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| Event type

Water Polo, Men

Date15 – 29 August 2004
StatusOlympic
LocationOlympiako Kentro Ugrou Stivou, Olympiako Athletiko Kentro Athinon Spiros Loues, Athina (Main Pool)
Participants154 from 12 countries
FormatRound-robin pools advanced teams to classification matches.

Hungary, traditionally the strongest water polo power, came into Athens as the clear favorite. They were the defending champions, the 2003 World Champions, the 2002 World Cup Champions, and earlier in 2004, had won the World League Superfinal, defeating Serbia & Montenegro in the final match. The two teams met again in group play, Hungary prevailing 6-4. Both teams would move into the single-elimination tournament, Hungary going undefeated in group play, and moving directly to the semi-finals.

The final saw Hungary and Serbia & Montenegro meet again. The former Yugoslavia moved out to an early 3-0 lead, but Hungary tied the match 5-5 at halftime. Serbia & Montenegro again led 7-5 at the end of three quarters, but Hungary scored the only three goals of the final period to win the gold medal, 8-7, and confirm their status as the world’s top water polo team.

But for the second consecutive Olympics, Serbia & Montenegro had the leading scorer of the Olympic tournament, this being Aleksandar Šapić, who led the goalscoring in both Sydney and Athens with 18 goals.

PosNumberTeamNOC
1HungaryHUNGold
2Serbia and MontenegroSCGSilver
3Russian FederationRUSBronze
4GreeceGRE
5GermanyGER
6SpainESP
7United StatesUSA
8ItalyITA
9AustraliaAUS
10CroatiaCRO
11KazakhstanKAZ
12EgyptEGY

Preliminary Round

Date15 – 23 August 2004

Group A

Date15 – 23 August 2004
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1HungaryHUN5001044-27
2Serbia and MontenegroSCG401837-26
3Russian FederationRUS302632-28
4United StatesUSA203432-37
5CroatiaCRO104235-41
6KazakhstanKAZ005021-42
MatchDate/TimeLocationCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #115 Aug 10:45Main PoolRussian FederationRUS5 – 2KazakhstanKAZ
Match #215 Aug 16:30Main PoolHungaryHUN6 – 4Serbia and MontenegroSCG
Match #315 Aug 22:15Main PoolUnited StatesUSA7 – 6CroatiaCRO
Match #417 Aug 16:30Main PoolUnited StatesUSA9 – 6KazakhstanKAZ
Match #517 Aug 17:45Main PoolSerbia and MontenegroSCG4 – 3Russian FederationRUS
Match #617 Aug 22:15Main PoolHungaryHUN10 – 8CroatiaCRO
Match #719 Aug 9:30Main PoolSerbia and MontenegroSCG9 – 5KazakhstanKAZ
Match #819 Aug 10:45Main PoolHungaryHUN7 – 5United StatesUSA
Match #919 Aug 22:15Main PoolRussian FederationRUS9 – 8CroatiaCRO
Match #1021 Aug 9:30Main PoolHungaryHUN14 – 4KazakhstanKAZ
Match #1121 Aug 21:00Main PoolSerbia and MontenegroSCG11 – 8CroatiaCRO
Match #1221 Aug 22:15Main PoolRussian FederationRUS9 – 7United StatesUSA
Match #1323 Aug 10:45Main PoolCroatiaCRO5 – 4KazakhstanKAZ
Match #1423 Aug 18:15Main PoolHungaryHUN7 – 6Russian FederationRUS
Match #1523 Aug 21:00Main PoolSerbia and MontenegroSCG9 – 4United StatesUSA

Group B

Date15 – 23 August 2004
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1GreeceGRE401843-27
2GermanyGER311740-28
3ItalyITA302639-24
4SpainESP302635-31
5AustraliaAUS113337-35
6EgyptEGY005018-67
MatchDate/TimeLocationCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #115 Aug 9:30Main PoolAustraliaAUS14 – 3EgyptEGY
Match #215 Aug 17:45Main PoolSpainESP5 – 4ItalyITA
Match #315 Aug 21:00Main PoolGermanyGER5 – 4GreeceGRE
Match #417 Aug 9:30Main PoolItalyITA8 – 4AustraliaAUS
Match #517 Aug 10:45Main PoolGermanyGER13 – 3EgyptEGY
Match #617 Aug 21:00Main PoolGreeceGRE8 – 5SpainESP
Match #719 Aug 16:30Main PoolSpainESP8 – 4AustraliaAUS
Match #819 Aug 17:45Main PoolItalyITA10 – 5GermanyGER
Match #919 Aug 21:00Main PoolGreeceGRE15 – 4EgyptEGY
Match #1021 Aug 10:45Main PoolItalyITA13 – 4EgyptEGY
Match #1121 Aug 16:30Main PoolGermanyGER11 – 5SpainESP
Match #1221 Aug 17:45Main PoolGreeceGRE10 – 9AustraliaAUS
Match #1323 Aug 9:30Main PoolAustraliaAUS6 – 6GermanyGER
Match #1423 Aug 17:00Main PoolSpainESP12 – 4EgyptEGY
Match #1523 Aug 22:15Main PoolGreeceGRE6 – 4ItalyITA

Quarter-Finals

Date25 August 2004
FormatSingle-elimination.
MatchDate/TimeLocationCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #125 Aug 17:00Main PoolRussian FederationRUS12 – 5GermanyGER
Match #225 Aug 18:15Main PoolSerbia and MontenegroSCG7 – 5SpainESP

Semi-Finals

Date27 August 2004
FormatSingle-elimination.
MatchDate/TimeLocationCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #127 Aug 18:15Main PoolHungaryHUN7 – 5Russian FederationRUS
Match #227 Aug 21:00Main PoolSerbia and MontenegroSCG7 – 3GreeceGRE

Classification Round 7-12

Date25 August 2004
FormatClassification matches.
MatchDate/TimeLocationCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #125 Aug 9:30Main PoolAustraliaAUS10 – 5KazakhstanKAZ
Match #225 Aug 10:45Main PoolCroatiaCRO12 – 1EgyptEGY

Classification Round 7-10

Date27 August 2004
MatchDate/TimeLocationCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #127 Aug 10:45Main PoolUnited StatesUSA6 – 5AustraliaAUS
Match #227 Aug 17:00Main PoolItalyITA11 – 7CroatiaCRO

Final Round

Date27 – 29 August 2004
FormatMedal round.
MatchDate/TimeLocationCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match 1/229 Aug 17:30Main PoolHungaryHUN8 – 7Serbia and MontenegroSCG
Match 3/429 Aug 16:00Main PoolRussian FederationRUS6 – 5GreeceGRE
Match 5/629 Aug 12:00Main PoolGermanyGER6 – 4SpainESP
Match 7/829 Aug 10:45Main PoolUnited StatesUSA9 – 8ItalyITA
Match 9/1029 Aug 9:30Main PoolAustraliaAUS8 – 7CroatiaCRO
Match 11/1227 Aug 9:30Main PoolKazakhstanKAZ15 – 7EgyptEGY