The water polo tournaments at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles are likely to be played under a new format.
World Aquatics has not released any public information regarding this change, nor has it updated its competition regulations.
However, the LA 2028 Organizing Committee has announced the full competition schedule for all sports, which provides a hint at what the format will look like.
As confirmed several months ago, for the first time, both the men’s and women’s tournaments will feature twelve teams (10 teams competed in the women’s tournament at the past two editions of the Games).
11 instead of 16 competition days
Until now, the teams at each tournament were split into two groups. The top four from each advanced to the quarterfinals after five days of the preliminary stage. The quarterfinal pairs were determined based on the standings in the groups (A1 vs. B4, A2 vs. B3, etc). The previous water polo tournaments lasted for 16 days (eight competition days for men and eight for women).
At the 2028 Olympic Games, there will be only 11 competition days, according to the schedule published last week. The tournament will commence on July 12 (two days before the Opening Ceremony) and end on July 23, with one day off.
Only three days of the preliminary phase are planned for each tournament, followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals, and medal matches.
The Preliminary Stage for men’s competition is set to take place on July 12, 15, and 17. The group phase for the women’s tournament is scheduled for July 13, 16, and 18. There will be no matches on July 14, as it is the day of the Opening Ceremony.
With only three days of the Preliminary Stage of a 12-team tournament and a total of 18 scheduled games (six on each day), it’s clear that the teams can’t be split into two groups played in a round-robin format.
The same format as for basketball?
What can we expect?
The schedule and the number of matches in the Preliminary Stage suggest that the water polo tournament may be played in the format used at the basketball Olympic tournaments since the Tokyo Games.
If water polo follows that pattern, 12 teams will be split into three groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group, along with the best two third-placed teams, will advance to the knockout round. The eight quarterfinalists will be sorted into two pots based on their results in the group phase (top four and bottom four), and the pairs for the quarterfinals will be determined by a draw.
However, the Olympic Committee and the World Aquatics are yet to confirm the tournament format and the qualification system for the Games.
As for the knockout stage of the water polo tournament at the LA Games, the quarterfinal matches are scheduled for July 19 (men) and July 20 (women). The semifinals of both tournaments are planned for July 21. The medal matches of the men’s tournament are scheduled to take place on July 22, while the water polo program will conclude on July 23 with the bronze-medal game and the final of the women’s competition.
At the previous several editions of the Olympic Games, the gold-medal game of the men’s water polo tournament was played on the day of the Closing Ceremony, and it was often the last final in team sports. According to the schedule, the water polo competitions in Los Angeles will end seven days before the Closing Ceremony.
