The draw for water polo at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 was made today by World Aquatics on the sidelines of the World Aquatics Championships currently being held in Qatar.
The 22 teams that have qualified for the Games (12 men’s and 10 women’s) now know their qualifying groups and which opponents they will have to overcome if they are to progress in the Olympic water polo competitions, which will be held from 27 July to 11 August 2024 at the Aquatics Centre (Saint-Denis) and the Paris La Défense Arena (Nanterre).
With 160 days to go until the start of the Olympic Games, the draw for the water polo events is the first of many to come for all the team sports on the Paris 2024 programme.
Twelve other draws (six for men and six for women) will be held over the coming months in basketball (5×5), football, handball, rugby, volleyball and beach volleyball. The dates of some of these draws are already known: the draw for basketball will take place on 19 March in Mies (Switzerland), while the draw for football will take place the following day, on 20 March, in Paris.
These draws will enable sports enthusiasts, supporters, and the general public who are eager to experience the Games to find out when and where their favourite team will be playing, and to buy their tickets for the chosen session on the official Paris 2024 ticketing platform: Paris 2024 tickets.
Teams in the men’s draw:
Group A: Croatia, Italy, Romania, United States, Greece, Montenegro
Group B: France, Hungary, Spain, Serbia, Australia, Japan
In Group B, the French men’s team, recent semi-finalists at the world championships, will face Hungary and Spain. In Group A, the match-up between Croatia and Greece promises to be the highlight of the first round.
Breakdown of the teams in the women’s draw:
Group A: Australia, China, Netherlands, Canada, Hungary
Group B: France, United States, Italy, Greece, Spain
In the women’s draw, France finds itself in the same group as the United States, three-time reigning Olympic champions.
Water polo is one of the oldest team sports in the Olympic Games, having entered the programme in 1900 at the same time as rugby and football (women did not compete in water polo at the Games until Sydney 2000).
In the men’s discipline, the sport has historically been dominated by European countries, particularly Hungary, which has nine Olympic titles to its name. On the women’s side, the tournaments at the last three editions of the Games have been won by the United States.
Next summer, during the Olympic Games Paris 2024, water polo tournaments will be played from 27 July to 11 August at two exceptional venues: the Aquatics Centre (Saint-Denis) and the Paris La Défense Arena (Nanterre).
Located opposite the Stade de France in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), less than two kilometres from the Athletes’ Village, the brand-new Aquatics Centre is the only permanent sports facility built for Paris 2024.
Capable of accommodating 5,000 spectators during the Games and boasting unique architecture, it will host almost all the group matches in the men’s and women’s water polo tournaments, as well as the diving and artistic swimming events.
The group phase of the Olympic men’s water polo tournament will end on 5 August 2024 with six matches at the Paris La Défense Arena (Nanterre). The venue will then host the final phases of the women’s and men’s tournaments from 6 to 11 August 2024.
During the Games, the Paris La Défense Arena, located in Nanterre, will guarantee a unique atmosphere for its 14,000 spectators, just like during the swimming events.
“The result of this first draw for the Olympic tournament projects us more than ever towards the Paris 2024 Games! We know what the dream of an Olympic title represents for the athletes and we work daily with World Aquatics to enable them to perform in the best conditions. The water polo players now know their future opponents, and both the Centre Aquatique and Paris La Défense Arena will be ready to welcome them in an exceptional atmosphere. We can’t wait to see this !” Aurélie Merle, Executive Sports Director for Paris 2024
“Every athlete knows that success here at the World Aquatics Championships is the golden ticket to compete in the Olympic Games Paris 2024. We look forward to what will be a global celebration of sport, with fans packing out venues and tuning in from around the globe to witness the world’s best aquatics athletes. I am grateful for the excellent collaboration with the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, and I eagerly await the displays of sporting excellence on the world stage this summer.” Husain Al-Musallam, President of World Aquatics
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