Historic Double: Men Reach Water Polo World Final after Women’s Triumph

The Hungarian men’s water polo team defeated the Olympic champion Serbs 19-18 in Tuesday’s semifinal at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, meaning that they will now play for gold alongside the women’s team. The Hungarians were leading by five goals with six minutes to go, but their rivals managed to make the final minutes exciting. This is the first time since 1998, that the Hungarian team has triumphed over Serbia at the World Championships.

After the success in Fukuoka in 2023, national team coach Zsolt Varga can now prepare for his second World Championships final at the helm of the men’s team, with European champions Spain as their opponents in Thursday’s final. The two teams met in the third round of the group stage at this year’s World Cup, with Spain winning by one goal thanks to a 5-1 victory in the fourth quarter. Outside of the World Cup, they last met in January this year, when Spain triumphed in the final match of the World Cup qualifiers in Otopeni.

So far, only once, in 2005, in Montreal, have both the men’s and women’s national teams played in the World Championships final, with the women returning home with gold medals and the men with silver.

The Hungarian men’s team is preparing for its eighth classic World Championships final, winning three times, in 2003, 2013, and 2023. The Spanish have the same record, with their three successes to date coming in 1998, 2001, and 2022 (the latter in Budapest).

The strength of the Spanish team is demonstrated by the fact that they have won medals in five consecutive world championships, and with the exception of two Olympic Games, have been on the podium at every major world competition since 2018. The Spanish team is extremely experienced, with 11 members of the 2022 Budapest-winning team still on the roster today.

Márton Vámos is on the verge of a historic achievement for the Hungarian team, as he could become the first Hungarian water polo player to win three world championships.

Varga could become the first Hungarian national team coach to win two world championships, but Dénes Kemény leads the coaching rankings with one gold and three silver medals.

According to Varga, in an incredibly difficult match, the Serbs were “outplayed” in the semifinals, which was also a triumph for the heart. “I would like to start by congratulating the girls, they played fantastically yesterday, it is a huge achievement, and we can be proud that both teams are playing in the final,” said Varga in his assessment to M4 Sport in the mixed zone.

“Today’s match started well, but as three-time Olympic champions, the Serbs know how to win these games. We had to work very hard to stay in it at the end, the defense was incredibly tough, they fought for a lot of penalties, but today we simply managed to outscore them, which was one of the keys to victory.” Varga explained that in the final minutes, a “huge chess game” began, with the aim of taking the tired Serbian players, who had made several personal mistakes, out of the game. This strategy was largely successful, although Dusan Mandic still managed to make his mark, but that was to be expected from him, he added.

The national team coach noted that the stakes will be no higher in the final against Spain than they were in this match:

The two teams know each other well, we train together regularly, we know that they are a very strong opponent, but it is the heart that we showed today that is needed for success.”

The Hungary-Spain World Championships final will be held on Thursday at 3:35 p.m. Central European Time.

Via MTI, M4 Sport; Featured image: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd