Greece men's national water polo team


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.
Greece has a long tradition of strong presence at international level, with their major successes being the two bronze medals won at the World Championship in 2005 and 2015. 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, as well as one silver and four bronze medals 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 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.

Competitive record

World Championship

Olympic Games

Greece has participated 16 times at the Olympic Games, always present in the tournament since 1980. Their best result is the 4th place at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, after losing 5–6 to Russia in the bronze medal game. The Greeks have secured a quarter-finals' presence in six occasions.
YearPosition
19208th
192413th
194815th
196814th
197214th
198010th
19848th
19889th
199210th
19966th
200010th
20044th
20087th
20129th
20166th
Total15/27

World Championship

Greece has a strong presence at the World Aquatics Championships, where they have been placed third in the world in two occasions. 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. 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 the 6th place being their lowest position from 2001 and on.
YearPosition
197312th
197812th
198212th
198611th
199110th
19947th
19988th
20016th
20034th
2005
20076th
20136th
2015
20174th
20197th
Total15/18

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.
YearPosition
19858th
19878th
19937th
19956th
1997
19997th
20025th
20067th
Total8/15

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 three bronze medals so far in 2004, 2006 and 2016.
YearPosition
20024th
20035th
2004
20055th
2006
20088th
2016
Total7/15

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, although they have yet to win a medal, with their best results being the 4th place in 1999 in Florence and in 2016 in Belgrade.
YearPosition
197010th
19858th
198911th
19916th
19937th
19959th
19977th
19994th
20017th
20037th
20066th
200811th
20109th
20126th
20146th
20164th
20185th
20207th
Total18/34

Team

Current squad

Roster for the 2020 Men's European Water Polo Championship.
Head coach: Theodoros Vlachos
NoNamePos.L/RDate of birthHeightWeightCapsClub
1Emmanouil ZerdevasGKR Olympiacos
2Konstantinos GenidouniasWR Olympiacos
3Dimitrios SkoumpakisDFR Olympiacos
4Marios KapotsisWR Steaua Bucharest
5Ioannis Fountoulis WR Ferencváros
6Alexandros PapanastasiouFPR VK Jug
7Georgios DervisisCFR Olympiacos
8Stylianos ArgyropoulosDFR Olympiacos
9Konstantinos MourikisCFR Olympiacos
10Christodoulos KolomvosCFR Enka SK
11Alexandros GounasWR Olympiacos
12Angelos VlachopoulosWR Eger
13Konstantinos GalandisGKR Apollon Smyrnis

World Championship medal-winning squads

The following are the bronze medal-winning Greek rosters in the men's water polo tournaments of the 2005 and the 2015 World Championships:
2005 World Championship
Bronze Medalists
'
Georgios Reppas
Anastasios Schizas
Dimitrios Mazis
Emmanouil Mylonakis
Theodoros Chatzitheodorou
Argyris Theodoropoulos
Christos Afroudakis
Georgios Ntoskas
Georgios Afroudakis
Stefanos-Petros Santa
Antonios Vlontakis
Manthos Voulgarakis
Nikolaos Deligiannis
Head Coach
Alessandro Campagna

2015 World Championship
Bronze Medalists
'
Konstantinos Flegkas
Emmanouil Mylonakis
Georgios Dervisis
Konstantinos Genidounias
Ioannis Fountoulis
Kyriakos Pontikeas
Christos Afroudakis
Evangelos Delakas
Konstantinos Mourikis
Christodoulos Kolomvos
Alexandros Gounas
Angelos Vlachopoulos
Stefanos Galanopoulos
Head Coach
Thodoris Vlachos

Notable coaches