Hungary men's national water polo team

The Hungary men's national water polo team represents Hungary in international men's water polo competitions and is controlled by the Hungarian Water Polo Association. It is considered the world's top power in the history of water polo, having won 16 Olympic, 12 World Championship,^[1] 10 FINA World Cup, eight FINA World League, 26 European Championship and 17 Summer Universiade medals for a total of 91.

Hungary

FINA code	HUN
Association	Hungarian Water Polo Federation
Confederation	LEN (Europe)
Head coach	Zsolt Varga
Asst coach	András Gárdonyi Gergely Lukács
Captain	Krisztián Manhercz
Most caps	Tibor Benedek (384)
FINA ranking (since 2008)
Current	2 (as of 31 July 2023)
Highest	1 (2008, 2013)
Lowest	7 (2011)
Olympic Games (team statistics)
Appearances	24 (first in 1912)
Best result	(1932, 1936, 1952, 1956, 1964, 1976, 2000, 2004, 2008)
5-time Olympian(s)	Dezső Gyarmati (1948–1964) Tibor Benedek (1992–2008) Tamás Kásás (1996–2012)
Most medals	Dezső Gyarmati (5 medals, 3 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze)
Top scorer(s)	Tibor Benedek (65 goals, 1992–2008)
Flag bearer(s)	István Szívós Sr. (1980) Péter Biros (2012)
World Championship
Appearances	22 (first in 1973)
Best result	(1973, 2003, 2013, 2023)
Most titles	Norbert Madaras (2003, 2013)
World Cup
Appearances	15 (first in 1979)
Best result	(1979, 1995, 1999, 2018)
Most medals	Rajmund Fodor (6 medals, 2 gold, 3 silver, and 1 bronze)
World League
Appearances	10 (first in 2002)
Best result	(2003, 2004)
European Championship
Appearances	34 (first in 1926)
Best result	(1926, 1927, 1931, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1977, 1997, 1999, 2020)
Europa Cup
Appearances	2 (first in 2018)
Best result	(2019)
Media
Website	waterpolo.hu (in Hungarian)
Medal record Olympic Games 1932 Los Angeles Team 1936 Berlin Team 1952 Helsinki Team 1956 Melbourne Team 1964 Tokyo Team 1976 Montréal Team 2000 Sydney Team 2004 Athens Team 2008 Beijing Team 1928 Amsterdam Team 1948 London Team 1972 Munich Team 1960 Rome Team 1968 Mexico City Team 1980 Moscow Team 2020 Tokyo Team World Championships 1973 Belgrade Team 2003 Barcelona Team 2013 Barcelona Team 2023 Fukuoka Team 1975 Cali Team 1978 Berlin Team 1982 Guayaquil Team 1998 Perth Team 2005 Montréal Team 2007 Melbourne Team 2017 Budapest Team 1991 Perth Team World Cup 1979 Belgrade 1995 Atlanta 1999 Sydney 2018 Berlin 1993 Athens 2002 Belgrade 2006 Budapest 2014 Almaty 1989 Berlin 1997 Athens 2025 Podgorica World League 2003 New York 2004 Long Beach 2005 Belgrade 2007 Berlin 2013 Chelyabinsk 2014 Dubai 2018 Budapest 2002 Patras European Championship 1926 Budapest 1927 Bologna 1931 Paris 1934 Magdeburg 1938 London 1954 Turin 1958 Budapest 1962 Leipzig 1974 Vienna 1977 Jönköping 1997 Seville 1999 Florence 2020 Budapest 1970 Barcelona 1983 Rome 1993 Sheffield 1995 Vienna 2006 Belgrade 2014 Budapest 1981 Split 2001 Budapest 2003 Kranj 2008 Málaga 2012 Eindhoven 2016 Belgrade Europa Cup 2019 Zagreb
Last updated: 3 July 2021

Competitive record

Medals

Updated after 2023 World Championships

Competition				Total
Olympic Games	9	3	4	16
Friendship Games	0	1	0	1
World Championship	4	7	1	12
World Cup	4	4	2	10
World League	2	5	1	8
European Championship	13	7	6	26
Europa Cup	1	0	0	1
Mediterranean Games	0	0	0	0
Summer Universiade	5	6	6	17
Total	38	33	20	91

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

Olympic Games

Main article: Hungary men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics

Hungary missed five Olympics, but they have won the title nine times, which is a record. As of today, there are only seven tournaments in which Hungary participated but did not receive a medal.^[2]

Games	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1900 Paris	did not participate
1904 St. Louis
1908 London
1912 Stockholm	First round	5th of 6	2	0	0	2	9	11	−2
1920 Antwerp	did not participate
1924 Paris	Quarter-finals	5th of 13	4	2	0	2	17	17	0
1928 Amsterdam	Runners-up	2nd of 14	4	3	0	1	26	8	+18
1932 Los Angeles	Champions	1st of 5	3	3	0	0	31	2	+29
1936 Berlin	Champions	1st of 16	7	6	1	0	44	4	+40
1948 London	Runners-up	2nd of 18	7	5	1	1	34	17	+17
1952 Helsinki	Champions	1st of 21	8	6	2	0	53	16	+37
1956 Melbourne	Champions	1st of 10	6	6	0	0	26	4	+22
1960 Rome	Third place	3rd of 16	7	4	2	1	37	18	+19
1964 Tokyo	Champions	1st of 13	6	5	1	0	34	13	+21
1968 Mexico City	Third place	3rd of 15	8	7	0	1	54	26	+28
1972 Munich	Runners-up	2nd of 16	8	6	2	0	42	21	+21
1976 Montreal	Champions	1st of 12	8	7	1	0	45	32	+13
1980 Moscow	Third place	3rd of 12	8	5	1	2	51	44	+7
1984 Los Angeles	did not participate
1988 Seoul	5th–8th placement	5th of 12	7	3	2	2	72	57	+15
1992 Barcelona	5th–8th placement	6th of 12	7	3	2	2	65	62	+3
1996 Atlanta	Fourth place	4th of 12	8	6	0	2	83	73	+10
2000 Sydney	Champions	1st of 12	8	6	0	2	78	57	+21
2004 Athens	Champions	1st of 12	7	7	0	0	59	39	+20
2008 Beijing	Champions	1st of 12	7	6	1	0	85	55	+30
2012 London	Match for 5th place	5th of 12	8	5	0	3	98	80	+18
2016 Rio de Janeiro	Match for 5th place	5th of 12	8	4	4	0	91	66	+25
2020 Tokyo	Third place	3rd of 12	8	5	1	2	94	60	+34
2024 Paris	Fourth place	4th of 12	8	3	2	3	87	80	+7
Total	24/29	9 Titles	162	113	23	26	1,315	862	+453

World Championships

Hungary has taken part in every World Championships. They have won this championship four times: in 1973, 2003, 2013 and 2023.^[2]

Year	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1973		8	7	1	0	58	24	+34
1975		8	7	0	1	62	42	+20
1978		8	5	3	0	49	33	+16
1982		7	5	2	0	70	49	+21
1986	9th	6	4	0	2	58	43	+15
1991		7	5	1	1	83	62	+21
1994	5th	7	4	1	2	79	54	+25
1998		8	6	0	2	85	48	+37
2001	5th	8	6	0	2	67	51	+16
2003		6	5	1	0	62	37	+25
2005		6	5	0	1	57	29	+28
2007		6	5	0	1	84	43	+41
2009	5th	6	4	1	1	68	42	+26
2011	4th	6	4	0	2	73	60	+13
2013		7	5	1	1	76	54	+22
2015	6th	6	4	0	2	81	40	+41
2017		6	4	1	1	62	37	+25
2019	4th	6	4	0	2	87	51	+36
2022	7th	6	4	1	1	79	56	+23
2023		6	5	1	0	84	64	+20
2024	7th	6	2	2	2	86	54	+32
2025		7	5	0	2	115	90	+25
Total	22/22	147	105	16	26	1625	1063	+562

World Cup

The Hungarian national team missed three editions of the World Cup, but they won it four times: in 1979, 1995, 1999 and 2018.^[2]

Year	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1979		7	5	1	1	37	28	+9
1981	6th	7	3	0	4	64	56	+8
1983	7th	7	0	4	3	57	64	−7
1985	did not participate
1987
1989		5	3	0	2	40	36	+4
1991	4th	5	2	1	2	48	42	+6
1993		5	4	0	1	39	30	+9
1995		5	4	1	0	51	34	+17
1997		5	3	1	1	38	29	+9
1999		5	4	0	1	44	24	+20
2002		6	3	0	3	48	43	+5
2006		5	4	0	1	57	35	+22
2010	did not participate
2014		6	4	2	0	61	35	+26
2018		6	5	0	1	70	57	+13
2023	4th	3	1	0	2	27	28	−1
2025		5	4	0	1	77	56	+21
Total	15/18	82	49	10	23	758	597	+161

World League

Hungary has taken part in the first edition of the FINA Water Polo World League in 2002. They have won the gold medal one and two years later. In 2006 and from 2008 to 2012, Hungary did not participate in the World League.^[2]

Year	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
2002		16	13	0	3	188	119	+69
2003		5	5	0	0	56	35	+21
2004		14	11	0	3	150	114	+36
2005		14	11	0	3	178	113	+65
2006	did not participate
2007		14	13	0	1	187	100	+87
2008	did not participate
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013		6	4	0	2	66	59	+7
2014		10	8	0	2	103	73	+30
2015	6th	12	9	0	3	156	105	+51
2016	did not qualify
2017	did not participate
2018		10	6	2	2	106	73	+33
2019	5th	6	3	2	1	78	67	+11
2020	did not qualify
2022
Total	10/20	107	83	4	20	1,268	858	+410

European Championships

semi-final against Italy in 2014 Men's European Water Polo Championship

supporters celebrate the Hungarian team

Hungary missed only one European Championship, in 1950, and they have won the tournament 13 times, which is (as in the World Championships) a record. No team has a better result than Hungary in history of the European Championship.

Year	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1926		3	3	0	0	16	3	+13
1927		3	3	0	0	14	6	+8
1931
1934
1938
1947	4th
1950	did not participate
1954
1958
1962
1966	5th
1970
1974
1977
1981
1983
1985	5th
1987	5th
1989	9th
1991	5th
1993
1995		6	5	0	1
1997
1999
2001
2003
2006
2008
2010	4th
2012
2014
2016		7	5	1	1
2018	8th	7	2	1	4	52	54	−2
2020		6	4	2	0	89	43	+46
2022		6	5	0	1	92	44	+48
2024	4th	6	3	0	3	58	59	−1
2026	Qualified
Total	36/37

Friendship Games

Year	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1984		5	3	1	1	68	43	+25
Total	2/6	5	3	1	1	68	43	+25

Europa Cup

• 2018 – 6th place
• 2019 – Gold medal

Team

Current squad

Roster for the 2025 World Aquatics Championships.^[3]

Head coach: Zsolt Varga

• 1 Kristóf Csoma GK
• 2 Dániel Angyal FP
• 3 Krisztián Manhercz (C) FP
• 4 Erik MolnárFP
• 5 Márton Vámos FP
• 6 Ádám Nagy FP
• 7 Gergő Fekete FP
• 8 Gergely Burián FP
• 9 Péter Kovács FP
• 10 Vendel Vigvári FP
• 11 Szilárd Jansik FP
• 12 Vince Vigvári FP
• 13 Márton Mizsei GK
• 14 Zsombor Vismeg FP
• 15 Ákos Nagy FP

Former squads

Olympic Games

Roster for the 2025 World Championships.^[4][5]

Head coach: Zsolt Varga

• 1 Kristóf Csoma GK
• 2 Dániel Angyal FP
• 3 Krisztián Manhercz FP
• 4 Erik Molnár FP
• 5 Márton Vámos FP
• 6 Ádám Nagy FP
• 7 Gergő Fekete FP
• 8 Gergely Burián FP
• 9 Péter Kovács FP
• 10 Vendel Vigvári FP
• 11 Szilárd Jansik FP
• 12 Vince Vigvári FP
• 13 Márton Mizsei GK
• 14 Ákos Nagy FP
• 15 Zsombor Vismeg FP

Individual all-time records

  Still active players are highlighted.

Most appearances and goals

Total number of matches played in official competitions only.

#	Player	Years	Matches	Goals
1	Tibor Benedek	1990–2008	384
2	ifj. István Szívós	1966–1980	308
3	Dániel Varga	2005–2016	278
4	Norbert Hosnyánszky	2005–2021	258
4	Tamás Faragó	1970–1985	258
6	Dénes Varga	2004–2024	246
7	György Gerendás	1975–1986	230
8	Zoltán Kósz	1986–2001, 2006	228
9	Endre Molnár	1966–1980	189
10	László Sárosi	1966–1978	634

Statistics accurate as of matches played 18 January 2016

Olympic statistics

Main article: Hungary men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics

Five-time Olympians

• Dezső Gyarmati: 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964;
• Tibor Benedek: 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008;
• Tamás Kásás: 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012.

Olympians with four or more medals

• Dezső Gyarmati: 5 medals, 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze (1948 , 1952 , 1956 , 1960 , 1964 );
• György Kárpáti: 4 medals, 3 gold and 1 bronze (1952 , 1956 , 1960 , 1964 ).
• András Bodnár: 4 medals, 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze (1960 , 1964 , 1968 , 1972 ).
• ifj. István Szívós: 4 medals, 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze (1968 , 1972 , 1976 , 1980 ).

Olympians with three gold medals

• Dezső Gyarmati: 1952 , 1956 , 1964 ;
• György Kárpáti: 1952 , 1956 , 1964 ;
• Tibor Benedek: 2000 , 2004 , 2008 ;
• Péter Biros: 2000 , 2004 , 2008 ;
• Tamás Kásás: 2000 , 2004 , 2008 ;
• Gergely Kiss: 2000 , 2004 , 2008 ;
• Tamás Molnár: 2000 , 2004 , 2008 ;
• Zoltán Szécsi: 2000 , 2004 , 2008 .

World Championship statistics

Players with four or more medals

• Norbert Madaras: 4 medals, 2 gold and 2 silver (2003 , 2005 , 2007 , 2013 );
• Rajmund Fodor: 4 medals, 1 gold and 3 silver (1998 , 2003 , 2005 , 2007 );
• Tamás Kásás: 4 medals, 1 gold and 3 silver (1998 , 2003 , 2005 , 2007 );
• Gergely Kiss: 4 medals, 1 gold and 3 silver (1998 , 2003 , 2005 , 2007 );
• Tamás Molnár: 4 medals, 1 gold and 3 silver (1998 , 2003 , 2005 , 2007 );
• Tibor Benedek: 4 medals, 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1991 , 1998 , 2003 , 2007 ).

Players with two gold medals

• Norbert Madaras: 2003 , 2013 .
• Dénes Varga: 2013 , 2023
• Márton Vámos: 2013 , 2023

World Cup statistics

Players with four or more medals

• Rajmund Fodor: 6 medals, 2 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze (1993 , 1995 , 1997 , 1999 , 2002 , 2006 );
• Tamás Kásás: 5 medals, 2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1995 , 1997 , 1999 , 2002 , 2006 );
• Tibor Benedek: 4 medals, 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1993 , 1995 , 1997 , 2002 );
• Gergely Kiss: 4 medals, 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1997 , 1999 , 2002 , 2006 );
• Tamás Molnár: 4 medals, 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze (1997 , 1999 , 2002 , 2006 ).

Players with two gold medals

• Rajmund Fodor: 1995 , 1999 ;
• Tamás Kásás: 1995 , 1999 ;
• Zoltán Kósz: 1995 , 1999 ;
• Frank Tóth: 1995 , 1999 ;
• Balázs Vincze: 1995 , 1999 .

Awards

• Hungarian Sport Team of the Year: 1958, 1961, 1962, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2013

See also

• Blood in the Water match
• Hungary men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics
• Hungary women's national water polo team
• List of Olympic champions in men's water polo
• List of men's Olympic water polo tournament records and statistics
• List of world champions in men's water polo
• List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame