Water polo at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships – Men's tournament explained

Dates:	15–27 July
Num Teams:	16
Confederations:	5
Cities:	Gwangju
Count:	4
Matches:	48
Goals:	1020
Top Scorer:	Aleksandar Ivović (21 goals)
Player:	Francesco Di Fulvio
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The men's water polo tournament at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, organised by the FINA, was held in Gwangju, South Korea from 15 to 27 July. This was the eighteenth time that the men's water polo tournament has been played since the first edition in 1973.^[1]

Italy defeated Spain in the final to win their fourth title, while Croatia won against Hungary to capture the bronze medal.^[2]

Participating teams

width=15%	Africa	width=15%	Americas	width=15%	Asia	width=20%	Europe	width=15%	Oceania

Draw

The draw was held on 7 April 2019.^[3]

Seeding

The seedings were announced on 6 February 2019.^[4]

Groups formed

The draw resulted in the following groups:

Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC+9).

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Knockout stage

Bracket

Championship bracket

5th place bracket

9th place bracket

13th place bracket

Playoffs

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Quarterfinals

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13th–16th place semifinals

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9th–12th place semifinals

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5th–8th place semifinals

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Semifinals

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Final

Final ranking

width=10px bgcolor=#ccffcc		Qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games
width=10px bgcolor=skyblue		Qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games as winner of 2019 World League

width=40	Rank	width=180	Team
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Awards and statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Team	Goals^[8]	Shots	%
1	Aleksandar Ivović		21	35	60
2	Maro Joković		19	30	63
3	Gergő Zalánki		18	39	46
4	Strahinja Rašović		16	29	55
5	Joe Kayes		15	29	52
	Luuk Gielen			34	44
	Álvaro Granados			38	39
	Blai Mallarach			40	38
	Alberto Munarriz			34	44
10	Marko Stamm		14	33	42
	Dušan Mandić			31	45
	Johnny Hooper			20	70

Awards

The awards and all-star team were announced on 26 July 2019.

Most Valuable Player

• Francesco Di Fulvio

Most Valuable Goalkeeper

• Daniel López

Highest Goalscorer

• Aleksandar Ivović – 21 goals

Media All-Star Team

• Daniel López – Goalkeeper
• Roger Tahull – Centre forward
• Francesco Di Fulvio
• Aleksandar Ivović
• Maro Joković
• Dušan Mandić
• Gergő Zalánki

External links

• 18th FINA World Championships 2019 FINA Water Polo website
• Records and statistics (reports by Omega)
• Men Water Polo XVIII World Championship 2019 Gwuangju, South Korea www.todor66.com

Notes and References

1. mwch. dmy .
2. Web site: Day 7 Men's Water Polo: Fourth title as Italy upsets Spain. fina.org. 27 July 2019.
3. Web site: World famous sporting greats conducted the WP draw for the World Championships in Zagreb. fina.org. 7 April 2019.
4. Web site: Gwangju 2019 water polo tournament: 32 teams qualified. fina.org. 6 February 2019.
5. https://waterpolo.sportresult.com/pdf/WCH2019/MITA-R.pdf 18th FINA World Championships 2019 - Gwangju - Italy's team roster
6. https://waterpolo.sportresult.com/pdf/WCH2019/MESP-R.pdf 18th FINA World Championships 2019 - Gwangju - Spain's team roster
7. https://waterpolo.sportresult.com/pdf/WCH2019/MCRO-R.pdf 18th FINA World Championships 2019 - Gwangju - Croatia's team roster
8. Web site: Top scorers . 2019-07-15 . 2020-12-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201211062646/https://waterpolo.sportresult.com/pdf/WCH2019/MTOPSCORER.pdf . dead .