# Water polo at the 1996 Summer Olympics

The water polo tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics was held from 20 to 28 July 1996, in Atlanta, United States.

## Qualification

| Qualification | Date | Host | Berths | Qualified |
| Host nation | 18 September 1990 | Tokyo | 1 | United States |
| 1995 World Cup | 12-17 September 1995 | Atlanta | 3 | Hungary |
| 1995 World Cup | 12-17 September 1995 | Atlanta | 3 | Italy |
| 1995 World Cup | 12-17 September 1995 | Atlanta | 3 | Russia |
| 1994 World Championships | 2-10 September 1994 | Rome | 2 | Spain |
| 1994 World Championships | 2-10 September 1994 | Rome | 2 | Croatia |
| Intercontinental qualification | 10-18 February 1996 | Berlin | 6 | Yugoslavia  Greece  Netherlands  Ukraine  Germany  Romania |
| Total | | | 12 | |

## Preliminary round
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Hungary | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 38 | +9 | 10 |
| 2 | FR Yugoslavia | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 7 |
| 3 | Spain | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 39 | 33 | +6 | 6 |
| 4 | Russia | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 42 | 38 | +4 | 5 |
| 5 | Germany | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 36 | 45 | −9 | 2 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 36 | 48 | −12 | 0 |
| 20 July 1996 | Hungary | 8–7 | Russia | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 20 July 1996 | Spain | 9–3 | Germany | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 20 July 1996 | FR Yugoslavia | 11–8 | Netherlands | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 21 July 1996 | Hungary | 9–8 | Germany | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 21 July 1996 | Russia | 9–9 | FR Yugoslavia | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 21 July 1996 | Spain | 8–7 | Netherlands | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 22 July 1996 | Hungary | 10–8 | Netherlands | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 22 July 1996 | Russia | 10–8 | Germany | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 22 July 1996 | FR Yugoslavia | 9–7 | Spain | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 23 July 1996 | Hungary | 8–7 | Spain | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 23 July 1996 | Russia | 10–5 | Netherlands | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 23 July 1996 | FR Yugoslavia | 9–8 | Germany | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 24 July 1996 | Germany | 9–8 | Netherlands | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 24 July 1996 | Hungary | 12–8 | FR Yugoslavia | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 24 July 1996 | Spain | 8–6 | Russia | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Italy | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 38 | +10 | 10 |
| 2 | United States | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 45 | 37 | +8 | 8 |
| 3 | Croatia | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 51 | 39 | +12 | 6 |
| 4 | Greece | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 37 | 38 | −1 | 4 |
| 5 | Romania | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 31 | 45 | −14 | 1 |
| 6 | Ukraine | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 33 | 48 | −15 | 1 |
| 20 July 1996 | Croatia | 8–5 | Greece | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 20 July 1996 | Italy | 10–7 | United States | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 20 July 1996 | Romania | 6–6 | Ukraine | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 21 July 1996 | Croatia | 11–6 | Romania | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 21 July 1996 | Italy | 8–6 | Ukraine | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 21 July 1996 | United States | 9–7 | Greece | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 22 July 1996 | Greece | 8–5 | Romania | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 22 July 1996 | Italy | 10–8 | Croatia | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 22 July 1996 | United States | 9–7 | Ukraine | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 23 July 1996 | Croatia | 16–8 | Ukraine | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 23 July 1996 | Italy | 10–8 | Greece | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 23 July 1996 | United States | 10–5 | Romania | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 24 July 1996 | Greece | 9–6 | Ukraine | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 24 July 1996 | Italy | 10–9 | Romania | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 24 July 1996 | United States | 10–8 | Croatia | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |

## Classification round

| | Team | Points | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | Diff |
| 9. | Germany | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 16 | +13 |
| 10. | Netherlands | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 26 | –1 |
| 11. | Romania | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 28 | –3 |
| 12. | Ukraine | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 30 | –9 |
| 26 July 1996 | Germany | 10–4 | Ukraine | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 26 July 1996 | Netherlands | 10–8 | Romania | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 27 July 1996 | Germany | 9–6 | Netherlands | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 27 July 1996 | Romania | 11–8 | Ukraine | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 28 July 1996 | Netherlands | 9–9 | Ukraine | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 28 July 1996 | Germany | 10–6 | Romania | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |

## Final round

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| Hungary | 12 | | |
| Greece | 8 | | |
| Greece | 8 | Hungary | 6 |
| | | Spain | 7 |
| Spain | 5 | Spain | 7 |
| United States | 4 | | | | |
| United States | 4 | | | Spain | 7 |
| | | | | Croatia | 5 |
| FR Yugoslavia | 6 | | | Croatia | 5 |
| Croatia | 8 | | | | |
| Croatia | 8 | Croatia | 7 | | |
| | | Italy | 6 | Third place | Third place |
| Russia | 9 | Italy | 6 | Third place | Third place |
| Italy | 11 | | | | |
| Italy | 11 | | | Hungary | 18 |
| | | | | Italy | 20 |

### Quarterfinals

| 26 July 1996 | Hungary | 12–8 | Greece | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 26 July 1996 | FR Yugoslavia | 6–8 | Croatia | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 26 July 1996 | Spain | 5–4 | United States | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 26 July 1996 | Russia | 9–11 | Italy | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |

### Semifinals

5th/8th place
| 27 July 1996 | Greece | 7–6 | United States | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 27 July 1996 | FR Yugoslavia | 15–16 | Russia | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
1st/4th place
| 27 July 1996 | Croatia | 7–6 | Italy | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
| 27 July 1996 | Hungary | 6–7 | Spain | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |

### Finals
#### 7th place match

| 28 July 1996 | United States | 12–8 | FR Yugoslavia | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |

#### 5th place match

| 28 July 1996 | Greece | 8–10 | Russia | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |

#### Bronze medal match

| 28 July 1996 | Hungary | 18–20 | Italy | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |

#### Gold medal match

| 28 July 1996 | Spain | 7–5 | Croatia | Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |

## Ranking and statistics
### Final ranking

| RANK | TEAM |
| | Spain |
| | Croatia |
| | Italy |
| 4. | Hungary |
| 5. | Russia |
| 6. | Greece |
| 7. | United States |
| 8. | FR Yugoslavia |
| 9. | Germany |
| 10. | Netherlands |
| 11. | Romania |
| 12. | Ukraine |
* 1996 Men's Olympic champions
* Spain First title

### Multi-time Olympians

Five-time Olympian(s): 1 player
* Spain: Manuel Estiarte
Four-time Olympian(s): 3 players
* Greece: George Mavrotas, Anastasios Papanastasiou
* Spain: Jordi Sans

## Medallists

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Men's tournament | Spain (ESP)Josep María Abarca Ángel Andreo Daniel Ballart Pedro Francisco García Salvador Gómez Manuel Estiarte Iván Moro Miguel Ángel Oca Jorge Payá Sergi Pedrerol Jesús Rollán Jordi Sans Carles Sans Head Coach: Joan Jané | Croatia (CRO)Maro Balić Perica Bukić Damir Glavan Igor Hinić Vjekoslav Kobešćak Joško Kreković Ognjen Kržić Dubravko Šimenc Siniša Školneković Ratko Štritof Renato Vrbičić Tino Vegar Zdeslav Vrdoljak Head Coach: Bruno Silić | Italy (ITA)Alberto Angelini Francesco Attolico Fabio Bencivenga Alessandro Bovo Alessandro Calcaterra Roberto Calcaterra Marco Gerini Alberto Ghibellini Luca Giustolisi Amedeo Pomilio Francesco Postiglione Carlo Silipo Leonardo Sottani Head Coach: Ratko Rudić |