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Croatia men's national water polo team

The Croatia men's national water polo team represents Croatia in international water polo competitions and is controlled by the Croatian Water Polo Federation. They have won gold medals in the Olympics, World and European Championships, FINA World League and Mediterranean Games, making them one of the most successful men's water polo teams in the world. Overall Croatia won 33 medals at competitions.

It was the first Croatian national team to win a gold medal at the Olympics or World Games, the World and European Championships.

Croatia played their 800th game since gaining independence on 20 August 2022 and they won their 517th victory.[1]

History

After the independence of Croatia the national water polo team competed at its first tournament and also its first finals at 1993 Mediterranean Games, followed by the 1993 European Championships where Croatia won 5th place.

Croatia has since become Olympic champion (2012), triple World champion (2007, 2017, 2024) and European champion (2010). Croatia has also won eight other medals at the Olympic Games, World Championships and European Championships and was fourth on six occasions. The team holds a record streak of winning 7 medals in a row at World Championships and has reached semi-finals in over 60% of appearances at the Olympic Games, World Championships and European Championships altogether since 2017. Since the formation of national team Croatia has qualified for every big tournament. It is the first Croatian national team in any Olympic team sport that has won gold medals at all three big competitions. Croatia has also won World League (2012) and Mediterranean Games (2013). The only competition Croatia has yet to win is World Cup where the national team won silver medal in 2010.

The team has been awarded with Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport in 1996. So far two International Swimming Hall of Fame inductees have been members of Croatia national team – Perica Bukić as a player and Ratko Rudić as a coach.

Croatia played their 800 game since gaining independence on 20 August 2022. and they won their 517 victory which makes 64,62% of victories.[1]

Results

Medals

Updated after 2024 World Championships

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

Summer Olympics

Record against other teams at the Summer Olympics

World Championships

World Cup

World League

Wins/Defeats after penalty shootout counted as wins/defeats.
* marks instances of not qualifying for the super final due to "host rule".

European Championships

Europa Cup

Mediterranean Games

Team

Current squad

Roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The roster was announced on 7 July 2024.[4]

Head coach: Ivica Tucak[5]

Player statistics

Head coaches

Notable players

Naturalized players

Andrey Belofastov (Ukraine), Xavier García (Spain)[6] Konstantin Kharkov (Russia)

Statistics

Record against other teams

As of 10 August 2024 after game against Hungary in Olympic Games 2024

NO FRIENDLY fixtures.

Biggest wins

double digit goal difference

Biggest losses

Non-senior competitions

Awards

See also

Notes

  1. ^ FINA Water Polo Player of the Year in 1982, 1984 and 1985. Scored 28 goals in one game which is a world record for water polo game (final score: Yugoslavia 62–0 Guatemala). First water polo player in history to sign a 6 digit contract.

References

  1. ^ a b "Pobjeda u jubilarnoj 800. utakmici Barakuda: Hrvatska trijumfom nad Francuzima otvorila turnir u Beogradu". sportske.jutarnji.hr. 20 August 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. pp. 4, 14, 25, 40, 48. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  3. ^ Qualification for the tournament was determined by placing in the 1992 Olympics tournament. Since the Croatian team couldn't had participated in the 1992 Olympic water polo tournament due to the dissolution of Yugoslavia, it couldn't qualify for the 1993 World Cup.
  4. ^ "Odabrano 13 Barakuda za OI u Parizu". hvs.hr. 7 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Team roster: Croatia" (PDF). Olympics.com. 26 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Stigla potvrda iz MOO-a: Javier Garcia s Hrvatskom na Olimpijskim igrama u Riju".

External links

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