Spain defeated Hungary 15:13 in the final of the men’s World Championships in Singapore to continue its medal streak in a great way. Gold in Singapore is Spain’s fifth consecutive World Championships medal, and 11th in total.
The title in Singapore is Spain’s 11th medal at the Worlds, the fourth gold (after triumphs in 1998, 2001 and 2022).
The encounter between Spain and Hungary was a great final. Spain played better in the first half, but Hungary took control in the third period and headed into the fourth quarter with a 10:9 advantage. Still, Spain shone in the fourth quarter and reached the highest step of the podium.
The Spaniards beat Hungary for the second time in Singapore In the group stage, they recorded a narrow victory.
Today’s final was the farewell match for Spain’s legend Felipe Perrone. He concluded his impressive career in the best possible way. He won the gold medal and scored the last goal for Spain in the final, making it 15:12.
Felipe Perrone Photo by Albert ten Hove/MTB-Photo)
With this victory, he now has a total of seven World Championship medals in his collection: two gold, two silver, and three bronze. Perrone has equaled a record previously held by Andro Buslje, the former captain of Croatia, who was the only water polo player—male or female—to have won seven medals at the World Championships until today.
In an overture of the final, Croatia defeated Montenegro 19:13 in the 5th-place match.
In the first two matches of the final day, Greece beat Serbia 16:7 to win bronze, while Italy edged out the USA in the game for 7th place
Road to medals
- Crossover round (July 18): Serbia– Japan 21:14, Romania– Hungary 11:15, Brazil– Greece 5:17, Canada– Montenegro 10:22
- Quarterfinals (July 20): Italy– Greece 11:17, Spain– Montenegro 14:5, USA– Serbia 9:14, Croatia– Hungary 12:18.
- Semifinals (July 22): Greece – Spain 9:11 (PSO), Serbia – Hungary 18:19.
- Medal matches (July 24) – Final: Spain – Hungary 15:13, Bronze medal game: Greece – Serbia 16:7
Final standings: 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.
Individual awards
- The MVP of the Championships: Alvaro Granados (Spain)
- The best goalkeeper of the tournament: Panagiotios Tzotzatos (Greece)
- The best scorer: Rauel D’Souza (Canada), 26 goals
- MVP of the final: Bernat Sanahuja
Three nations’ domination
The same three nations won all the medals at the water polo tournaments in Singapore. To remind you, Greece clinched the gold medal in the women’s competition, Hungary came second, and Spain won bronze.
As for the men’s water polo, the medalists from Singapore reached the podium at the first major competition in 2025. Spain won gold in the World Cup, beating Greece in the final, while Hungary took the bronze medal.
Spain is the only team that won a medal at the last two editions of the World Championships.
2025 World Men’s Water Polo Championships, Day 7
F Final
Spain – Hungary 15:13 (5:5, 2:1, 2:4, 6:3)
Spain: Sanahuja 5, Granados 5, Perrone 2, Munarriz 2, Biel 1.
Hungary: Burian 3, Angyal 2, Ven. Vigvari 2, Vin Vigvari 2, Vamos 1, Ad. Nagy 1, Fekete 1, Ak. Nagy 1.
Bernat Sanahuja scored the first goals for Spain, giving his team a 2:0 and a 3:1 lead. Hungary leveled at 3:3. Then, Alvaro Granados took more responsibility, scoring Spain’s 4th and 5th goals in the match, but the Hungarians equalized both times, so it stood 5:5 at the end of a high-scoring first quarter.
Alvaro Granados (Photo by Albert ten Hove/MTB-Photo)
In the 11th minute, Sanahuja added his fourth goal, bringing the score to 6:5 . In the following minutes, both teams sharpened their defenses, and both goalkeepers, Aguirre and Csoma, made several saves. However, Aguirre was unable to stop a well-placed long-distance lob from Vince Vigvari in the 15th minute (6:6). Immediately after that goal, Munarriz restored Spain’s lead by scoring during a man-up situation to set the score of the first half, 7:6.
The beginning of the third quarter belonged to the Hungarians. Gergely Burian was in the leading role. First, he leveled from the top. A few minutes after, he converted a man-up from the right to put Hungary in front, 8:7. It was the Hungarians’ only second goal from a 6 on 5 – at that moment their conversion was 2/9, and Spain’s 4/5. In the next attack, Spaniards missed a man-up opportunity, while the Hungarians kept momentum. In the 20th minute, Vince Vigvari scored with an extra player to give his team a 9:7 lead. Spain halved their deficit twice, but missed a chance to equalize and Hungary had a slim 10:9 advantage before the final quarter.
Vince Vigvari of Hungary Photo by Albert ten Hove/MTB-Photo
The man who opened the scoring in the 1st and 2nd quarters did the same in the fourth period. Bernat Sanahuja scored from a 6 on 4 and equalized. Hungary failed to convert its next man-up, while Granados didn’t make a mistake at the other end of the pool, he scored with an extra player and Spain was in front again – 11:10. Burian leveled, but quickly after, Munarriz made it 12:11. Four and a half minutes before the end, Granados doubled Spain’s advantage with a nice goal
The Spaniards missed a great chance to earn a 3-goal advantage in 28th minute, when they had a double man-up, when Hungary’s goalkeeper Csoma was excluded along with Vamos. However, the Spaniards launched the attack rashly, and Manhercz saved the net with a block.
Alberto Munarriz (Spain) (Photo by Albert ten Hove/MTB-Photo)
Shortly after, the best scorer in the final, Bernat Sanahuja, was red-carded, but the Spaniards didn’t lose momentum. Their defense was at a high level. Unai Biel gave Spain a 3-goal lead – 14:11 – with 03:10 minutes remaining. Spain was keeping that advantage until the 32nd minute when Nagy scored Hungary’s 12th goal. However, it was too late. Eighteen seconds before the end, Perrone converted a man-up to seal Spain’s win. In the dying seconds, Vendel Vigvari scored a consolation goal for Hungary.
Statistically, man-up conversion made the difference. Spain scored ten goals with extra players of 15 opportunities, while Hungary made it 5 out of 15.
The match between Hungary and Spain was the highest-scoring final of the World Championships, but new rules led to an increase in the number of goals.
Until today, the final match with the most goals was Yugoslavia – Italy in Madrid in 1986. Yugoslavia won 12:11 after four extra time periods and a total of 52 minutes of play.
5 5th-place match
Montenegro – Croatia 13:19 (3:3, 3:2, 2:8, 5:6)
Montenegro: Gardasevic 3, Banicevic 2, Kholod 2, Vuckovic 2, Dj. Radovic 1, Vujovic 1, Matkovic 1, Gojkovic 1.
Croatia: Zuvela 5, Bukic 4, Kharkov 3, Vukicevic 2, Buric 1, Fatovic 1, Vrlic 1, Butic 1, Biljaka 1.
The two neighboring rivals faced off in Singapore during the group stage, where Croatia secured a hard-fought victory with a score of 13:11. The 2024 world champions triumphed over Montenegro once more at the end of the tournament. However, today’s game had a different storyline. By the end of the third quarter, the outcome was nearly decided. Croatia dominated with an 8:2 run in that quarter. A critical moment occurred between the 20th and 24th minutes, during which Croatia went on a 5:0 scoring run that allowed them to surge from an 8:8 tie to a 13:8 lead, ultimately sealing their victory.
After a few twists and turns in the first half, during which Croatia had a one-goal lead four times, and Montenegro twice, the Montenegrins were in front. Two minutes before the middle break, the Croats led 5:4. Montenegro then scored two power-play goals within 53 seconds and entered the second half leading 6:5.
Marko Zuvela (Photo by Albert ten Hove/MTB-Photo)
Croatia netted three consecutive goals in the first three minutes of the third period – Zuvela opened the series with a goal from a penalty shot. He then scored an action goal, while Bukic added another and the Croats turned around a one-goal deficit to an 8:6 lead. Still, the Montenegrins responded with two quick goals (Gardasevic from a penalty and Banicevic) to equalize at 8:8. But, Croatia’s leftie Konstantin Kharkov stepped up with two goals in 39 seconds – the first one from the deep right,and the second from a counterattack. By the end of the third period, the Croats added two goals with extra players and one from a 6-on-6 and established a comfortable 13:8 advantage.
The Croats didn’t let Montenegro come close to them in the fourth period and finished the Championships with six wins and one loss, but without a medal.
All medal winners
1973 (Belgrade): 1. Hungary, 2. USSR, 3. Yugoslavia.
1975 (Cali): 1. USSR, 2. Hungary, 3. Italy.
1978 (West Berlin): 1. Italy, 2. Hungary, 3. Yugoslavia.
1982 (Guayaquil): 1. USSR, 2. Hungary, 3. FR Germany.
1986 (Madrid): 1. Yugoslavia, 2. Italy, 3. USSR.
1991 (Perth): 1. Yugoslavia, 2. Spain, 3. Hungary.
1994 (Rome): 1. Italy, 2. Spain, 3. Russia.
1998 (Perth): 1. Spain, 2. Hungary, 3. Yugoslavia.
2001 (Fukuoka): 1. Spain, 2. Yugoslavia, 3. Russia.
2003 (Barcelona): 1. Hungary, 2. Italy, 3. Serbia and Montenegro.
2005 (Montreal): 1. Serbia and Montenegro, 2. Hungary, 3. Greece.
2007 (Melbourne): 1. Croatia, 2. Hungary, 3. Spain.
2009 (Rome): 1. Serbia, 2. Spain, 3. Croatia.
2011 (Shanghai): 1. Italy, 2. Serbia, 3. Croatia.
2013 (Barcelona): 1. Hungary, 2. Montenegro, 3. Croatia.
2015 (Kazan): 1. Serbia, 2. Croatia, 3. Greece.
2017 (Budapest): 1. Croatia, 2. Hungary, 3. Serbia.
2019 (Gwangju): 1. Italy, 2. Spain, 3. Croatia.
2022 (Budapest): 1. Spain, 2. Italy, 3. Greece.
2023 (Fukuoka): 1. Hungary, 2. Greece, 3. Spain.
2024 (Doha): 1. Croatia, 2. Italy, 3. Spain
2025 (Singapore): 1. Spain 2. Hungary, 3. Greece
Visit Total Waterpolo Arena for all the scores and deep statistics from Singapore 2025.
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