The 2026 World Aquatics Men's Water Polo World Cup was the 19th season of the event. It ran from 7 April to 26 July 2026. The super final was held in Sydney, Australia.
Greece won their first title with a win over Hungary. The top three teams qualified for the 2027 World Aquatics Championships.
Format There were two divisions. The top five teams of Division 1 and the top two teams from Division 2, together with the host Australia, competed in the Super Final. A win gave a team three points, a win after penalties two, a loss after penalties one and a loss after regular time zero points.
Division 1
Division 1 was held in Alexandroupolis, Greece between 6 and 12 April 2026.
The teams were split into two pools of four teams, with the top two teams forming a new group, same with the bottom two teams. The top five teams advanced to the super final.
Referees For Division 1, the following referees were selected for the tournament. The referees represent 10 countries including 8 participating countries along with 2 neutral officials from Slovenia and Japan.
Jakov Blašković Konstantinos Vasileiou Norbert Ercse Raffaele Colombo Chisato Kurosaki Michiel Zwart Pavle Kiš Boris Margeta Pau Segurana Levon Dermendjian
All times are local (UTC+3).
Preliminary round Group A
Group B
Second round Group C
Group D
Division 2
The Division 2 tournament was held in Msida, Malta, between 7 and 13 April 2026.
The teams were sorted in one league phase, playing three games based on ranking. The top 16 teams of the standings advanced to the knockout stage, where the top two teams qualified for the super final.https://sport.timesofmalta.com/2026/04/07/world-aquatics-mens-world-cup-division-ii-under-way-at-national-pool-and-cottonera-sc/
All times are (UTC+2).
League phase Teams were ranked by average Tournament Performance Index (TPI) points, calculated using the margin of victory/defeat and the strength of opposition, before the other tiebreakers are used.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Final phase Bracket
Fifth place bracket
Ninth place bracket
13th place bracket
17th place bracket
21st place bracket
Round of 16
17–23rd place quarterfinals
9–16th place quarterfinals
Quarterfinals
21st–23rd place semifinal
17–20th place semifinals
13–16th place semifinals
9–12th place semifinals
5–8th place semifinals
Semifinals
21st place game
19th place game
17th place game
15th place game
13th place game
Eleventh place game
Ninth place game
Seventh place game
Fifth place game
Third place game
Final
Super final
The tournament took place between 23 and 26 July 2026 in Sydney, Australia.
Bracket
Fifth place bracket
All times are local (UTC+10).
Quarterfinals
5–8th place semifinals
Semifinals
Seventh place game
Fifth place game
Third place game
Final
Final standings
RankTeam 4 5 6 7 8
Greece, Italy and Australia qualified for the 2027 World Championship and Hungary qualified for the 2027 World Championship as hosts.
Team roster Panagiotis Tzortzatos (GK), Aris Chalyvopoulos, Dimitris Skoumpakis, Kostas Gkiouvetsis, Stelios Argyropoulos (c), Alexandros Papanastasiou, Vangelis Pouros, Stathis Kalogeropoulos, Zannis Alafragkis, Kostas Kakaris, Dimitris Nikolaidis, Nikos Gardikas, Manos Andreadis (GK), Semir Spachits, Dimitris Chatzis Head coach: Thodoris Vlachos.
Awards The following individual awards were announced by World Aquatics following the Super Final:
Award Recipient Most valuable player Stylianos Argyropoulos Best goalkeeper Panagiotis Tzortzatos Best defender Nathan Power
See also 2026 World Aquatics Women's Water Polo World Cup
Notes
References
External links Results Book – Super final Results Book – Division 1 Results Book – Division 2