2020 FINA Men's Water Polo World League

The 2020 FINA Men's Water Polo World League was the 19th edition of the annual men's international water polo tournament. It was played between November 2019 and July 2021 and open to all men's water polo national teams. After participating in a preliminary round, eight teams qualified to play in a final tournament, called the Super Final, originally scheduled from 23 to 28 June 2020.^[1] The tournament was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2020, it was announced that it would be played in from January to July 2021.^[2]

2020 FINA Men's Water Polo World League
League	FINA Water Polo World League
Sport	Water Polo
Duration	12 November 2019 to 1 July 2021
Super Final
Finals champions	Montenegro (3rd title)
Runners-up	United States
Finals MVP	Aleksandar Ivović
FINA Men's Water Polo World League seasons
← 2019 2022 →

Montenegro won their third overall title, after defeating the United States in the final.^[3]

In the world league, there are specific rules that do not allow matches to end in a draw. If teams are level at the end of the 4th quarter of any world league match, the match will be decided by a penalty shootout. The following points will be awarded per match to each team:

• Match won – 3 points
• Match won by penalty – 2 points
• Match lost by penalty – 1 point
• Match lost or forfeited – 0 points

European qualification

Preliminary round

• 12 November 2019 – 11 February 2020

The preliminary round was played in the Round-robin system.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Italy	2	2	0	0	0	23	9	+14	6	Final round		—	—	14–3
2	Greece	2	1	0	0	1	25	16	+9	3			6–9	—	—
3	Georgia	2	0	0	0	2	10	33	−23	0			—	7–19	—

Source: FINA

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	France	2	1	0	1	0	27	23	+4	4	Final round		—	15–10	—
2	Hungary	2	1	0	0	1	24	21	+3	3			—	—	14–6
3	Russia	2	0	1	0	1	19	26	−7	2			13–12 (p)	—	—

Source: FINA

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Serbia	2	2	0	0	0	27	18	+9	6	Final round		—	15–11	—
2	Croatia	2	1	0	0	1	27	22	+5	3			—	—	16–7
3	Netherlands	2	0	0	0	2	14	28	−14	0			7–12	—	—

Source: FINA

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Montenegro	2	2	0	0	0	34	9	+25	6	Final round		—	—	23–3
2	Spain	2	1	0	0	1	26	19	+7	3			6–11	—	20–8
3	Ukraine	2	0	0	0	2	11	43	−32	0			—	—	—

Source: FINA

Final round

• 8–10 January 2021, Debrecen, Hungary

Bracket

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Final
	8 January 2021
	Montenegro (PSO)	15
					9 January 2021
	Croatia	14
					Montenegro	14
	8 January 2021
					Italy	10
	Italy	9
									10 January 2021
	Hungary	8
									Montenegro	7
	10 March 2020
									Greece	12
	Serbia	11
					9 January 2021
	Spain	13
					Spain	11
	8 January 2021
					Greece	12			Third place game
	France	3
									10 January 2021
	Greece	12
									Italy	9
									Spain	8

5th–8th place bracket

	5th–8th place semifinals				Fifth place game
	9 January 2021
	Croatia	11
					10 January 2021
	Hungary	13
					Hungary	7
	9 January 2021
					Serbia	9
	Serbia	10
	France	6
					Seventh place game
					10 January 2021
					Croatia	17
					France	5

Final ranking

Qualified to the Super Final

Rank	Team
	Greece
	Montenegro
	Italy
4	Spain
5	Serbia
6	Hungary
7	Croatia
8	France

Inter-Continental Cup

• 24 – 31 May 2021, Indianapolis, United States — cancelled

Super final

Super final

Tournament details
Host country	Georgia
Dates	26 June – 1 July 2021
Teams	8 (from 3 confederations)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Tournament statistics
Matches	24
Goals scored	534 (22 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Yusuke Inaba (21 goals)

As host country

•   Georgia

Qualified teams

•   Greece
•   Italy
•   Montenegro

Invited teams

•   France
•   Japan
•   Kazakhstan
•   United States

Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC+4).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Italy	3	3	0	0	0	42	26	+16	9
2	Greece	3	2	0	0	1	32	28	+4	6
3	France	3	1	0	0	2	27	35	−8	3
4	Kazakhstan	3	0	0	0	3	31	43	−12	0

Source: Microplustiming
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.

26 June 2021 18:15	Report	Greece	10–8	France	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Frank Ohme (GER), Vakhtang Mebuke (GEO)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 3–1, 2–3, 3–2
		Argyropoulos, Genidounias 3	Goals	Bouët, Canonne 2

26 June 2021 20:00	Report	Kazakhstan	11–17	Italy	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Stanko Ivanovski (MNE), Michael Goldenberg (USA)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 3–3, 3–6, 4–3
		Vuksanovich 4	Goals	Damonte, Fondelli 3

---

27 June 2021 14:45	Report	Kazakhstan	11–12	France	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Dion Willis (RSA), Michael Goldenberg (USA)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 2–3, 3–6, 4–1
		three players 3	Goals	Vernoux 4

27 June 2021 18:15	Report	Italy	11–8	Greece	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Frank Ohme (GER), Stanko Ivanovski (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 1–1, 4–3, 4–3, 2–1
		Di Fulvio 4	Goals	three players 2

---

28 June 2021 14:45	Report	Greece	14–9	Kazakhstan	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Dion Willis (RSA), Nenad Periš (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 3–1, 5–3, 3–4, 3–1
		Dervisis, Fountoulis 3	Goals	Vuksanovic 4

28 June 2021 20:00	Report	France	7–14	Italy	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Vakhtang Mebuke (GEO), Michael Goldenberg (USA)
		Score by quarters: 1–4, 4–4, 0–3, 2–3
		Bouët 3	Goals	Velotto 3

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Montenegro	3	3	0	0	0	45	22	+23	9
2	United States	3	2	0	0	1	34	26	+8	6
3	Georgia (H)	3	1	0	0	2	30	44	−14	3
4	Japan	3	0	0	0	3	27	44	−17	0

Source: Microplustiming
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Host

26 June 2021 14:45	Report	Montenegro	10–6	United States	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Sébastien Dervieux (FRA), Adil Aimbetov (KAZ)
		Score by quarters: 0–2, 5–2, 3–2, 2–0
		Ivović 3	Goals	Hooper 2

26 June 2021 16:30	Report	Japan	12–13	Georgia	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Nenad Periš (CRO), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 2–4, 6–5, 1–1
		Inaba 5	Goals	Baraldi 5

---

27 June 2021 16:30	Report	Georgia	8–19	Montenegro	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Nenad Periš (CRO), Christos Kourtidis (GRE)
		Score by quarters: 2–8, 4–6, 1–3, 1–2
		Shushiashvili 3	Goals	Ivović, Matković 4

27 June 2021 20:00	Report	Japan	7–15	United States	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Sébastien Dervieux (FRA), Alessandro Severo (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 2–4, 2–3, 1–5
		Inaba 3	Goals	Hallock 4

---

28 June 2021 16:30	Report	United States	13–9	Georgia	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Alessandro Severo (ITA), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 3–1, 5–2, 2–3, 3–3
		Daube, Irving 3	Goals	Jelača 3

28 June 2021 18:15	Report	Montenegro	16–8	Japan	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Germán Moller (ARG), Frank Ohme (GER)
		Score by quarters: 4–5, 4–1, 5–1, 3–1
		Vidović 4	Goals	Inaba 4

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Final
	29 June
	Greece	20
					30 June
	Georgia	8
					Greece	4
	29 June
					Montenegro	8
	Kazakhstan	6
									1 July
	Montenegro	18
									Montenegro	9
	29 June
									United States	8
	France	11
					30 June
	United States	12
					United States	10
	29 June
					Italy	8			Third place game
	Italy	15
									1 July
	Japan	12
									Greece	10
									Italy	8

5th–8th place bracket

	5th–8th place semifinals				Fifth place game
	30 June
	Georgia	15
					1 July
	Kazakhstan (PSO)	16
					Kazakhstan	10
	30 June
					Japan	17
	France	10
	Japan	16
					Seventh place game
					1 July
					Georgia	5
					France	10

Quarterfinals

29 June 2021 14:45	Report	France	11–12	United States	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Stanko Ivanovski (MNE), Adil Aimbetov (KAZ)
		Score by quarters: 5–2, 0–5, 4–4, 2–1
		Crousillat 4	Goals	Daube 3

---

29 June 2021 16:30	Report	Greece	20–8	Georgia	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Dion Willis (RSA), Sébastien Dervieux (FRA)
		Score by quarters: 5–1, 5–2, 6–1, 4–4
		Fountoulis 6	Goals	three players 2

---

29 June 2021 18:15	Report	Italy	15–12	Japan	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Vakhtang Mebuke (GEO), Christos Kourtidis (GRE)
		Score by quarters: 4–1, 5–4, 3–2, 3–5
		Alesiani, Echenique 3	Goals	four players 2

---

29 June 2021 20:00	Report	Kazakhstan	6–18	Montenegro	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Germán Moller (ARG), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 2–6, 0–6, 3–3, 1–3
		six players 1	Goals	Ivović 4

5–8th place semifinals

30 June 2021 14:45	Report	France	10–16	Japan	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Germán Moller (ARG), Alessandro Severo (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 4–3, 1–4, 5–2, 0–7
		Crousillat, Vernoux 4	Goals	Inaba 5

---

30 June 2021 16:30	Report	Georgia	15–16	Kazakhstan	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Michael Goldenberg (USA), Christos Kourtidis (GRE)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 5–0, 3–4, 1–4  PSO: 4–5
		Shushiashvili, Vapenski 3	Goals	Vuksanovic 4

Semifinals

30 June 2021 18:15	Report	Greece	4–8	Montenegro	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Nenad Periš (CRO), Sébastien Dervieux (FRA)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 1–0, 0–4, 1–2
		four players 1	Goals	Matković 2

---

30 June 2021 20:00	Report	United States	10–8	Italy	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Dion Willis (RSA), Stanko Ivanovski (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 4–4, 2–3, 3–0, 1–1
		Daube 3	Goals	three players 2

Seventh place game

1 July 2021 16:15	Report	Georgia	5–10	France	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Vojin Putniković (SRB), Adil Aimbetov (KAZ)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 1–3, 1–3, 2–2
		five players 1	Goals	Vernoux 3

Fifth place game

1 July 2021 14:30	Report	Kazakhstan	10–17	Japan	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Frank Ohme (GER), Vakhtang Mebuke (GEO)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 5–5, 2–2, 1–7
		Ruday 4	Goals	Arai, Koppu 3

Third place game

1 July 2021 18:00	Report	Greece	10–8	Italy	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Sébastien Dervieux (FRA), Michael Goldenberg (USA)
		Score by quarters: 3–4, 2–1, 4–1, 1–2
		Genidounias 3	Goals	Bodegas 4

Final

1 July 2021 19:45	Report	Montenegro	9–8	United States	Tbilisi Olympic Pool, Tbilisi Referees: Nenad Periš (CRO), Alessandro Severo (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 2–0, 2–2, 3–2, 2–3
		Ivović 5	Goals	Daube 3

Final ranking

Rank	Team
	Montenegro
	United States
	Greece
4	Italy
5	Japan
6	Kazakhstan
7	France
8	Georgia

Awards

The awards were announced on 1 July 2021.^[3]

Award	Player
MVP	Aleksandar Ivović
Best goalkeeper	Drew Holland
Topscorer	Yusuke Inaba

References

1. (PDF). www.fina.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
2. "New calendar of FINA World League, next games in January". total-waterpolo.com. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
3. "Montenegro's third crown; Greece steals bronze". fina.org. Retrieved 1 July 2021.

External links

• Official website  
• Super final – Results book