Singapore 2025: Spanish water polo men triumph, as Perrone bids golden farewell
Spain returned to the men’s world water polo throne after 2022, as they came up with another monstrous fourth period performance to beat Hungary in a thrilling final. It was also the farewell game for the one and only Felipe Perrone, who fittingly scored the last goal for Spain. Elsewhere, Greece thrashed Serbia to land the bronze medal.
World Championships 2025
Singapore, Men’s Finals
Thursday 24 July
Gold Medal Game
Spain 15-13 Hungary
Bronze Medal Game
Greece 16-7 Serbia
Final rankings
1. Spain, 2. Hungary, 3. Greece, 4. Serbia, 5. Croatia, 6. Montenegro, 7. Italy, 8. USA, 9. Japan, 10. Romania, 11. Canada, 12. Brazil, 13. Australia, 14. China, 15. Singapore, 16. South Africa.
“It was really like a movie. I couldn’t believe it,” beamed an emotional Felipe Perrone after winning the gold medal and scoring Spain’s last goal in the 15-13 win against Hungary in Singapore.
“I think even the best movies are not so organised like this – like the last goal, winning the world championships. I’m so, so happy and so proud of the team.”
Perrone’s stunning late shot sealed Spain’s magnificent win and also secured a fitting end to his long and illustrious career, but he and his teammates had to work hard throughout the final to get past the equally powerful Magyars.
“It wasn’t easy. Hungary played amazing, but I think our team, we really showed our capacity. As a team, we played amazing. And I think more than that, it was an amazing game for water polo. I think people who watched it just saw the best and the most beautiful water polo of all time.”
It’s been well documented this tournament would be Perrone’s last dance and he admitted it’s been a challenge to keep on top of his emotions, which came flooding out after the final buzzer.
“I’ve been crying for the last six months, and every time all the guys have been saying beautiful words to me. I think it’s more than the result, because now it’s easy to talk about the results, but it was so, so many years with them.
“I spent more time with them than with my family. For me, to finish like this, and have them next to me, it is really a special feeling.”
With Spain back on top of the world, Perrone feels the future of the national squad is in safe hands under the stewardship of head coach David Martin.
“David is a genius. He’s always developing new things. He’s always thinking about every single detail. He was my captain when I was playing with him. I’ve known him for 20 years.
“For me, this is another part of the movie, which is beautiful, that I’m with David, and the relationship I have with him is amazing.”
In Singapore, Europe’s big three water polo powerhouses, Spain, Hungary and Greece not only booked six spots in the semis – something never seen before – but they also swept all the medals in the men’s and women’s tournaments, keeping the ‘lonely ones’, Serbian men and US women teams at bay for the fourth place.
While Spain and Greece left the water polo arena with a gold and a bronze respectively, the Hungarians had to swallow a bitter pill as they lost both finals in a span of 24 hours.
In the men’s final, midway through the third period, Hungary seemed to have a strong chance, as up until then the match saw some real twists and turns as the action unfolded.
While the Spaniards had the better start, the Hungarians quickly caught them up, and the goalies barely touched the ball in the opening period that brought five goals apiece.
Spain buried most of their man-ups and converted a penalty, while the Hungarians hit a series of fine action goals, with the equalisers coming in the last second.
Since the two sides produced scoring festivals in their summer prep matches, something similar was in sight. But all of a sudden, the goals dried up in the following period.
Unai Aguirre and Kristof Csoma ‘arrived’ at the pool, with both producing great saves, and the defensive blocks also became much more efficient.
Only three goals were scored in eight minutes, all by Barceloneta players, still, only one separated the sides as Bernat Sanahuja and Alberto Munarriz managed to find the back of the net, but between those two strikes, their Hungarian team-mate, Vince Vigvari, also scored a great one from action.
While Spain were somewhat in control and always in the lead, the third quarter saw a major shift as the Magyars staged a huge 3-0 run in four and a half minutes.
Ironically, Barceloneta’s Hungarian duo led the charge, with Gergo Burian kicking off with a 6m blast, then he put away a third shot after a series of rebounds in a dying six on five and Vince Vigvari netted another extra to make it 7-9.
Alvaro Granados, who else, stepped up to halt Spain’s decline and sent a blistering shot to the net right away after the exclusion call was made, but Adam Nagy added another nice one to the Hungarians’ ever-expanding collection of action goals.
Next came Felipe Perrone, who outsmarted the goalie to push the ball in the net between the posts and his hands from the right wing for 9-10. There was still 3:23 to go and both sides had fine chances, including one more extra apiece, but the posts and the blocks stood firm.
Recovering from the shock in the third, conceding four goals in eight minutes, the Spanish needed 1:26 minutes to take back the lead.
Sanahuja buried a six on four and Granados also netted an extra, between the two the Magyars’ man-up ended in a turnover foul.
Still, Gergo Burian hit his third from their six on four for 11-11, but the Spanish converted their third extra in a row, from a second attempt, by Sanahuja (who netted his fifth goal).
In contrast, Hungary missed another man-up, Krisztian Manhercz, visibly at the end of all his reserves after leading the Magyars’ charge from Day 1, hit the bar, while Granados’ fierce bouncer from the perimeter flew in, his fifth of the evening as well, to expand the gap to two, 4:28 from time.
Next came unbelievable scenes. After a shot cannoned back off the bar, the chase for the long rebound ended up in an exclusion for Hungary, followed by another one as Csoma swam out from his cage and swept away the ball to prevent a direct shot.
Having a six on four and no goalie, it looked a certain goal for Spain, however, Manhercz stopped Granados’ 5m shot with an incredible one-handed block on his 2m line, causing an uproar in the packed stands.
Hungary then got a man-up at the other end, and scoring from it might have given them a huge psychological boost, but Gergo Fekete’s effort kissed the bar, and Unai Biel’s shot from distance killed the Magyars’ momentum right away.
At this point, Spain were leading 14-11 with 3:10 to go – kind of repeating their brilliant 5-1 run from the group stage, which had turned that game as well.
Practically, this was enough to win this match too, though netting goals did not stop here, but they came only inside the last minute.
Till then, the Magyars desperately wanted to cut the deficit, but their extras were anything but flawless (they were 4 from 15 at the end), and Adam Nagy and Vendel Vigvari could only add late goals.
Between the two, as it had been a Hollywood script, Felipe Perrone could score his final goal to seal Spain’s magnificent win and to secure an absolutely happy ending to his illustrious career.
Just like Greece’s women, Spain completed the World Cup-World Championships title-double this year, leaving no doubt that in 2025 they were the absolute best.
The teams finishing right behind them also showed tremendous strength, as Hungary were runners-up here and got the bronze at the World Cup, switching positions with World Cup runners-up Greece.
The Greeks landed the bronze in Singapore as they crushed Serbia by half-time. A devastating 6-0 run in the second period left no chance for the Olympic champions for a comeback.
Indeed, the Greeks, leaving all their pains behind after they had been one second away from making the final against Spain, maintained their maximum speed till the end.
This was bad news for the Serbs, who looked hopeless after a disastrous second period. At one stage, the gap hit 10 goals, an incredible difference in a medal match, and Greece won by nine at the end.
In the classification finals, Croatia dismantled Montenegro in the second half to finish 5th, and the Italians could hide their utter disappointment to win a hard-fought battle against the US to ensure the ‘Magnificent Seven’ from Europe grabbed the top seven positions.
Click here for the full schedule and results.
Click here to watch the action back on Eurovision Sport.
Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
The post Singapore 2025: Spanish water polo men triumph, as Perrone bids golden farewell first appeared on European Aquatics®.