The 16th edition of the quadrennial FINA Water Polo World Cup is starting in Berlin (GER), with Serbia trying to win its fourth title in a row (sort of). There are eight teams playing in two groups:
∙ Group A: Australia, Germany, Hungary, Japan
∙ Group B: Croatia, Serbia, South Africa, United States
Serbia won this tournament in 2014, in 2010 and as Serbia and Montenegro, in 2006. The other power players have been Hungary and Croatia: Hungary won silver in 2014, 2006 and 2002, and Croatia won bronze in 2014 and silver in 2010.
Each team plays three round-robin games and the top-ranked team from each group will play the fourth-ranked team from the other group.
In the 2018 FINA Water Polo World League, Montenegro – which is not in this tournament – won its second title, defeating Hungary in the final (13-11), with Spain third (also not in this tournament) and Japan fourth.
The FINA draw had Croatia and Hungary as the top seeds, but what about Serbia?
Round-robin play continues through the 13th; the playoffs begin on the 14th and continue through Sunday. Look for scores here.
