Water polo
at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad
Tournament details
Host country United States
CityAtlanta
Venue(s)Georgia Tech Aquatic Center
Dates20 July 1996 (1996-07-20) – 28 July 1996 (1996-07-28)
Event1 (men's)
Teams12 (from 3 confederations)
Competitors153
Final positions
Champions Spain (1st title)
Runners-up Croatia
Third place Italy
Fourth place Hungary
Tournament statistics
Matches48
Multiple
appearances		5-time Olympian(s): 1
4-time Olympian(s): 3
Top scorer(s)Hungary Tibor Benedek (19 goals)
Most savesNetherlands Arie van de Bunt (81 saves)
← 1992
2000 →

The water polo tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics was held from 20 to 28 July 1996, in Atlanta, United States.[1][2]

Qualification

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

 Greece

 Netherlands

 Ukraine

 Germany

 Romania

Total 12

Teams

Squads

Main article: Water polo at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads

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  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
Source: [citation needed]
Hungary  8 – 7  Russia
Spain  9 – 3  Germany
Yugoslavia  11 – 8  Netherlands
Hungary  9 – 8  Germany
Russia  9 – 9  Yugoslavia
Spain  8 – 7  Netherlands
Hungary  10 – 8  Netherlands
Russia  10 – 8  Germany
Yugoslavia  9 – 7  Spain
Hungary  8 – 7  Spain
Russia  10 – 5  Netherlands
Yugoslavia  9 – 8  Germany
Germany  9 – 8  Netherlands
Hungary  12 – 8  Yugoslavia
Spain  8 – 6  Russia

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
Source: [citation needed]
Croatia  8 – 5  Greece
Italy  10 – 7  United States
Romania  6 – 6  Ukraine
Croatia  11 – 6  Romania
Italy  8 – 6  Ukraine
United States  9 – 7  Greece
Greece  8 – 5  Romania
Italy  10 – 8  Croatia
United States  9 – 7  Ukraine
Croatia  16 – 8  Ukraine
Italy  10 – 8  Greece
United States  10 – 5  Romania
Greece  9 – 6  Ukraine
Italy  10 – 9  Romania
United States  10 – 8  Croatia

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
Germany  10 – 4  Ukraine
Netherlands  10 – 8  Romania
Germany  9 – 6  Netherlands
Romania  11 – 8  Ukraine
Netherlands  9 – 9  Ukraine
Germany  10 – 6  Romania

Final round

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
 
 Hungary12
 
 
 
 Greece8
 
 Hungary6
 
 
 
 Spain7
 
 Spain5
 
 
 
 United States4
 
 Spain7
 
 
 
 Croatia5
 
 Yugoslavia6
 
 
 
 Croatia8
 
 Croatia7
 
 
 
 Italy6 Third place
 
 Russia9
 
 
 
 Italy11
 
 Hungary18
 
 
 Italy20
 

Quarterfinals

Hungary  12 – 8  Greece
Yugoslavia  6 – 8  Croatia
Spain  5 – 4  United States
Russia  9 – 11  Italy

Semifinals

Greece  7 – 6  United States
Yugoslavia  15 – 16  Russia
Croatia  7 – 6  Italy
Hungary  6 – 7  Spain

Finals

United States  12 – 8  Yugoslavia
Greece  8 – 10  Russia
Hungary  18 – 20  Italy
Spain  7 – 5  Croatia

Ranking and statistics

Final ranking

Multi-time Olympians

See also: List of players who have appeared in multiple men's Olympic water polo tournaments

Five-time Olympian(s): 1 player

Four-time Olympian(s): 3 players

Medallists

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's tournament
 Spain (ESP)[1]
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

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Water Polo at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Manuel Estiarte". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  4. ^ "George Mavrotas". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  5. ^ "Anastasios Papanastasiou". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Jordi Sans". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

Sources

External links

Events at the 1996 Summer Olympics (Atlanta)
Water polo at the Summer Olympics
Categories