Hungary had won the gold medal in 1932 and 1936, but at the 1947 European Championships, Italy won the title, as Hungary was shut out of the medals. The two teams were favored in London, and both advanced to the final round after the Byzantine series of rounds that were contested in 1948. But they had already met in Group C of round two, Italy winning 4-3. That result was carried over to the final round, and would help determine the eventual champions, Italy taking gold and Hungary the silver. Italy played eight matches in the tournament, winning seven, and tying Yugoslavia in first round group play. Belgium and the Netherlands were also in the final round. Belgium had won six previous Olympic medals in the sport, while the Dutch team had never won one. They had met in the semi-final round, tying 3-3, but the Netherlands won the bronze medal in the final round by virtue of tying Hungary, 4-4. The 1948 water polo tournament saw the Olympic début of Hungary’sDezső Gyarmati. Gyarmati would lead Hungary to medals at the next five Olympics and is usually considered, with Spain’sManuel Estiarte, one of the two greatest water polo players of all-time.

There were several matches in early rounds that were replayed after protests against referee decision, notably Hungary vs Egypt, and Italy vs Yugoslavia. After the Egyptian protest, the Hungarian Ministry of Education cabled the London Organizing Committee that “Hungary would withdraw from the Games if there are further anti-sporting manifestations such as the annulment of the Hungarian-Egyptian water polo match.” Newspapers reported that the Egyptians eventually withdrew their protest but a new match was still held, with basically the same result. Yugoslavia protested the first match against Italy for refereeing decisions, including “raising the wrong foul flag.” In Group D, Australia protested before their match against Italy about the corks and guidelines marking the playing area, and the referee noted that the match was “played under protest.”