# Water polo at the 1988 Summer Olympics

Water polo at the 1988 Summer Olympics as usual was part of the swimming sport, the other two being swimming and diving. They were not seen as three separate sports, because they all were governed by one federation — FINA. Water polo discipline consisted of one event: the men's team competition.
In the preliminary round twelve teams were divided into two groups. The two best teams from each group (shaded ones) advanced to the semi-finals. The two numbers three and four played classification matches to determine places 5 through 8, with the earlier result taken with them. The rest of the teams also played classification matches to determine places 9 through 12.

## Qualification

| Qualification | Date | Host | Berths | Qualified |
| Host nation | 30 September 1978 | Baden-Baden | 1 | South Korea |
| 1986 World Championships | 14-22 August 1986 | Madrid | 6 | Yugoslavia |
| 1986 World Championships | 14-22 August 1986 | Madrid | 6 | Italy |
| 1986 World Championships | 14-22 August 1986 | Madrid | 6 | Soviet Union |
| 1986 World Championships | 14-22 August 1986 | Madrid | 6 | United States |
| 1986 World Championships | 14-22 August 1986 | Madrid | 6 | Spain |
| 1986 World Championships | 14-22 August 1986 | Madrid | 6 | West Germany |
| Intercontinental qualification | 13-22 May 1988 | Perth | 5 | Hungary  Australia  France  Greece  China |
| Total | | | 12 | |

## Preliminary round
### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| West Germany | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 37 | +23 | 10 |
| Soviet Union | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 63 | 30 | +33 | 7 |
| Italy | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 48 | 33 | +15 | 7 |
| Australia | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 40 | 39 | +1 | 4 |
| France | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 43 | 54 | −11 | 2 |
| South Korea | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 75 | −61 | 0 |
* 21 September
** Italy 9-9 Soviet Union
** France 16-5 South Korea
** Australia 11-13 West Germany
* 22 September
** South Korea 1-11 Italy
** France 9-10 West Germany
** Australia 4-11 Soviet Union
* 23 September
** South Korea 2-18 West Germany
** Australia 5-7 Italy
** France 4-18 Soviet Union
* 26 September
** Italy 7-10 West Germany
** South Korea 4-17 Soviet Union
** France 6-7 Australia
* 27 September
** France 8-14 Italy
** Australia 13-2 South Korea
** Soviet Union 8-9 West Germany

### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| United States | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 40 | +16 | 8 |
| Yugoslavia | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 38 | +22 | 8 |
| Spain | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 48 | 38 | +10 | 7 |
| Hungary | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 50 | 43 | +7 | 5 |
| Greece | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 45 | 66 | −21 | 2 |
| China | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 34 | 68 | −34 | 0 |
* 21 September
** Hungary 12-10 Greece
** United States 7-6 Yugoslavia
** China 6-13 Spain
* 22 September
** Greece 10-7 China
** United States 7-9 Spain
** Hungary 9-10 Yugoslavia
* 23 September
** United States 14-7 China
** Greece 7-17 Yugoslavia
** Hungary 6-6 Spain
* 26 September
** United States 18-9 Greece
** Hungary 14-7 China
** Spain 8-10 Yugoslavia
* 27 September
** Greece 9-12 Spain
** Hungary 9-10 United States
** Yugoslavia 17-7 China

## Final round
### Semi finals

* 30 September
** West Germany 10-14 Yugoslavia
** Soviet Union 7-8 United States

### Bronze medal match

* 1 October
** West Germany 13-14 Soviet Union

### Final

* 1 October
** Yugoslavia 9-7 United States

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 5 | Hungary | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 20 | +8 | 4 |
| 6 | Spain | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 23 | +1 | 3 |
| 7 | Italy | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Australia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 27 | −9 | 2 |
* 30 September
** Italy 9-9 Hungary
** Australia 8-7 Spain
* 1 October
** Australia 5-13 Hungary
** Italy 9-11 Spain

### Group E

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 9 | Greece | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 21 | +16 | 6 |
| 10 | France | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 19 | +15 | 4 |
| 11 | China | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 28 | −3 | 2 |
| 12 | South Korea | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 47 | −28 | 0 |
* 30 September
** France 11-4 China
** South Korea 7-17 Greece
* 1 October
** South Korea 7-14 China
** France 7-10 Greece

## Final ranking

| | Yugoslavia |
| | United States |
| | Soviet Union |
| 4 | West Germany |
| 5 | Hungary |
| 6 | Spain |
| 7 | Italy |
| 8 | Australia |
| 9 | Greece |
| 10 | France |
| 11 | China |
| 12 | South Korea |

### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Name | Goals |
| 1 | Manuel Estiarte | 27 |
| 2 | Pierre Garsau | 20 |
| 3 | András Gyöngyösi | 19 |
| 4 | Frank Otto | 18 |
| 4 | Kyriakos Giannopoulos | 18 |
| 4 | Antonis Aronis | 18 |
| 7 | Dirk Theismann | 17 |
| 8 | Igor Milanovic | 16 |
| 8 | Yang Yong | 16 |
| 10 | Hagen Stamm | 15 |
| 11 | Dmitry Apanasenko | 14 |
| 11 | Giorgi Mshvenieradze | 14 |
| 11 | Geoff Clark | 14 |
| 14 | Jordi Sans | 13 |
| 15 | Jody Campbell | 12 |
| 15 | Sergey Kotenko | 12 |
| 15 | Alessandro Campagna | 12 |
| 15 | Massimiliano Ferretti | 12 |