Current season, competition or edition: 2022 World Polo Championship | |
| Sport | Polo |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1987 |
| No. of teams | 8 (Finals) |
| Continent | International (FIP) |
| Most recent champion |  Spain (1st title) |
| Most titles |  Argentina (5 titles) |
TheWorld Polo Championship is an internationalpolo competition between countries. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, theFederation of International Polo (FIP), and is contested by the national teams. There is no restriction on the gender of the players. The inaugural tournament was held in 1987, hosted byArgentina, and is now contested every three or four years.
In the early 1980s, motivated by a desire to broaden the scope of international polo, as well as to restore the sport's Olympic status, Marcos Uranga, then President of the Argentine Polo Association, proposed that an international organization be formed among the polo-playing countries of the world. The initial meetings took place in Buenos Aires, and by April 1982, the Federation of International Polo, quickly known as “FIP,” was created. FIP's first President was Marcos Uranga.
Mr. Uranga spearheaded the movement for a World Championship and scheduled the first for April 1987 in theCampo Argentino de Polo inBuenos Aires,Argentina. Aware of the relative difficulty of fielding high-goal teams worldwide, the early FIP organizers wisely decided to limit competition to teams rated 10 to 14 goals. In an attempt to nullify the factor of the horses, they devised the then-revolutionary idea of split strings of horses – assigning matched strings of 28 horses to each team by the luck of the draw.
In 1989, the second FIP World Championship was played inBerlin, at Maifeld, the very stadium that had been the site of polo's last appearance in theOlympic Games. The sport had come full-circle, and it underlined the growing influence of FIP in the world polo community.Argentina,Australia,Chile,England,France,Germany,Switzerland and theUnited States competed in the tournament's second edition.[1] A talented USA team beat England 7–6 in the final.[1] The USA team players were: Horton Schwartz, Julio Arellano, Charley Bostwick and John Wigdahl who scored the winning goal in the sixth chukker. The resulting publicity raised the visibility of the FIP among U.S. polo players.
The FIP World Championship III was held inSantiago, Chile in 1992.[2] Argentina outscored the host country 12–7 in the final securing their second World Championship. England beat the USA for bronze.[2]
Starting in 1993 Michael Schultz-Tholen, then the FIP delegate to the International Olympic Committee, arranged numerous meetings with IOC representatives including the President of the International Olympic Committee Mr. Juan Antonio Samaranch. Finally at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the General Assembly of the International Olympic Committee granted the status of an IOC Recognized Sport and accepted the Federation of International Polo as the worldwide governing body for the sport of polo. This decision was confirmed ("outright recognition") two years later.
In 1995, the fourth World Championship was held inSaint Moritz, Switzerland.[3] Brazil fought its way gamely through the early rounds and met Argentina in the final where they pulled off an exciting 11–10 victory to assume the mantle of World Polo Champions.[3]
In 1998, the fifth World Championship was held at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club in Santa Barbara,California.[4] Mr. James Easton, a member of theInternational Olympic Committee, presented Argentina, the winning team, with a history-making Olympic trophy. This was the first time in 62 years that the winning team of an international polo tournament was so honored.
The FIP World Championship VI held inMelbourne,Australia in 2001 featured eight national teams that qualified through a demanding and highly competitive zone playoff system, which included 24 international teams. Brazil narrowly defeated Australia by one goal (Brazil 10, Australia 9) in the final.[5]
In 2004, the Sixth World Championship was held inChantilly,France. The tournament included eight teams. 28 countries competed in the qualifying rounds. All of the games were competitive. Brazil defeated England in the final (10-9) in sudden death.[6]
The eighth edition of the World Polo Championship took place inMexico during May 2008 and was won byChile.[7]
The ninth edition of the World Polo Championship took place inSan Luis Province,Argentina during October 2011.[8]Argentina defeatedBrazil in the final andItaly took the third place after defeatingEngland.[8] It was the first time in World Polo Championship thatItaly achieved a podium finish.
The tenth edition of the World Polo Championship took place inSantiago,Chile during March and April 2015. The hosts won beating theUnited States 12–11 in overtime in the final.[9]
In the 2017 World Polo Championship Argentina beat Chile in the final securing their fifth title.[10]
In the twelfth edition of the Championship, Spain clinched an 11-10 win in overtime against the USA for their first ever title.[11]
| # | Year | Host | Champion | 2nd | 3rd | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2022 | Campo Argentino de Polo,Buenos Aires Argentina | Argentina |  United States |  England | [16] |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argentina | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 2 |  Brazil | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| 3 |  Chile | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | United States | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Spain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | England | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 7 |  Mexico | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 |  Australia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 |  Italy | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Uruguay | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (10 entries) | 12 | 12 | 12 | 36 | |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argentina | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | United States | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | England | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (3 entries) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Pos. | Team | Champion | Runners-up | Third | Fourth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Argentina | 5 (1987, 1992, 1998, 2011, 2017) | 1 (1995) | 2 (1989, 2001) | 1 (2022) |
| 2nd | Brazil | 3 (1995, 2001, 2004) | 3 (1998, 2008, 2011) | 2 (1987, 2015) | – |
| 3rd | Chile | 2 (2008, 2015) | 2 (1992, 2017) | 1 (2004) | 1 (1989) |
| 4th | United States | 1 (1989) | 2 (2015, 2022) | – | 3 (1992, 1998, 2017) |
| 5th | Spain | 1 (2022) | – | – | 2 (1987, 2008) |
| 6th | England | – | 2 (1989, 2004) | 3 (1992, 1998, 2017) | 4 (1995, 2001, 2011, 2015) |
| 7th | Mexico | – | 1 (1987) | 2 (1995, 2008) | – |
| 8th | Australia | – | 1 (2001) | – | – |
| 9th | Italy | – | – | 1 (2011) | – |
| 10th | Uruguay | – | – | 1 (2022) | – |
| 11th |  France | – | – | – | 1 (2004) |
| Country | 1987 | 1989 | 1992 | 1995 | 1998 | 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2011 | 2015 | 2017 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | P. round | – | 1st | P. round | 1st | 4th |
| Australia | 5th | P. round | – | – | P. round | 2nd | 1st round | – | P. round | – | P. round | P. round |
| Brazil | 3rd | – | – | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | – | – |
 Canada | – | – | – | – | – | P. round | – | P. round | – | – | – | – |
| Chile | – | 4th | 2nd | – | – | – | 3rd | 1st | P. round | 1st | 2nd | – |
| England | – | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 3rd | 4th | 2nd | P. round | 4th | 4th | 3rd | – |
| France | – | P. round | – | – | – | – | 4th | – | – | – | – | – |
 Germany | – | P. round | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
 Guatemala | – | – | P. round | – | P. round | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
 India | – | – | – | P. round | – | P. round | – | – | P. round | – | P. round | – |
| Italy | – | – | – | – | – | P. round | – | – | 3rd | – | – | P. round |
| Mexico | 2nd | – | P. round | 3rd | – | – | 1st round | 3rd | P. round | – | – | P. round |
 New Zealand | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | P. round | – | – | P. round | – |
 Pakistan | – | – | – | – | – | – | P. round | – | P. round | P. round | – | P. round |
 South Africa | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | P. round | – | – | – | – |
| Spain | 4th | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4th | – | – | P. round | 1st |
 Switzerland | – | P. round | – | P. round | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| United States | – | 1st | 4th | – | 4th | P. round | P. round | – | P. round | 2nd | 4th | 2nd |
| Uruguay | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3rd |
