Greece men's national water polo team
Men's national water polo team representing Greece
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Greece men's national water polo team represents Greece in international men's water polo competitions and it is organized and run by the Hellenic Swimming Federation.
Ethniki (The National)
Greece has a long tradition of strong presence at international level, with their major successes being the silver medal at the 2020 Olympic Games and three bronze medals won at the World Championship in 2005, 2015 and 2022. The Greeks have also won a silver medal at the World Cup in 1997, three bronze medals at the World League in 2004, 2006 and 2016, a bronze medal at the European Water Polo Championship in 2026, as well as one silver (2018) and four bronze medals (1951, 1991, 1993, 2013) at the Mediterranean Games.
Moreover, they have closely missed a medal in the 2016 European Championship, the 2004 Olympic Games, the 2003 World Championship and the 1999 European Championship, ending up in the 4th place in all four of them. Greece is one of only nine national teams in the world to have won (at least) a medal in the World Championship, currently occupying the eighth place on the medal table, one above Germany. They have qualified at least for the quarter-finals in all their World Championship participations since 1994, winning the two aforementioned bronze medals and never finishing below the 6th place from 2001 and on.
Honours
| Competition |  |  |  | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| World Championship | – | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| World Cup | – | 2 | – | 2 |
| World League | – | – | 4 | 4 |
| European Championship | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Mediterranean Games | – | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Total | – | 5 | 13 | 18 |
Olympic Games
Silver medal:
World Championship
World Cup
World League
European Championship
Bronze medal:
Mediterranean Games
Competitive record
Olympic Games
Greece has participated 16 times at the Olympic Games, always present in the tournament since 1980. Their best result is the 2nd place at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, after losing 13–10 to Serbia in the gold medal game. The Greeks have secured a quarter-finals' presence in six occasions.[1]
World Championship
Greece has a strong presence at the World Aquatics Championships, where they have been placed third in the world in two occasions.[1] The first was in 2005 in Montreal, after their 11–10 victory over Croatia in the bronze medal game, with Georgios Afroudakis scoring the winning goal, with a spectacular backhand shot, with only 11 seconds left in the overtime.[2] The second one was in 2015 in Kazan, after their penalty shootout win over Italy in the bronze medal game. Greece has qualified at least for the quarter-finals in all their tournament participations since 1994, with a 7th place being their lowest position from 2001 and on when the team qualified.
World Cup
Greece had qualified for the FINA Water Polo World Cup in all but two occasions between 1985 and 2006, winning the silver medal in 1997 in Athens, losing 5–8 to the United States in the final.[1]
World League
Greece had a regular presence at the FINA Water Polo World League during the first years of the competition, starting from 2002. They have won four bronze medals so far in 2004, 2006, 2016 and 2020.[1]
European Championship
As one of the most competitive European nations in water polo, Greece is a regular contestant at the European Water Polo Championship since 1989, winning a bronze medal in 2026 in Belgrade.
LEN Europa Cup
| Year | Position |
|---|---|
 2018 | 7th |
 2019 | 7th |
Mediterranean Games
Team
Current squad
Roster for the 2026 European Championship.[3][4]
| No. | Player | Pos. | L/R | Height | Weight | Date of birth (age) | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manos Zerdevas | GK | B | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | 77 kg (170 lb) | 12 August 1997 |  Olympiacos |
| 2 | Konstantinos Genidounias (C) | D | R | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | 91 kg (201 lb) | 3 March 1993 | Olympiacos |
| 3 | Dimitrios Skoumpakis | CB | R | 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) | 119 kg (262 lb) | 18 December 1998 | Panathinaikos |
| 4 | Konstantinos Gkiouvetsis | D | R | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | 90 kg (198 lb) | 19 November 1999 | Panathinaikos |
| 5 | Stelios Argyropoulos | D | B | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | 105 kg (231 lb) | 2 August 1996 |  Ferencvárosi |
| 6 | Alexandros Papanastasiou | W | R | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) | 94 kg (207 lb) | 12 February 1999 | Olympiacos |
| 7 | Nikos Gillas | W | R | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | 79 kg (174 lb) | 21 June 2003 | Olympiacos |
| 8 | Efstathios Kalogeropoulos | W | R | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | 88 kg (194 lb) | 28 June 2001 |  CN Marseille |
| 9 | Aristeidis Chalyvopoulos | W | R | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | 20 May 2002 | Panathinaikos | |
| 10 | Kostas Kakaris | CF | R | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | 115 kg (254 lb) | 2 July 1999 | Olympiacos |
| 11 | Dimitris Nikolaidis | CF | R | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | 88 kg (194 lb) | 10 June 1999 | Olympiacos |
| 12 | Nikos Papanikolaou | CF | R | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) | 110 kg (243 lb) | 29 March 2000 | Panathinaikos |
| 13 | Panagiotis Tzortzatos | GK | B | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | 85 kg (187 lb) | 11 May 1992 | Olympiacos |
| 14 | Evangelos Pouros | D | R | 27 August 2003 | Olympiacos | ||
| 15 | Semir Spachits | CF | R | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | 18 November 2005 | Vouliagmeni |
World Championship medal-winning squads
The following are the medal-winning Greek rosters in the men's water polo tournaments of the Water polo at the World Aquatics Championships:
|
|
|
|
Notable coaches
.JPG)
