FINA Water Polo World League

FINA Water Polo World League

Sport	Water Polo
Founded	2002
Continent	all (International)
Most recent champion(s)	Serbia (Men's)  United States (Women's)
Most titles	Serbia (Men's)  United States (Women's)

The FINA Water Polo World League is an international water polo league organized by FINA, which plays annually, typically from winter through to June.^[1] League play features continental tournaments for men and women, from which the top teams emerge to play in the championship tournament (the "Super Final") where the league champion team is crowned.

Men's league play began in 2002,^[2] to capitalize on increased worldwide popularity of water polo created by the 2000 Olympic Games, especially in Europe, North America and Australia. The women’s league was added in 2004,^[3] based on growing interest in women's play.

Play format

Matches consist of four eight-minute quarters, with a five-minute half-time break. Tie games are decided by an immediate penalty shootout. The game venues have television requirements to bring the sport to the biggest audience possible. Rule changes were made to provide more spectacular play and yield higher scores.

Preliminary rounds of play are organized by continent: Americas, Asia/Oceania, and Europe. The structure of continental play varies within the league. For example, for 2012, the Americas has a single tournament for each sex, Asia/Oceania has 2 tournaments for each sex on consecutive weekends, and Europe has 6 weekends of play for men and 2 for women.^[4]

Results

Men

FINA Men's Water Polo World League
Year	Host	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
2002	Patras, Greece	Russia	Spain	Hungary
2003	New York, USA	Hungary	Italy	United States
2004	Long Beach, USA	Hungary	Serbia and Montenegro	Greece
2005	Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro	Serbia and Montenegro	Hungary	Germany
2006	Athens, Greece	Serbia and Montenegro	Spain	Greece
2007	Berlin, Germany	Serbia	Hungary	Australia
2008	Genoa, Italy	Serbia	United States	Australia
2009	Podgorica, Montenegro	Montenegro	Croatia	Serbia
2010	Niš, Serbia	Serbia	Montenegro	Croatia
2011	Florence, Italy	Serbia	Italy	Croatia
2012	Almaty, Kazakhstan	Croatia	Spain	Italy
2013	Chelyabinsk, Russia	Serbia	Hungary	Montenegro
2014	Dubai, UAE	Serbia	Hungary	Montenegro
2015	Bergamo, Italy

Men's medal standings

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Serbia*	8	1	1	10
2	Hungary	2	4	1	7
3	Croatia	1	1	2	4
3	Montenegro	1	1	2	4
5	Russia	1	-	-	1
6	Spain	-	3	-	3
7	Italy	-	2	1	3
8	United States	-	1	1	2
9	Australia	-	-	2	2
	Greece	-	-	2	2
11	Germany	-	-	1	1

* includes matches played as Serbia and Montenegro

Participation details

Legend

• 1st – Champions
• 2nd – Runners-up
• 3rd – Third place
• 4th – Fourth place
• QF - Quarterfinals
•  ×  — Did not enter qualifications
•  •  — Did not qualify for the final tournament
•  ••  — Qualified but withdrew
•    — Hosts

Team	2002 (4)	2003 (6)	2004 (6)	2005 (6)	2006 (6)	2007 (8)	2008 (10)	2009 (8)	2010 (8)	2011 (8)	2012 (8)	2013 (8)	2014 (8)	2015 ()	Years
Algeria	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	×	×	×	×		0
Australia	×	•	•	•	4th	3rd	3rd	6th	4th	6th	7th	×	4th		8
Brazil	•	•	•	•	•	×	×	×	•	×	8th	QF	7th		3
Canada	×	×	×	•	•	7th	6th	×	×	7th	•	•	6th		4
China	×	×	×	•	•	8th	9th	×	7th	8th	6th	QF	8th		7
Croatia	•	×	×	4th	•	•	•	2nd	3rd	3rd	1st	•	•		5
Egypt	×	×	×	×	×	×	10th	×	×	×	×	×	×		1
France	×	×	×	×	6th	×	×	•	•	×	×	×	×		1
Germany	×	×	×	3rd	•	4th	×	•	•	•	•	•	•		2
Great Britain	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	×	×		0
Greece	4th	5th	3rd	5th	3rd	•	8th	•	•	•	•	•	•		6
Hungary	3rd	1st	1st	2nd	×	2nd	×	×	×	×	×	2nd	2nd		7
Iran	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	×	×	×	×		0
Italy	•	2nd	4th	•	•	•	7th	5th	•	2nd	3rd	•	•		6
Japan	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	7th	•	•	•	QF	•		2
Kazakhstan	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	5th	×	•		1
Libya	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	×	×	×	×	×		0
Macedonia	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	×	×		0
Mexico	×	×	×	×	×	•	×	×	×	×	×	×	×		0
Montenegro	Part of  Serbia and Montenegro					•	4th	1st	2nd	5th	×	3rd	3rd		6
Morocco	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	×	×	×	×		0
Netherlands	×	6th	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	×	×	×		1
New Zealand	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	×	•	×		0
Puerto Rico	×	×	×	×	×	•	×	×	×	×	×	×	×		0
Romania	×	×	×	•	•	6th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
Russia	1st	×	×	6th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	QF	•		3
Serbia	Part of  Serbia and Montenegro					1st	1st	3rd	1st	1st	×	1st	1st		7
Serbia and Montenegro	×	4th	2nd	1st	1st	official successor is  Serbia									4
Slovakia	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•		0
South Africa	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	8th	8th	×	×	×	×		2
Spain	2nd	×	5th	•	2nd	•	5th	•	6th	•	2nd	•	×		6
Tunisia	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	×	•	×	×	×	×		0
Turkey	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	×		0
United States	•	3rd	6th	•	5th	5th	2nd	4th	5th	4th	4th	4th	5th		11
Venezuela	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	×	×	×	×		0

Women

FINA Women's Water Polo World League
Year	Host	Winner	Runner-up	3rd Place
2004	Long Beach, USA	United States	Hungary	Italy
2005	Kirishi, Russia	Greece	Russia	Australia
2006	Cosenza, Italy	United States	Italy	Russia
2007	Montreal, Canada	United States	Australia	Greece
2008	Santa Cruz, Spain	Russia	United States	Australia
2009	Kirishi, Russia	United States	Canada	Australia
2010	La Jolla, USA	United States	Australia	Greece
2011	Tianjin, China	United States	Italy	Australia
2012	Changshu, China	United States	Australia	Greece
2013	Beijing, China	China	Russia	United States
2014	Kunshan, China	United States	Italy	Australia

Women's medal standings

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	8	1	1	10
2	Russia	1	1	1	3
3	Greece	1	-	3	4
4	China	1	-	-	1
5	Australia	-	3	5	8
6	Italy	-	3	1	4
7	Canada	-	1	-	1
8	Hungary	-	1	-	1

References

External links

• FINA water polo official site
• Water Polo page of FINA's old website (2010 and earlier).