The list of participating teams in the water polo tournaments at the World Championships in Fukuoka (14 – 30 July) was finalized last week after the Pan American Championships in Bauru (Brazil) concluded.
The last four available tickets were allocated to Canada and Brazil. Both male and female teams of these countries qualified for the Fukuoka tournament, so we know all 32 teams that will battle at the two-times postponed 20th World Championships.
Qualified teams
MEN
Host: Japan
World League (2 teams): Italy (gold) and USA (silver)
World Championships (4 teams): Spain (gold), Greece (bronze), Croatia (4th place) and Serbia (5th place).
*Italy (silver) qualified as the World League winner.
European Championships (3 teams): Hungary (silver), France (6th place), and Montenegro (7th place).
*Croatia (gold), Spain (bronze), Italy (4th place), and Greece (5th place) qualified through the World League and World Championships.
Asian Championships (2 teams): China (silver) and Kazakhstan (bronze)
*Japan (gold) qualified as the host.
Pan American Championships (2 teams): Canada (1st), Brazil (2nd)
Oceania (1 team): Australia
Africa (1 team): South Africa
WOMEN
Host: Japan
World League (2 teams): Spain (gold) and Hungary (silver)
World Championships (4 teams): USA (gold), Netherlands (bronze), Italy (4th place) and Australia (6th place).
*Hungary (silver) and Spain (5th place) qualified through the World League:
European Championships (3 teams): Greece (silver), Israel (6th place), France (7th place)
*Spain (gold), Italy (bronze), Netherlands (4th place), and Hungary (5th place) qualified through the World League and the World Championships.
Asian Championships (2 teams): China (gold) and Kazakhstan (bronze)
*Japan (silver) qualified as the host.
Pan American Championships (2 teams): Canada (1st), Brazil (2nd)
Oceania (1 team): New Zealand
Africa (1 team): South Africa
Draw
World Aquatics hasn’t officially announced the dates for the draw and the composition of the pots. Still, the latest information is that the draw will be held during the second tournament of the Women’s World Cup Division 1 in Athens (April 19 – 21).
We can arrange the lines for the draw, following the World Aquatics competition rules. The semifinalists of the previous World Championships, held in Budapest, should be in the first line. The other teams should be allocated to the pots by their rankings in the other qualification competitions.
Therefore, the pots should look like this, but World Aquatics has to confirm this yet –
Men
First line: Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia
Second line: Serbia, USA, Canada, Hungary
Third line: Brazil, France, Montenegro, Australia
Fourth line: South Africa, Japan, China, Kazakhstan.
Women
First line: USA, Hungary, Netherlands, Italy
Second line: Spain, Australia, Canada, Greece
Third line: Brazil, Israel, France, New Zealand
Fourth line: South Africa, Japan, China, Kazakhstan
More articles about the World Championships
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