Greece secured the first major gold medal in their men’s water polo history after beating Hungary 15-14 in a thrilling World Cup final in Sydney.
Stylianos Argyropoulos scored the winning goal with just 12 seconds remaining, before Dimitrios Skoumpakis blocked Hungary’s final attempt to complete a historic victory.
Greece controlled much of the contest and led for all but a brief period in the third quarter, but Hungary repeatedly fought their way back into the match.
The Greeks made the stronger start and moved 5-2 ahead late in the opening quarter after Nikolaos Gardikas finished a patient attacking move. Hungary responded through Krisztian Manhercz and continued to close the gap during the second period.
Vendel Vigvari levelled at 6-6 from an extra-player opportunity, but Skoumpakis restored Greece’s advantage with a powerful long-range finish before half-time.
Hungary moved ahead for the first and only time in the third quarter when Gergo Zalanki converted on the power play to make it 9-8. Greece responded with two goals of their own, before Evangelos Pouros struck from distance to give his side an 11-10 lead entering the final period.
Skoumpakis then appeared to put Greece in control, scoring twice from similar positions to open up a 14-11 advantage.
However, Greece missed several opportunities to finish the contest, including a penalty saved by Hungary goalkeeper Soma Csoma. Hungary punished those misses, with Zalanki leading the recovery before Manhercz equalised at 14-14 with 45 seconds remaining.
Greece still had one final attack. Captain Argyropoulos took responsibility and found the net with 12 seconds left, before Skoumpakis completed an outstanding individual performance by blocking Manhercz’s final shot.
Skoumpakis scored five goals and produced the decisive defensive play, while Zalanki finished with four for Hungary.
Italy claimed the bronze medal after defeating hosts Australia 16-10. Giacomo Cannella scored five goals as the Italians controlled most of the contest and pulled away with four unanswered goals during the closing stages.
Australia reduced the deficit to 12-10 through two quick goals from Nicolas Constantin-Bicari, but Italy shut the hosts out over the final five and a half minutes to secure their first major medal since the 2024 World Championships.
Results
Final
Hungary 14-15 Greece
(3-5, 3-2, 4-4, 4-4)
Bronze-medal match
Australia 10-16 Italy
(1-2, 3-6, 4-3, 2-5)
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