TheCroatia men's national water polo team representsCroatia in internationalwater polo competitions and is controlled by theCroatian Water Polo Federation. They have won gold medals in the Olympics, World and European Championships, FINA World League and Mediterranean Games, making them one of themost successful men's water polo teams in the world. Overall Croatia won 33 medals at competitions.
It was the first Croatian national team to win a gold medal at the Olympics or World Games, the World and European Championships.
Croatia played their 800th game since gaining independence on 20 August 2022 and they won their 517th victory.[1]
Afterthe independence of Croatia the national water polo team competed at its first tournament and also its first finals at1993 Mediterranean Games, followed by the 1993 European Championships where Croatia won 5th place.
Croatia has since become Olympic champion (2012), triple World champion (2007,2017,2024) and European champion (2010). Croatia has also won eight other medals at theOlympic Games,World Championships andEuropean Championships and was fourth on six occasions. The team holds a record streak of winning 7 medals in a row at World Championships and has reached semi-finals in over 60% of appearances at the Olympic Games, World Championships and European Championships altogether since 2017. Since the formation of national team Croatia has qualified for every big tournament. It is the first Croatian national team in any Olympic team sport that has won gold medals at all three big competitions. Croatia has also wonWorld League (2012) andMediterranean Games (2013). The only competition Croatia has yet to win isWorld Cup where the national team won silver medal in2010.
^FINA Water Polo Player of the Year in 1982, 1984 and 1985. Scored 28 goals in one game which is a world record for water polo game (final score: Yugoslavia 62–0 Guatemala). First water polo player in history to sign a 6 digit contract.
^Qualification for the tournament was determined by placing in the 1992 Olympics tournament. Since the Croatian team couldn't had participated in the 1992 Olympic water polo tournament due to the dissolution of Yugoslavia, it couldn't qualify for the 1993 World Cup.
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Egypt
Germany
Hungary
Italy
Kazakhstan
Montenegro
Netherlands
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Serbia and Montenegro
Ukraine
2014
2020
2018
2001
2013
2022
