Serbia men's national water polo team

Summary

The Serbia men's national water polo team represents Serbia in international water polo competitions and is controlled by the Water Polo Association of Serbia [sr]. They have won gold medals in the Olympics, World and European Championships, World Cup, FINA World League, Mediterranean Games and Universiade, making them one of the most successful men's water polo teams in the world.

Serbia
FINA codeSRB
Nickname(s)Делфини / Delfini
(The Dolphins)
AssociationWater Polo Association of Serbia [sr]
ConfederationLEN (Europe)
Head coachUroš Stevanović
Asst coachDarko Bilić
Stefan Ćirić
CaptainNikola Jakšić
Most capsDejan Savić (444)
Top scorer(s)Aleksandar Šapić (981)
FINA ranking (since 2008)
Current3 (as of 9 August 2021)
Highest1 (2009–2011, 2014–2019)
Lowest4 (2013)
Olympic Games (team statistics)
Appearances6 (first in 1996)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (2016, 2020)
World Championship
Appearances14 (first in 1998)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (2005, 2009, 2015)
World Cup
Appearances9 (first in 1997)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (2006, 2010, 2014)
World League
Appearances18 (first in 2003)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019)
European Championship
Appearances13 (first in 1997)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (2001, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018)
Europa Cup
Appearances2 (first in 2018)
Best result4th (2018)
Mediterranean Games
Appearances6 (first in 1997)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) (1997, 2009, 2018, 2022)
Media
Websitewaterpoloserbia.org
Logo of the Water Polo Association of Serbia [sr]
2015 world champions on a 2015 Serbian stamp

They are Serbia's most successful national team, having won more titles than all other Serbian national teams combined.[1] In 2016, they became the first team to hold titles in all five existing major championships: European Championship, World Championship, World Cup, World League and Olympic Games simultaneously.[2]

Competitive record edit

Medals edit

Includes matches of Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia.

Updated after the 2022 Mediterranean Games

Competition       Total
Olympic Games 2 1 3 6
World Championship 3 2 3 8
World Cup 3 0 2 5
World League 12 1 1 14
European Championship 7 2 1 10
Europa Cup 0 0 0 0
Mediterranean Games 4 0 1 5
Summer Universiade 4 1 2 7
Total 35 7 13 55

Olympic Games edit

Year[3] Position
1936 to 1988 part of SFR Yugoslavia
as   FR Yugoslavia
  1992 Barcelona suspended
  1996 Atlanta 8th
  2000 Sydney  
as   Serbia and Montenegro
  2004 Athens  
as   Serbia
  2008 Beijing  
  2012 London  
  2016 Rio de Janeiro  
  2020 Tokyo  
  2024 Paris qualified
  2028 Los Angeles future events
  2032 Brisbane

World Championship edit

Year[3] Position
1973 to 1991 part of SFR Yugoslavia
as   FR Yugoslavia
  1994 Rome suspended
  1998 Perth  
  2001 Fukuoka  
as   Serbia and Montenegro
  2003 Barcelona  
  2005 Montreal  
as   Serbia
  2007 Melbourne 4th
  2009 Rome  
  2011 Shanghai  
  2013 Barcelona 7th
  2015 Kazan  
  2017 Budapest  
  2019 Gwangju 5th
  2022 Budapest 5th
  2023 Fukuoka 4th
  2024 Doha 6th
  2025 Kallang future events
  2027 Budapest

World Cup edit

Year[3] Position
1979 to 1991 part of SFR Yugoslavia
as   FR Yugoslavia
  1993 Athens suspended
  1995 Atlanta did not participate
  1997 Athens 7th
  1999 Sydney 5th
  2002 Belgrade  
as   Serbia and Montenegro
  2006 Budapest  
as   Serbia
  2010 Oradea  
  2014 Almaty  
  2018 Berlin  
  2023 Los Angeles 7th

World League edit

Year[3] Position
as   FR Yugoslavia
  2002 Patras did not participate
as   Serbia and Montenegro
  2003 New York 4th
  2004 Long Beach  
  2005 Belgrade  
  2006 Athens  
as   Serbia
  2007 Berlin  
  2008 Genoa  
  2009 Podgorica  
  2010 Niš  
  2011 Florence  
  2012 Almaty did not participate
  2013 Chelyabinsk  
  2014 Dubai  
  2015 Bergamo  
  2016 Huizhou  
  2017 Ruza  
  2018 Budapest preliminary round
  2019 Belgrade  
  2020 Tbilisi preliminary round
  2022 Strasbourg 5th

European Championship edit

Year Position
1950 to 1991 part of SFR Yugoslavia
as   FR Yugoslavia
  1993 Sheffield suspended
  1995 Vienna did not participate
  1997 Seville  
  1999 Florence 7th
  2001 Budapest  
as   Serbia and Montenegro
  2003 Kranj  
as   Serbia
  2006 Belgrade  
  2008 Malaga  
  2010 Zagreb  
  2012 Eindhoven  
  2014 Budapest  
  2016 Belgrade  
  2018 Barcelona  
  2020 Budapest 5th
  2022 Split 9th
  2024 Dubrovnik and Zagreb 7th
  2026 Belgrade future event

Europa Cup edit

Year Position
  2018 Rijeka 4th
  2019 Zagreb 6th

Mediterranean Games edit

Year Position
1959 to 1991 part of SFR Yugoslavia
as   FR Yugoslavia
  1993 Languedoc-Roussillon suspended
  1997 Bari  
  2001 Tunis 4th
as   Serbia and Montenegro
  2005 Almeria  
as   Serbia
  2009 Pescara  
  2013 Tunis 6th
  2018 Tarragona  
  2022 Oran  
  2026 Taranto future event

Team edit

Current squad edit

Roster for the 2024 World Championships.[4]

Head coach: Uroš Stevanović

Coaches edit

Most appearances and goals edit

Professional friendly and competitive matches only where Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro and now Serbia were represented.

Name Years Matches Goals
1 Dejan Savić 1994–2008 444 405
2 Aleksandar Šapić 1997–2008 385 981
3 Filip Filipović 2003–2021 381 677
4 Živko Gocić 2003–2016 362 207
5 Slobodan Nikić 2003–2016 355 354
6 Igor Milanović 1984–1996 349 540
7 Aleksandar Ćirić 1997–2008 346 201
8 Vladimir Vujasinović 1990–2008 341 391
9 Duško Pijetlović 2005–2021 340 472
10 Andrija Prlainović 2005–2021 336 541

Statistics accurate as of matches played 6 August 2021

Philanthropy edit

On 25 December 2011, Serbia's water polo team was included in a humanitarian action "Bitka za Bebe" ("the Battle for the Babies") playing an exhibition match with the team of the Faculty of Organizational Sciences (FON), in Belgrade. Before the Serbian water polo team had joined the action, many other athletes were included. Among them was the world number one in tennis at that time, Novak Djokovic, football and basketball players of Red Star Belgrade, and many others. Proceeds from the ticket sales went to fund "Bitka za Bebe" and enough money was successfully raised to purchase one incubator.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Vaterpolo Srbija - Serbia Water Polo: Osvojene medalje".
  2. ^ "Rulers of all competitions". b92.net. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "21st World Aquatics World Championships Men's Water Polo Team Roster SRB" (PDF). Omega Timing. 5 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.

External links edit

  • Official website   (in Serbian)