Two of the most tightly-contested medal events of the upcoming World Aquatics Championships will be the men’s and women’s water polo tournaments in the Qatari capital. With the final spots earned and the competition schedule settled, we now know who will play whom - and when the matches will take place.
With the conclusion of last week’s European Water Polo Championships settling the twelve-team strong fields of both the men’s and women’s tournaments, World Aquatics and the Doha 2024 local organisers have unveiled the match schedules.
The water polo action gets underway in epic fashion. Immediately following the opening ceremony for the championships as Team USA, the three-time defending women’s Olympic champions, takes on the world title holders of the Netherlands. The Dutch come into Doha with serious momentum; not only are they the reigning World Champs after a 32-year drought from their first global title, they just won their record sixth European water polo – and first since 2018.
If there is any team with the pedigree to upset the Dutch, though, it has to be Team USA. The Americas who from 2012 to 2022 won three Olympic titles, four world titles and eight FINA Water Polo World League titles.
Water polo fans will also absolutely have to circle the second day of the men’s tournament as a must-watch as in the afternoon session there’s three heavy games on the schedule. Reigning Olympic champion Serbia takes on Montenegro. The just-crowned European champions of Spain play Croatia. And Italy challenges the defending world champions of Hungary.
You can check out the men's and women's water polo tournament schedules HERE.