |
| Host nation | — | — | 1 | Japan |
| 2019 FINA World League | 18–23 June 2019 | Belgrade | 1 | Serbia |
| 2019 FINA World Championships | 15–27 July 2019 | Gwangju | 2 | Italy |
| 2019 FINA World Championships | 15–27 July 2019 | Gwangju | 2 | Spain |
| 2019 Pan American Games | 4–10 August 2019 | Lima | 1 | United States |
| Oceanian Continental Selection | — | — | 1 | Australia |
| African Continental Selection | — | — | 1 | South Africa |
| 2020 European Championships | 14–26 January 2020 | Budapest | 1 | Hungary |
| 2018 Asian Games | 25 August – 1 September 2018 | Jakarta | 1 | Kazakhstan |
| World Qualification Tournament | 14–21 February 2021 | Rotterdam | 3 | Croatia |
| World Qualification Tournament | 14–21 February 2021 | Rotterdam | 3 | Greece |
| World Qualification Tournament | 14–21 February 2021 | Rotterdam | 3 | Montenegro |
| Total | | | 12 | |

### Women's qualification

| Event | Dates | Hosts | Quota | Qualifier(s) |
| Host nation | — | — | 1 | Japan |
| 2019 FINA World League | 4–9 June 2019 | Hungary | 1 | United States |
| 2019 FINA World Championships | 14–26 July 2019 | Gwangju | 1 | Spain |
| 2019 Pan American Games | 4–10 August 2019 | Lima | 1 | Canada |
| Oceanian Continental Selection | — | — | 1 | Australia |
| African Continental Selection | — | — | 1 | South Africa |
| 2020 European Championships | 12–25 January 2020 | Budapest | 1 | ROC |
| 2018 Asian Games | 16–21 August 2018 | Jakarta | 1 | China |
| World Qualification Tournament | 19–24 January 2021 | Trieste | 2 | Hungary |
| World Qualification Tournament | 19–24 January 2021 | Trieste | 2 | Netherlands |
| Total | | | 10 | |

## Medal summary
### Medal table

| Rank | NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Serbia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Greece | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Spain | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Hungary | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Totals (5 entries) | Totals (5 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |

### Medalists

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Men details | Serbia Milan Aleksić Nikola Dedović Filip Filipović Nikola Jakšić Đorđe Lazić Dušan Mandić Branislav Mitrović Stefan Mitrović Duško Pijetlović Gojko Pijetlović Andrija Prlainović Sava Ranđelović Strahinja Rašović | Greece Stylianos Argyropoulos Georgios Dervisis Ioannis Fountoulis Konstantinos Galanidis Konstantinos Genidounias Konstantinos Gkiouvetsis Marios Kapotsis Christodoulos Kolomvos Konstantinos Mourikis Alexandros Papanastasiou Dimitrios Skoumpakis Angelos Vlachopoulos Emmanouil Zerdevas | Hungary Dániel Angyal Balázs Erdélyi Balázs Hárai Norbert Hosnyánszky Szilárd Jansik Krisztián Manhercz Tamás Mezei Viktor Nagy Mátyás Pásztor Márton Vámos Dénes Varga Soma Vogel Gergő Zalánki |
| Women details | United States Rachel Fattal Aria Fischer Makenzie Fischer Kaleigh Gilchrist Stephania Haralabidis Paige Hauschild Ashleigh Johnson Amanda Longan Maddie Musselman Jamie Neushul Melissa Seidemann Maggie Steffens Alys Williams | Spain Marta Bach Anni Espar Clara Espar Laura Ester Judith Forca Maica García Irene González Paula Leitón Beatriz Ortiz Pili Peña Elena Ruiz Elena Sánchez Roser Tarragó | Hungary Edina Gangl Krisztina Garda Gréta Gurisatti Anikó Gyöngyössy Anna Illés Rita Keszthelyi Dóra Leimeter Alda Magyari Rebecca Parkes Nataša Rybanská Dorottya Szilágyi Gabriella Szűcs Vanda Vályi |

## Men's tournament
### Preliminary round
#### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Greece | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 68 | 34 | +34 | 9 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Italy | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 60 | 32 | +28 | 8 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Hungary | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 64 | 35 | +29 | 7 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | United States | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 59 | 53 | +6 | 4 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Japan (H) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 65 | 66 | −1 | 2 | |
| 6 | South Africa | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 20 | 116 | −96 | 0 | |

#### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Spain | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 31 | +30 | 10 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Croatia | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 62 | 46 | +16 | 6 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Serbia | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 70 | 46 | +24 | 6 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Montenegro | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 54 | 56 | −2 | 4 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Australia | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 49 | 60 | −11 | 4 | |
| 6 | Kazakhstan | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 35 | 92 | −57 | 0 | |
* 1 2 Croatia 14–12 Serbia
* 1 2 Australia 10–15 Montenegro

### Knockout stage

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Gold medal | Gold medal |
| 4 August | 4 August | | | |
| Greece | 10 | | | |
| Greece | 10 | 6 August | 6 August | | |
| Montenegro | 4 | 6 August | 6 August | |
| Montenegro | 4 | Greece | 9 | |
| 4 August | 4 August | | Greece | 9 | |
| 4 August | 4 August | Hungary | 6 | |
| Croatia | 11 | Hungary | 6 | |
| Croatia | 11 | | | | 8 August | 8 August |
| Hungary | 15 | | | | 8 August | 8 August |
| Hungary | 15 | | | | Greece | 10 |
| 4 August | 4 August | | | | | Greece | 10 |
| 4 August | 4 August | | | | Serbia | 13 |
| Italy | 6 | | | | Serbia | 13 |
| Italy | 6 | 6 August | 6 August | | | |
| Serbia | 10 | 6 August | 6 August | | | |
| Serbia | 10 | Serbia | 10 | | | |
| 4 August | 4 August | | Serbia | 10 | | | |
| 4 August | 4 August | Spain | 9 | | Bronze medal | Bronze medal |
| Spain | 12 | Spain | 9 | | Bronze medal | Bronze medal |
| Spain | 12 | | | | 8 August | 8 August |
| United States | 8 | | | | 8 August | 8 August |
| United States | 8 | | | | Hungary | 9 |
| | | | | | Spain | 5 |

### Final standings

| Rank | Team |
| | Serbia |
| | Greece |
| | Hungary |
| 4 | Spain |
| 5 | Croatia |
| 6 | United States |
| 7 | Italy |
| 8 | Montenegro |
| 9 | Australia |
| 10 | Japan |
| 11 | Kazakhstan |
| 12 | South Africa |

## Women's tournament
### Preliminary round
#### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Spain | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 71 | 37 | +34 | 6 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Australia | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 46 | 33 | +13 | 6 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Netherlands | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 75 | 41 | +34 | 6 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Canada | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 48 | 39 | +9 | 2 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | South Africa | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 97 | −90 | 0 | |
* 1 2 3 Spain 2 Pts, +5 GD; Netherlands 2 Pts, −2 GD; Australia 2 Pts, −3 GD. Spain first and after that the head-to head results between Australia and Netherlands (15–12) came into effect.

#### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United States | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 64 | 26 | +38 | 6 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Hungary | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 46 | 43 | +3 | 5 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | ROC | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 53 | 61 | −8 | 5 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | China | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 4 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Japan (H) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 44 | 78 | −34 | 0 | |
* 1 2 ROC10–10 Hungary

### Knockout stage

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Gold medal | Gold medal |
| 3 August | 3 August | | | |
| Spain | 11 | | | |
| Spain | 11 | 5 August | 5 August | | |
| China | 7 | 5 August | 5 August | |
| China | 7 | Spain | 8 | |
| 3 August | 3 August | | Spain | 8 | |
| 3 August | 3 August | Hungary | 6 | |
| Netherlands | 11 | Hungary | 6 | |
| Netherlands | 11 | | | | 7 August | 7 August |
| Hungary | 14 | | | | 7 August | 7 August |
| Hungary | 14 | | | | Spain | 5 |
| 3 August | 3 August | | | | | Spain | 5 |
| 3 August | 3 August | | | | United States | 14 |
| Australia | 8 | | | | United States | 14 |
| Australia | 8 | 5 August | 5 August | | | |
| ROC | 9 | 5 August | 5 August | | | |
| ROC | 9 | ROC | 11 | | | |
| 3 August | 3 August | | ROC | 11 | | | |
| 3 August | 3 August | United States | 15 | | Bronze medal | Bronze medal |
| Canada | 5 | United States | 15 | | Bronze medal | Bronze medal |
| Canada | 5 | | | | 7 August | 7 August |
| United States | 16 | | | | 7 August | 7 August |
| United States | 16 | | | | Hungary | 11 |
| | | | | | ROC | 9 |

### Final standings

| Rank | Team |
| | United States |
| | Spain |
| | Hungary |
| 4 | ROC |
| 5 | Australia |
| 6 | Netherlands |
| 7 | Canada |
| 8 | China |
| 9 | Japan |
| 10 | South Africa |