FINA Water Polo World League

The FINA Water Polo World League was an international water polo league organized by FINA, which played annually, typically from winter through to June.[1] League play featured continental tournaments for men and women, from which the top teams emerged to play in the championship tournament (the "Super Final") where the league champion team is crowned.

FINA Water Polo World League
SportWater Polo
Founded2002
Ceased2022
Replaced byFINA Water Polo World Cup
FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup
Continentall (International)
Last
champion(s)
Men's:  Italy (1st title)
Women's:  Spain (1st title)
Most titlesMen's:  Serbia (10 titles)
Women's:  United States (14 titles)

Men's league play began in 2002, to capitalize on increased worldwide popularity of water polo created by the 2000 Olympic Games, especially in Europe, North America and Australia. The women’s league was added in 2004, based on growing interest in women's play.[2]

In October 2022, FINA announced that the tournament would be replaced with the FINA Water Polo World Cup and FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup from 2023 on.[3][4]

Play format

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Matches consisted of four eight-minute quarters, with a five-minute half-time break. Tie games were decided by an immediate penalty shootout. The game venues had television requirements to bring the sport to the biggest audience possible. Rule changes were made to provide more spectacular play and yield higher scores.

Preliminary rounds of play were organized by continent: Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The structure of continental play varied within the league. For example, for 2012, the Americas had a single tournament for each sex, Asia/Oceania has two tournaments for each sex on consecutive weekends, and Europe has six weekends of play for men and two for women.[5]

Summary

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FINA Men's Water Polo World League
Year[2] Host Winner Score Runner-up 3rd place
2002 Patras, Greece  
Russia
10–8  
Spain
 
Hungary
2003 New York, USA  
Hungary
13–8  
Italy
 
United States
2004 Long Beach, USA  
Hungary
12–8  
Serbia and Montenegro
 
Greece
2005 Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro  
Serbia and Montenegro
16–6  
Hungary
 
Germany
2006 Athens, Greece  
Serbia and Montenegro
6–4  
Spain
 
Greece
2007 Berlin, Germany  
Serbia
9–6  
Hungary
 
Australia
2008 Genoa, Italy  
Serbia
7–3  
United States
 
Australia
2009 Podgorica, Montenegro  
Montenegro
8–7  
Croatia
 
Serbia
2010 Niš, Serbia  
Serbia
10–10 (4–2 PSO)  
Montenegro
 
Croatia
2011 Florence, Italy  
Serbia
8–7  
Italy
 
Croatia
2012 Almaty, Kazakhstan  
Croatia
8–8 (10–9 PSO)  
Spain
 
Italy
2013 Chelyabinsk, Russia  
Serbia
12–7  
Hungary
 
Montenegro
2014 Dubai, UAE  
Serbia
10–6  
Hungary
 
Montenegro
2015 Bergamo, Italy  
Serbia
9–6  
Croatia
 
Brazil
2016 Huizhou, China  
Serbia
10–6  
United States
 
Greece
2017 Ruza, Russia  
Serbia
10–9  
Italy
 
Croatia
2018 Budapest, Hungary  
Montenegro
9–9 (4–2 PSO)  
Hungary
 
Spain
2019 Belgrade, Serbia  
Serbia
12–11  
Croatia
 
Australia
2020 Tbilisi, Georgia  
Montenegro
9–8  
United States
 
Greece
2022 Strasbourg, France  
Italy
13–9  
United States
 
Spain

Medal table

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RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Serbia[a]100111
2  Montenegro3126
3  Hungary2518
4  Serbia and Montenegro[a]2103
5  Croatia1337
6  Italy1315
7  Russia1001
8  United States0415
9  Spain0325
10  Greece0044
11  Australia0033
12  Brazil0011
  Germany0011
Totals (13 entries)20202060
  • ^[a] matches played from Serbia and Montenegro are separated from Serbia.

Participation details

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Legend
  •  1st  – Champions
  •  2nd  – Runners-up
  •  3rd  – Third place
  •  4th  – Fourth place
  •  QF  – Quarterfinals
  •  ×  — Did not enter qualifications
  •  •  — Did not qualify for the final tournament
  •  ••  — Qualified but withdrew
  •     – Hosts
  • Defunct team
Africa – CANA (6 teams)
Men's team[2] 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2022 YQ / YP
  Algeria × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/3
  Egypt × × × × × × 10th × × × × × × × × × × × × × 1/1
  Libya × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/1
  Morocco × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/3
  South Africa × × × × × × × 8th 8th × × × × × × × × × × 2/3
  Tunisia × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/2
Americas – ASUA (7 teams)
  Argentina × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/4
  Brazil × × × × 8th 8th 7th 3rd 7th × × × × •• 6/12
  Canada × × × 7th 6th × × 7th 6th × × 8th × 8th 6/12
  Colombia × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/1
  Mexico × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/1
  Puerto Rico × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/1
  United States 3rd 6th 5th 5th 2nd 4th 5th 4th 4th 4th 5th 4th 2nd 4th 7th × 2nd 2nd 17/19
  Venezuela × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/1
Asia – AASF (5 teams)
  China × × × 8th 9th × 7th 8th 6th 6th 8th 8th 8th × × 9/14
  Iran × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/3
  Japan × × × × 7th 7th 6th 8th 4th 6th 5th × 7/15
  Kazakhstan × × × × × × × × 5th × 6th 8th 7th 6th × 5/10
  Saudi Arabia × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/1
Europe – LEN (20 teams)
  Croatia × × 4th 2nd 3rd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd 5th 2nd 9/18
  France × × × × 6th × × × × × × × 7th 4th 3/9
  Georgia × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 8th × 1/3
  Germany × × × 3rd 4th × × × 2/14
  Great Britain × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/1
  Greece 4th 5th 3rd 5th 3rd 8th 3rd × 3rd 8/19
  Hungary 3rd 1st 1st 2nd × 2nd × × × × × 2nd 2nd 6th × 2nd 5th 10/13
  Italy 2nd 4th 7th 5th 2nd 3rd 7th 4th 2nd × 4th 1st 11/19
  Malta × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/1
  Montenegro Part of SCG / FRY 4th 1st 2nd 5th × 3rd 3rd × 1st 1st 6th 9/13
  Netherlands × 6th × × × × × × × × × × × × × 1/6
  North Macedonia × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/3
  Romania × × × 6th × 1/16
  Russia 1st × × 6th 5th 5th DQ 4/17
  Serbia Part of SCG / FRY 1st 1st 3rd 1st 1st × 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 5th 12/14
  Serbia and Montenegro × 4th 2nd 1st 1st Defunct 4/4
  Slovakia × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/4
  Spain 2nd × 5th 2nd 5th 6th 2nd × × 3rd 4th 3rd 9/17
  Turkey × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/6
  Ukraine × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/2
Oceania – OSA (2 teams)
  Australia × 4th 3rd 3rd 6th 4th 6th 7th × 4th 5th 5th 7th 6th 3rd × 7th 14/17
  New Zealand × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/8
Total teams 4 6 6 6 6 8 10 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8

Performance by team

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After 2015 World League

National team Total* Super Final
App W% Pld W** L** A% App F4 W% Pld W** L**
  Algeria 3 0.533 15 8 7 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0
  Argentina 1 0.000 6 0 6 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0
  Australia 12 0.645 141 91 50 0.750 9 5 0.418 55 23 32
  Brazil 10 0.230 87 20 67 0.400 4 1 0.250 24 6 18
  Canada 9 0.288 66 19 47 0.444 4 0 0.292 24 7 17
  China 10 0.368 114 42 72 0.800 8 0 0.130 46 6 40
  Croatia 12 0.645 121 78 43 0.500 6 6 0.706 34 24 10
  Egypt 1 0.429 7 3 4 1.000 1 0 0.000 4 0 4
  France 4 0.222 36 8 28 0.250 1 0 0.000 7 0 7
  Germany 10 0.333 75 25 50 0.200 2 2 0.625 8 5 3
  Great Britain 1 0.000 4 0 4 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0
  Greece 14 0.460 126 58 68 0.429 6 3 0.346 26 9 17
  Hungary 8 0.825 97 80 17 1.000 8 7 0.694 36 25 11
  Iran 3 0.083 24 2 22 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0
  Italy 14 0.598 132 79 53 0.500 7 4 0.559 34 19 15
  Japan 10 0.387 75 29 46 0.200 2 0 0.250 12 3 9
  Kazakhstan 5 0.293 41 12 29 0.200 1 0 0.333 6 2 4
  Libya 1 0.000 6 0 6 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0
  North Macedonia 3 0.188 16 3 13 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0
  Mexico 1 0.333 3 1 2 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0
  Montenegro 8 0.767 86 66 20 0.750 6 5 0.694 36 25 11
  Morocco 3 0.200 15 3 12 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0
  Netherlands 2 0.091 11 1 10 0.500 1 0 0.000 2 0 2
  New Zealand 5 0.111 36 4 32 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0
  Puerto Rico 1 0.000 3 0 3 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0
  Romania 11 0.413 75 31 44 0.091 1 0 0.500 6 3 3
  Russia 12 0.421 95 40 55 0.250 3 1 0.500 14 7 7
  Serbia*** 12 0.895 143 128 15 1.000 12 12 0.937 63 59 4
  Slovakia 2 0.083 12 1 11 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0
  South Africa 2 0.500 24 12 12 1.000 2 0 0.000 12 0 12
  Spain 12 0.581 124 72 52 0.500 6 3 0.567 30 17 13
  Tunisia 2 0.444 9 4 5 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0
  Turkey 5 0.031 32 1 31 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0
  United States 14 0.572 138 79 59 0.857 12 7 0.485 66 32 34
  Venezuela 1 0.000 4 0 4 0.000 0 0 0.000 0 0 0
  • *Since 2007 Preliminary Round is played among teams from the same regions (Asia/Oceania, Americas or Asia/Oceania/Americas, Africa and Europe); Super Final statistic included
  • **Wins/Defeats after penalty shootout counted as wins/defeats.
  • ***Serbia's total includes appearances as   Serbia and Montenegro.

Women

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Winners

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FINA Women's Water Polo World League
Year[2] Host Winner Runner-up 3rd Place
2004 Long Beach, USA  
United States
 
Hungary
 
Italy
2005 Kirishi, Russia  
Greece
 
Russia
 
Australia
2006 Cosenza, Italy  
United States
 
Italy
 
Russia
2007 Montreal, Canada  
United States
 
Australia
 
Greece
2008 Santa Cruz, Spain  
Russia
 
United States
 
Australia
2009 Kirishi, Russia  
United States
 
Canada
 
Australia
2010 La Jolla, USA  
United States
 
Australia
 
Greece
2011 Tianjin, China  
United States
 
Italy
 
Australia
2012 Changshu, China  
United States
 
Australia
 
Greece
2013 Beijing, China  
China
 
Russia
 
United States
2014 Kunshan, China  
United States
 
Italy
 
Australia
2015 Shanghai, China  
United States
 
Australia
 
Netherlands
2016 Shanghai, China  
United States
 
Spain
 
Australia
2017 Shanghai, China  
United States
 
Canada
 
Russia
2018 Kunshan, China  
United States
 
Netherlands
 
Russia
2019 Budapest, Hungary  
United States
 
Italy
 
Russia
2020 Athens, Greece  
United States
 
Hungary
 
Russia
2022 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain  
Spain
 
Hungary
 
United States

Medal standings

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RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  United States141217
2  Russia1258
3  Spain1102
4  Greece1034
5  China1001
6  Australia04610
7  Italy0415
8  Hungary0303
9  Canada0202
10  Netherlands0112
Totals (10 entries)18181854

Participation details

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Legend
  •  1st  – Champions
  •  2nd  – Runners-up
  •  3rd  – Third place
  •  4th  – Fourth place
  •  QF  – Quarterfinals
  •  ×  — Did not enter qualifications
  •  •  — Did not qualify for the final tournament
  •  ••  — Qualified but withdrew
  •     – Hosts
Africa – CANA (1 team)
Women's team[2] 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 YQ / YP
  South Africa × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/3
Americas – ASUA (5 teams)
Women's team[2] 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 YQ / YP
  Argentina × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/1
  Brazil × × × × × × 8th 8th 8th × × × × •• 4/7
  Canada 5th 6th 6th 4th 4th 2nd 8th 6th 7th 8th 6th 6th 7th 2nd 4th 7th 4th 7th 18/18
  Colombia × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/1
  Cuba × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/1
  Puerto Rico × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/2
  United States 1st 5th 1st 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 3rd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 3rd 18/18
  Venezuela × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/1
Asia – AASF (3 teams)
Women's team[2] 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 YQ / YP
  China × × 6th 5th 5th 5th 4th 4th 1st 4th 4th 4th 6th 6th 8th × × 13/14
  Japan × × × 8th 8th 7th × 3/14
  Kazakhstan 8th × × × × × × × × × 8th × 2/8
Europe – LEN (10 teams)
Women's team[2] 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 YQ / YP
  France × × × × × × × × 0/10
  Germany × × 6th × × × × × × × 1/9
  Great Britain × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/5
  Greece 6th 1st 3rd 7th 3rd 7th 3rd × 6th 9/16
  Hungary 2nd 4th × × × 6th 4th 4th 6th 2nd 2nd 8/15
  Israel × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 0/1
  Italy 3rd 8th 2nd × 8th 2nd 8th 6th 2nd 7th 5th × 2nd 5th 12/16
  Netherlands × 7th 5th × × 7th × × 3rd 5th 2nd 4th 4th 8/13
  Russia 4th 2nd 3rd 1st 6th 4th 5th 5th 2nd 7th 5th 6th 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd DQ 16/17
  Spain × 5th 6th 4th 8th 5th 5th 2nd × 5th 5th 1st 10/16
Oceania – OSA (2 teams)
Women's team[2] 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 YQ / YP
  Australia 7th 3rd 4th 2nd 3rd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 7th 3rd 2nd 3rd 7th 7th 5th × 6th 17/17
  New Zealand × × × × × × × × × 8th 1/9
Total teams 8 8 6 6 6 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Water Polo World League page Archived 18 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine of the FINA website; retrieved 3 March 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. pp. 40, 78. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  3. ^ "FINA Announces Dates for New 2023 Water Polo World Cup". fina.org. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  4. ^ "New FINA competition: World Cup replaces World League". total-waterpolo.com. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  5. ^ FINA Water Polo World League 2012 Edition – Programme, published 27 February 2012; retrieved 20123 March 2012.
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