Singapore 2025: Greece’s water polo women back on top of the world

After a long wait of 14 years, Greece are back on top of the world in women’s water polo. They saved the best for last and downed Hungary with a water polo masterclass, dominating the final across all four quarters. Spain clinched the bronze by defeating USA, securing a European medal sweep only for the third time in history, after 1994 and 2023.

World Championships 2025
Singapore, Finals
Wednesday 23 July

Gold Medal Game

Greece 12-9 Hungary

Bronze Medal Game

USA 12-13 Spain

Final rankings

1. Greece, 2. Hungary, 3. Spain, 4. United States, 5. Netherlands, 6. Australia, 7. Italy, 8. Japan, 9. China, 10. New Zealand, 11. Great Britain, 12. France, 13. Croatia, 14. Argentina, 15. South Africa, 16. Singapore

Greece have always been around, but couldn’t really go all the way at the majors. Their lonely gold was from the 2011 World Championships where they conquered the summit, though back then Hungary and Spain, for example, were still looking to create a good team – so it was a bit awkward when Greece faced China in the final.

Fourteen years on, the landscape is very different, the Greeks had to find a way to the top against a series of outstanding rivals, but they proved their quality once more.

Building on one of the strongest clubs in Europe, Olympiacos, represented by nine players in Singapore, the national team play like a real unit.

Coach Theocharis Pavlides – who won the Champions League with Olympiacos in 2021 – is a true master of organising the defence, and his players clearly found inspiration from his tactics.

“We followed our coach’s directions. Whenever we do that, then the result is the best,” said Greece’s Foteini Tricha, who was the tournament’s top scorer. “We played the best we could. We believed in ourselves, in our team, our system, and that led us to winning the gold.

“We deserved this title. The only thing that I can say is that we have to continue showing this standard. There are many teams that are really good. These championships were really competitive.”

Defence was clearly the key to Greece’s march to the top of the podium, as they kept the Aussies on seven goals in the quarters and Hungary on nine in the gold medal match.

Single digits for the number of received goals is a special feat in today’s water polo and the Greeks just achieved that (they conceded 10 in the semis against the US, though the last one came seconds before the buzzer when everything was decided at 14-9).

Focusing mostly on the defence was the major change in the Greeks’ game – and Pavlidis could afford that ‘luxury’ when you have such a force as Maria Myriokefalitaki in the centre, and the other genius, leftie Eleni Xenaki, plus sharpshooter Foteini Tricha, the Plevritou siblings, just to name a few who have all the skills to create danger and use most of the scoring opportunities.

Though their campaign kicked off with a loss to Hungary, on the last day, for the rematch, they used a lot from that game and they learnt enough to keep the Magyars at bay.

Indeed, the Hungarians were never on the same level they had been in the semis against the Olympic title-holders Spain. That was a brilliant performance, but it seemed that it emotionally drained the Hungarians who had given their all there, but had little left for the title bout two days later.

Greece were dominating right from the beginning. Just like on Day 1, they led 5-2 early in the second – back then the Hungarians responded with a 6-0 blast which turned everything upside down. This time they were unable to reproduce a comeback.

The Greeks, clinical in six on fives and in killing woman-downs, led 8-4 at half-time and were already 9-4 up when the Magyars had a better spell.

They could score two in a row for the first time and also denied the Greeks in back-to-back extras, and soon they had another six on five to cut the deficit to two but missed it.

What’s more, a hurried shot with six seconds on the clock gave enough time for Stefania Santa to storm through on a counter and send the ball to the net from 7m to reset the four-goal lead.

It was the moment when Greece’s coronation was set, as eight minutes later it was 10-6, not 9-7. With two more devastating counters, launched after killed six on fives, they went 12-6 ahead and only Hungary’s goalie Boglarka Neszmely prevented them from delivering more devastating blows.

Indeed, when your goalie post 13 saves, as Neszmely did, it’s usually enough to win matches – now it was only a testament to the Greeks’ superiority.

Ioanna Stamatopoulou also excelled in the Greek goal, as they kept the Hungarians 0 for 10 in woman-ups before the Magyars could score one, however, they needed a six on four for that.

These stats made the real difference in the final – the last three goals from the Magyars only shaped the final scoreline to look a bit more worthy of a final and a kind of reward for all their efforts this past fortnight.

But the game ultimately was a copy-and-paste edition of their World Cup final from April where Greece outclassed them in the same way (it was 13-9 then, now it ended 12-9). No one doubted the Greeks deserved this title, just like at the World Cup, turning 2025 into their golden year.

The Hungarians enjoy a silver year and even though they lost their third final in a row, after 2022 and 2024, they still looked happy to achieve this result with a rejuvenated team under their new coach Sandor Cseh.

Earlier, Spain managed to bounce back to land the bronze, after losing the semis, their worst defeat in years. Though the Spaniards controlled most of the game against the USA, the young Americans kept coming back.

The Olympic title-holders built a massive four-goal lead in the third and held it at 7-11 with two minutes remaining, but the Americans could halve it before the break and after three minutes of tough battling they came back to 10-11.

Paula Camus’ brilliant goal from the centre, and Bea Ortiz’ pinpoint finish from a six on five a bit later gave Spain some breathing room, but the US could score again and again. With 1:35 remaining, at 12-13, the Americans had two more possessions, but were unable to create more danger.

This also secured an-all European podium for the women’s tournament – whereas for the men, that’s pretty standard, for the women it occurred only for the third time since the inaugural event in 1986. Rome 1994 and Fukuoka 2023 were the only editions when European sides posed with all medals.

Elsewhere, in the placement matches, both European teams bettered their respective overseas rivals as the Netherlands beat Australia for fifth and Italy prevailed against Japan for seventh.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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