Hungary men's national water polo team

Summary

The Hungary men's national water polo team represents Hungary in international men's water polo competitions and is controlled by the Hungarian Water Polo Association. It is considered the world's top power in the history of water polo, having won 16 Olympic, 12 World Championship,[1] 10 FINA World Cup, eight FINA World League, 26 European Championship and 17 Summer Universiade medals for a total of 91.

Hungary
FINA codeHUN
AssociationHungarian Water Polo Federation
ConfederationLEN (Europe)
Head coachZsolt Varga
Asst coachAndrás Gárdonyi
Balázs Nyéki
CaptainSzilárd Jansik
Most capsTibor Benedek (384)
FINA ranking (since 2008)
Current4 (as of 9 August 2021)
Highest1 (2008, 2013)
Lowest7 (2011)
Olympic Games (team statistics)
Appearances23 (first in 1912)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (1932, 1936, 1952, 1956, 1964, 1976, 2000, 2004, 2008)
5-time Olympian(s)Dezső Gyarmati (1948–1964)
Tibor Benedek (1992–2008)
Tamás Kásás (1996–2012)
Most medalsDezső Gyarmati (5 medals, 3 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze)
Top scorer(s)Tibor Benedek (65 goals, 1992–2008)
Flag bearer(s)István Szívós Sr. (1980)
Péter Biros (2012)
World Championship
Appearances21 (first in 1973)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (1973, 2003, 2013, 2023)
Most titlesNorbert Madaras (2003, 2013)
World Cup
Appearances14 (first in 1979)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (1979, 1995, 1999, 2018)
Most medalsRajmund Fodor (6 medals, 2 gold, 3 silver, and 1 bronze)
World League
Appearances10 (first in 2002)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (2003, 2004)
European Championship
Appearances34 (first in 1926)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (1926, 1927, 1931, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1977, 1997, 1999, 2020)
Europa Cup
Appearances2 (first in 2018)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (2019)
Media
Websitewaterpolo.hu (in Hungarian)
Last updated: 3 July 2021

Competitive record edit

Medals edit

Updated after 2023 World Championships

Competition       Total
Olympic Games 9 3 4 16
Friendship Games 0 1 0 1
World Championship 4 7 1 12
World Cup 4 4 2 10
World League 2 5 1 8
European Championship 13 7 6 26
Europa Cup 1 0 0 1
Mediterranean Games 0 0 0 0
Summer Universiade 5 6 6 17
Total 38 33 20 91

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

Olympic Games edit

Hungary missed five Olympics, but they have won the title nine times, which is a record. As of today, there are only seven tournaments in which Hungary participated but did not receive a medal.[2]

Games Round Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
  1900 Paris did not participate
  1904 St. Louis
  1908 London
  1912 Stockholm First round 5th of 6 2 0 0 2 9 11 −2
  1920 Antwerp did not participate
  1924 Paris Quarter-finals 5th of 13 4 2 0 2 17 17 0
  1928 Amsterdam Runners-up 2nd of 14 4 3 0 1 26 8 +18
  1932 Los Angeles Champions 1st of 5 3 3 0 0 31 2 +29
  1936 Berlin Champions 1st of 16 7 6 1 0 44 4 +40
  1948 London Runners-up 2nd of 18 7 5 1 1 34 17 +17
  1952 Helsinki Champions 1st of 21 8 6 2 0 53 16 +37
  1956 Melbourne Champions 1st of 10 6 6 0 0 26 4 +22
  1960 Rome Third place 3rd of 16 7 4 2 1 37 18 +19
  1964 Tokyo Champions 1st of 13 6 5 1 0 34 13 +21
  1968 Mexico City Third place 3rd of 15 8 7 0 1 54 26 +28
  1972 Munich Runners-up 2nd of 16 8 6 2 0 42 21 +21
  1976 Montreal Champions 1st of 12 8 7 1 0 45 32 +13
  1980 Moscow Third place 3rd of 12 8 5 1 2 51 44 +7
  1984 Los Angeles did not participate
  1988 Seoul 5th–8th placement 5th of 12 7 3 2 2 72 57 +15
  1992 Barcelona 5th–8th placement 6th of 12 7 3 2 2 65 62 +3
  1996 Atlanta Fourth place 4th of 12 8 6 0 2 83 73 +10
  2000 Sydney Champions 1st of 12 8 6 0 2 78 57 +21
  2004 Athens Champions 1st of 12 7 7 0 0 59 39 +20
  2008 Beijing Champions 1st of 12 7 6 1 0 85 55 +30
  2012 London Match for 5th place 5th of 12 8 5 0 3 98 80 +18
  2016 Rio de Janeiro Match for 5th place 5th of 12 8 4 4 0 91 66 +25
  2020 Tokyo Third place 3rd of 12 8 5 1 2 94 60 +34
  2024 Paris Qualified
Total 24/29 9 Titles 154 110 21 23 1,228 782 +446

World Championships edit

Hungary has taken part in every World Championships. They have won this championship four times: in 1973, 2003, 2013 and 2023.[2]

Year Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
  1973  
  1975  
  1978  
  1982  
  1986 9th
  1991  
  1994 5th
  1998  
  2001 5th
  2003  
  2005  
  2007  
  2009 5th
  2011 4th
  2013   7 5 1 1 76 54 +22
  2015 6th 6 4 0 2 81 40 +41
  2017   6 4 1 1 62 37 +25
  2019 4th 6 4 0 2 87 51 +36
  2022 7th 6 4 0 2 79 56 +23
  2023   6 6 0 0 84 64 +20
  2024 7th 6 3 1 2 86 54 +32
Total 21/21

World Cup edit

The Hungarian national team missed three editions of the World Cup, but they won it four times: in 1979, 1995, 1999 and 2018.[2]

Year Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
  1979   7 5 1 1 37 28 +9
  1981 6th 7 3 0 4 64 56 +8
  1983 7th 7 0 4 3 57 64 −7
  1985 did not participate
  1987
  1989   5 3 0 2 40 36 +4
  1991 4th 5 2 1 2 48 42 +6
  1993   5 4 0 1 39 30 +9
  1995   5 4 1 0 51 34 +17
  1997   5 3 1 1 38 29 +9
  1999   5 4 0 1 44 24 +20
  2002   6 3 0 3 48 43 +5
  2006   5 4 0 1 57 35 +22
  2010 did not participate
  2014   6 4 2 0 61 35 +26
  2018   6 5 0 1 70 57 +13
  2023 4th 3 1 0 2 27 28 −1
Total 14/17 77 45 10 22 681 541 +140

World League edit

Hungary has taken part in the first edition of the FINA Water Polo World League in 2002. They have won the gold medal one and two years later. In 2006 and from 2008 to 2012, Hungary did not participate in the World League.[2]

Year Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
  2002   16 13 0 3 188 119 +69
  2003   5 5 0 0 56 35 +21
  2004   14 11 0 3 150 114 +36
  2005   14 11 0 3 178 113 +65
  2006 did not participate
  2007   14 13 0 1 187 100 +87
  2008 did not participate
  2009
  2010
  2011
  2012
  2013   6 4 0 2 66 59 +7
  2014   10 8 0 2 103 73 +30
  2015 6th 12 9 0 3 156 105 +51
  2016 did not participate
  2017
  2018   10 6 2 2 106 73 +33
  2019 5th 6 3 2 1 78 67 +11
  2020 did not qualify
  2022
Total 10/20 107 83 4 20 1,268 858 +410

European Championships edit

 
semi-final against Italy in 2014 Men's European Water Polo Championship
 
supporters celebrate the Hungarian team

Hungary missed only one European Championship, in 1950, and they have won the tournament 13 times, which is (as in the World Championships) a record. No team has a better result than Hungary in history of the European Championship.

Year Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
  1926   3 3 0 0 16 3 +13
  1927   3 3 0 0 14 6 +8
  1931  
  1934  
  1938  
  1947 4th
  1950 did not participate
  1954  
  1958  
  1962  
  1966 5th
  1970  
  1974  
  1977  
  1981  
  1983  
  1985 5th
  1987 5th
  1989 9th
  1991 5th
  1993  
  1995  
  1997  
  1999  
  2001  
  2003  
  2006  
  2008  
  2010 4th
  2012  
  2014  
  2016  
  2018 8th 7 2 1 4 52 54 −2
  2020   6 4 2 0 89 43 +46
  2022   6 5 0 1 92 44 +48
  2024 4th 6 3 0 3 58 59 −1
Total 35/36

Friendship Games edit

Year Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
  1984   5 3 1 1 68 43 +25
Total 2/6 5 3 1 1 68 43 +25

Europa Cup edit

  • 2018 – 6th place
  • 2019  Gold medal

Team edit

Current squad edit

Roster for the 2024 World Aquatics Championships.[3]

Head coach: Zsolt Varga

Individual all-time records edit

  Still active players are highlighted.

Most appearances and goals edit

Total number of matches played in official competitions only.

# Player Years Matches Goals
1 Tibor Benedek 1990–2008 384
2 ifj. István Szívós 1966–1980 308
3 Dániel Varga 2005–present 278
4 Norbert Hosnyánszky 2005–present 258
4 Tamás Faragó 1970–1985 258
6 Dénes Varga 2004–present 246
7 György Gerendás 1975–1986 230
8 Zoltán Kósz 1986–2001, 2006 228
9 Endre Molnár 1966–1980 189
10 László Sárosi 1966–1978 634

Statistics accurate as of matches played 18 January 2016

Olympic statistics edit

Five-time Olympians edit

Olympians with four or more medals edit

  • Dezső Gyarmati: 5 medals, 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze (1948  , 1952  , 1956  , 1960  , 1964  );
  • György Kárpáti: 4 medals, 3 gold and 1 bronze (1952  , 1956  , 1960  , 1964  ).
  • András Bodnár: 4 medals, 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze (1960  , 1964  , 1968  , 1972  ).
  • ifj. István Szívós: 4 medals, 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze (1968  , 1972  , 1976  , 1980  ).

Olympians with three gold medals edit

World Championship statistics edit

Players with four or more medals edit

  • Norbert Madaras: 4 medals, 2 gold and 2 silver (2003  , 2005  , 2007  , 2013  );
  • Rajmund Fodor: 4 medals, 1 gold and 3 silver (1998  , 2003  , 2005  , 2007  );
  • Tamás Kásás: 4 medals, 1 gold and 3 silver (1998  , 2003  , 2005  , 2007  );
  • Gergely Kiss: 4 medals, 1 gold and 3 silver (1998  , 2003  , 2005  , 2007  );
  • Tamás Molnár: 4 medals, 1 gold and 3 silver (1998  , 2003  , 2005  , 2007  );
  • Tibor Benedek: 4 medals, 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1991  , 1998  , 2003  , 2007  ).

Players with two gold medals edit

World Cup statistics edit

Players with four or more medals edit

  • Rajmund Fodor: 6 medals, 2 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze (1993  , 1995  , 1997  , 1999  , 2002  , 2006  );
  • Tamás Kásás: 5 medals, 2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1995  , 1997  , 1999  , 2002  , 2006  );
  • Tibor Benedek: 4 medals, 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1993  , 1995  , 1997  , 2002  );
  • Gergely Kiss: 4 medals, 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1997  , 1999  , 2002  , 2006  );
  • Tamás Molnár: 4 medals, 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1997  , 1999  , 2002  , 2006  ).

Players with two gold medals edit

Awards edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Hungary makes it title #3 with a heart-stopper over Montenegro". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. pp. 4, 14, 25, 40, 48. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  3. ^ "21st World Aquatics World Championships Men's Water Polo Team Roster HUN" (PDF). Omega Timing. 5 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.

External links edit