Water polo at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships – Men's tournament

The men's water polo tournament at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships, organised by the FINA, was held in Kazan, Russia from 27 July to 8 August 2015.[3][4]

Water polo at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships – Men's tournament

Team Serbia celebrates after the gold medal match
Tournament details
Dates	27 July – 8 August
Teams	16 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Serbia (5th title)
Runner-up	Croatia
Third place	Greece
Fourth place	Italy
Tournament statistics
Matches	48
Goals scored	869 (18.1 per match)
Attendance	55,994 (1,167 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Alexandr Axenov (22 goals)[1]
Best player	Duško Pijetlović[2]

Participating teams

Africa

•  South Africa

Americas

•  Argentina
•  Brazil
•  Canada
•  United States

Asia

•  China
•  Japan
•  Kazakhstan

Europe

•  Croatia
•  Greece
•  Hungary
•  Italy
•  Montenegro
•  Russia
•  Serbia

Oceania

•  Australia

Format

The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams and played a round-robin. The best placed team advanced to the quarterfinal, while the second-and third best team advanced to the playoffs. The last placed team played in placement games for place 13–16. From the quarterfinals on, a knockout system was used to determine the winner. The losers of the playoffs and quarterfinals played in placement games to determine their final position.

Medals

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men	Serbia Milan Aleksić Miloš Ćuk Filip Filipović Živko Gocić Nikola Jakšić Dušan Mandić Branislav Mitrović Stefan Mitrović Slobodan Nikić Duško Pijetlović Gojko Pijetlović Andrija Prlainović Sava Ranđelović	Croatia Marko Bijač Luka Bukić Damir Burić Andro Bušlje Maro Joković Luka Lončar Petar Muslim Paulo Obradović Josip Pavić Fran Paškvalin Antonio Petković Anđelo Šetka Sandro Sukno	Greece Christos Afroudakis Evangelos Delakas Georgios Dervisis Konstantinos Flegkas Ioannis Fountoulis Stefanos Galanopoulos Konstantinos Genidounias Alexandros Gounas Christodoulos Kolomvos Konstantinos Mourikis Emmanouil Mylonakis Kyriakos Pontikeas Angelos Vlachopoulos

Preliminary round

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Croatia	3	3	0	0	39	17	+22	6	Advanced to quarterfinals
2	Canada	3	2	0	1	25	20	+5	4	Advanced to playoffs
3	Brazil	3	0	1	2	24	29	−5	1
4	China	3	0	1	2	12	34	−22	1

Source: SportResult.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.

27 July 2015 09:30	Report	Croatia	12–7	Canada	Kazan Attendance: 507 Referees: Radosław Koryzna (POL), German Moller (ARG)
		Score by quarters: 4–2, 6–2, 1–0, 1–3
		four players 2	Goals	Conway 3

27 July 2015 10:50	Report	Brazil	9–9	China	Kazan Attendance: 700 Referees: Stanko Ivanovski (MNE), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 3–4, 2–1, 3–4, 1–0
		Perrone 4	Goals	Dong Tao, Zhang Chufeng 3

---

29 July 2015 20:10	Report	China	2–8	Canada	Kazan Attendance: 240 Referees: Stanko Ivanovski (MNE), György Kun (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 0–3, 0–3, 1–1, 1–1
		Tan Feihu 2	Goals	McElroy 3

29 July 2015 21:30	Report	Croatia	10–9	Brazil	Kazan Attendance: 230 Referees: Mark Koganov (AZE), Daniel Flahive (AUS)
		Score by quarters: 4–2, 4–2, 1–2, 1–3
		Sukno 3	Goals	three players 2

---

31 July 2015 17:30	Report	Croatia	17–1	China	Kazan Attendance: 874 Referees: Daniel Flahive (AUS), Masoud Rezvani (IRI)
		Score by quarters: 4–1, 5–0, 7–0, 1–0
		three players 3	Goals	Zhang Chufeng 1

31 July 2015 20:10	Report	Brazil	6–10	Canada	Kazan Attendance: 230 Referees: Mark Koganov (AZE), György Kun (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 0–3, 3–3, 2–3, 1–1
		Silva 2	Goals	Boyd, McElroy 2

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Greece	3	3	0	0	37	31	+6	6	Advanced to quarterfinals
2	United States	3	2	0	1	28	26	+2	4	Advanced to playoffs
3	Italy	3	1	0	2	28	28	0	2
4	Russia	3	0	0	3	23	31	−8	0

Source: SportResult.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.

27 July 2015 12:10	Report	Greece	11–10	Italy	Kazan Attendance: 883 Referees: Francesc Buch (ESP), György Kun (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 4–4, 2–1, 3–2, 2–3
		Afroudakis 3	Goals	four players 2

27 July 2015 18:50	Report	United States	7–6	Russia	Kazan Attendance: 1,932 Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Daniel Flahive (AUS)
		Score by quarters: 3–1, 1–2, 2–2, 1–1
		Azevedo, Cupido 3	Goals	Bugaychuk 3

---

29 July 2015 09:30	Report	Greece	11–10	United States	Kazan Attendance: 839 Referees: Francesc Buch (ESP), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 1–3, 4–3, 3–1
		Fountoulis 4	Goals	three players 2

29 July 2015 18:50	Report	Russia	6–9	Italy	Kazan Attendance: 2,350 Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Radosław Koryzna (POL)
		Score by quarters: 1–1, 0–5, 3–1, 2–2
		Kholod 3	Goals	Giorgetti 2

---

31 July 2015 18:50	Report	Greece	15–11	Russia	Kazan Attendance: 2,285 Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Francesc Buch (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 5–2, 3–2, 5–3, 2–4
		Fountoulis 4	Goals	Nagaev 3

31 July 2015 21:30	Report	United States	11–9	Italy	Kazan Attendance: 214 Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Nenad Peris (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 4–4, 3–2, 2–1, 2–2
		Vavić 3	Goals	Di Fulvio 4

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Hungary	3	3	0	0	52	13	+39	6	Advanced to quarterfinals
2	Kazakhstan	3	2	0	1	34	24	+10	4	Advanced to playoffs
3	South Africa	3	1	0	2	17	37	−20	2
4	Argentina	3	0	0	3	17	46	−29	0

Source: SportResult.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.

27 July 2015 13:30	Report	South Africa	10–6	Argentina	Kazan Attendance: 913 Referees: Masoud Rezvani (IRI), Sergey Naumov (RUS)
		Score by quarters: 6–2, 1–2, 1–1, 2–1
		E. Le Roux, P. Le Roux 3	Goals	Yañez 3

27 July 2015 17:30	Report	Hungary	14–5	Kazakhstan	Kazan Attendance: 1,180 Referees: Joseph Peila (USA), Cory Williams (NZL)
		Score by quarters: 4–0, 3–0, 5–2, 2–3
		Hárai 4	Goals	Ushakov 2

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29 July 2015 10:50	Report	Kazakhstan	15–7	Argentina	Kazan Attendance: 1,016 Referees: Nenad Peris (CRO), Hatem Gaber (EGY)
		Score by quarters: 5–2, 3–3, 5–1, 2–1
		Axenov, Pekovich 4	Goals	Yañez 3

29 July 2015 12:10	Report	South Africa	4–17	Hungary	Kazan Attendance: 1,127 Referees: Fabio Toffoli (BRA), Peter de Jong (NED)
		Score by quarters: 1–5, 0–3, 2–4, 1–5
		Molyneux 2	Goals	Dén. Varga 5

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31 July 2015 09:30	Report	South Africa	3–14	Kazakhstan	Kazan Attendance: 884 Referees: Fabio Toffoli (BRA), Hatem Gaber (EGY)
		Score by quarters: 0–4, 1–3, 1–5, 1–2
		three players 1	Goals	Axenov 5

31 July 2015 10:50	Report	Hungary	21–4	Argentina	Kazan Attendance: 1,065 Referees: Sergey Naumov (RUS), Peter de Jong (NED)
		Score by quarters: 6–2, 3–1, 6–1, 6–0
		Dén. Varga 5	Goals	López 2

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Serbia	3	3	0	0	40	26	+14	6	Advanced to quarterfinals
2	Australia	3	1	1	1	24	19	+5	3	Advanced to playoffs
3	Montenegro	3	1	1	1	29	26	+3	3
4	Japan	3	0	0	3	23	45	−22	0

Source: SportResult.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.

27 July 2015 20:10	Report	Serbia	11–8	Montenegro	Kazan Attendance: 2,279 Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU)
		Score by quarters: 2–1, 4–2, 3–4, 2–1
		Filipović 3	Goals	three players 2

27 July 2015 21:30	Report	Japan	4–10	Australia	Kazan Attendance: 2,287 Referees: Massimiliano Caputi (ITA), Hatem Gaber (EGY)
		Score by quarters: 0–2, 2–2, 1–3, 1–3
		four players 1	Goals	Campbell 3

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29 July 2015 13:30	Report	Australia	5–5	Montenegro	Kazan Attendance: 313 Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Sergey Naumov (RUS)
		Score by quarters: 0–2, 1–1, 1–1, 3–1
		Younger 3	Goals	Janović 2

29 July 2015 17:30	Report	Serbia	19–9	Japan	Kazan Attendance: 1,016 Referees: Masoud Rezvani (IRI), Stephane Roy (CAN)
		Score by quarters: 2–1, 6–2, 5–3, 6–3
		Nikić 6	Goals	Okawa, Takei 3

---

31 July 2015 12:10	Report	Serbia	10–9	Australia	Kazan Attendance: 890 Referees: Radosław Koryzna (POL), Georgios Stacridis (GRE)
		Score by quarters: 3–2, 2–2, 1–4, 4–1
		three players 2	Goals	Younger 3

31 July 2015 13:30	Report	Japan	10–16	Montenegro	Kazan Attendance: 640 Referees: Dion Willis (RSA), Massimiliano Caputi (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 2–5, 2–5, 4–3
		Takei 4	Goals	Ivović, Radović 4

Knockout stage

Serbian team with gold medal on a Serbian stamp

Croatian team won the silver medal

Championship bracket

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

4 August

2 August

Croatia

10

Kazakhstan

8

6 August

Montenegro

4

Montenegro

12

Croatia (pen.)

10 (5)

4 August

2 August

Greece

10 (3)

Greece (pen.)

7 (5)

South Africa

1

8 August

Australia

7 (4)

Australia

17

Croatia

4

4 August

2 August

Serbia

11

Hungary

7

Canada

2

6 August

Italy

8

Italy

8

Italy

6

Third place game

4 August

2 August

Serbia

10

8 August

Serbia

12

Brazil

3

Greece (pen.)

7 (4)

United States

7

United States

7

Italy

7 (2)

5th place bracket

	5th–8th place semifinals				Fifth place game
	6 August
	Montenegro	11
					8 August
	Australia	8
					Montenegro	10
	6 August
					Hungary	9
	Hungary	13
	United States	9
					Seventh place game
					8 August
					Australia	6
					United States	10

9th place bracket

	9th–12th place semifinals				Ninth place game
	4 August
	Canada	9
					6 August
	Kazakhstan	7
					Canada (pen.)	7 (5)
	4 August
					Brazil	7 (3)
	Brazil	16
	South Africa	5
					Eleventh place game
					6 August
					Kazakhstan	11
					South Africa	7

13th place bracket

	13th–16th place semifinals				13th place game
	2 August
	China	10 (1)
					4 August
	Russia (pen.)	10 (4)
					Russia	9
	2 August
					Japan	13
	Argentina	6
	Japan	14
					15th place game
					4 August
					China	16
					Argentina	9

Playoffs

2 August 2015 13:30	Report	Canada	2–8	Italy	Kazan Attendance: 269 Referees: Mark Koganov (AZE), Francesc Buch (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 0–2, 1–1, 1–2, 0–3
		Kudaba, Torakis 1	Goals	Giorgetti, Gitto 2

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2 August 2015 17:30	Report	Brazil	3–7	United States	Kazan Attendance: 2,090 Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU)
		Score by quarters: 0–2, 1–1, 1–1, 1–3
		three players 1	Goals	Mann 3

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2 August 2015 18:50	Report	Kazakhstan	8–12	Montenegro	Kazan Attendance: 2,896 Referees: Joseph Peila (USA), Daniel Flahive (AUS)
		Score by quarters: 3–2, 2–3, 1–5, 2–2
		Gubarev 3	Goals	Brguljan, Janović 3

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2 August 2015 20:10	Report	South Africa	1–17	Australia	Kazan Attendance: 213 Referees: Ni Shi Wei (CHN), German Moller (ARG)
		Score by quarters: 1–5, 0–6, 0–2, 0–4
		E. Le Roux 1	Goals	Younger 4

Quarterfinals

4 August 2015 17:30	Report	Croatia	10–4	Montenegro	Kazan Attendance: 1,769 Referees: Radosław Koryzna (POL), Massimiliano Caputi (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 1–0, 3–0, 3–3, 3–1
		Muslim 3	Goals	Klikovac 3

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4 August 2015 18:50	Report	Greece	7–7	Australia	Kazan Attendance: 1,996 Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 1–0, 1–3, 3–1, 2–3  PSO: 5–4
		Fountoulis, Genidounias 2	Goals	Younger 3

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4 August 2015 20:10	Report	Hungary	7–8	Italy	Kazan Attendance: 693 Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Georgios Stavridis (GRE)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 2–1, 1–2, 2–3
		Dán. Varga 3	Goals	Di Fulvio, Luongo 2

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4 August 2015 21:30	Report	Serbia	12–7	United States	Kazan Attendance: 455 Referees: Francesc Buch (ESP), Nenad Peris (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 4–2, 3–3, 2–1, 3–1
		Pijetlović 4	Goals	Bonanni 2

13th–16th place semifinals

2 August 2015 10:50	Report	China	10–10	Russia	Kazan Attendance: 2,263 Referees: Stanko Ivanovski (MNE), Masoud Rezvani (IRI)
		Score by quarters: 1–2, 4–4, 2–1, 3–3  PSO: 1–4
		Tan Feihu 4	Goals	four players 2

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2 August 2015 12:10	Report	Argentina	6–14	Japan	Kazan Attendance: 218 Referees: Viktor Salnichenko (KAZ), Hatem Gaber (EGY)
		Score by quarters: 0–4, 2–2, 2–4, 2–4
		Carabantes, Demarchi 3	Goals	Takei 4

9th–12th place semifinals

4 August 2015 12:10	Report	Canada	9–7	Kazakhstan	Kazan Attendance: 421 Referees: Stanko Ivanovski (MNE), German Moller (ARG)
		Score by quarters: 1–2, 5–0, 2–3, 1–2
		Conway 4	Goals	Axenov 3

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4 August 2015 13:30	Report	Brazil	16–5	South Africa	Kazan Attendance: 213 Referees: Ni Shi Wei (CHN), Hatem Gaber (EGY)
		Score by quarters: 7–3, 2–2, 3–0, 4–0
		Vrlic 5	Goals	five players 1

5th–8th place semifinals

6 August 2015 15:30	Report	Montenegro	11–8	Australia	Kazan Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Francesc Buch (ESP), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 4–1, 1–1, 4–4, 2–2
		Janović 4	Goals	three players 2

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6 August 2015 17:00	Report	Hungary	13–9	United States	Kazan Attendance: 645 Referees: Massimiliano Caputi (ITA), Sergey Naumov (RUS)
		Score by quarters: 4–2, 3–2, 2–2, 4–3
		Hárai 4	Goals	Azevedo, Bonanni 3

Semifinals

6 August 2015 20:30	Report	Croatia	10–10	Greece	Kazan Attendance: 2,486 Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Daniel Flahive (AUS)
		Score by quarters: 3–1, 2–3, 3–2, 2–4  PSO: 5–3
		four players 2	Goals	Vlahopoulos 3

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6 August 2015 22:00	Report	Italy	6–10	Serbia	Kazan Attendance: 1,859 Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Radosław Koryzna (POL)
		Score by quarters: 0–4, 2–4, 2–1, 2–1
		Fondelli 2	Goals	S. Mitrovic 3

15th place game

4 August 2015 09:30	Report	China	16–9	Argentina	Kazan Attendance: 753 Referees: Joseph Peila (USA), Tadao Tahara (JPN)
		Score by quarters: 6–2, 3–4, 4–2, 3–1
		Dong Tao 4	Goals	Yanez 5

13th place game

4 August 2015 10:50	Report	Russia	9–13	Japan	Kazan Attendance: 821 Referees: György Kun (HUN), Masoud Rezvani (IRI)
		Score by quarters: 4–3, 1–3, 2–5, 2–2
		Bychkov 3	Goals	Okawa 3

Eleventh place game

6 August 2015 10:50	Report	Kazakhstan	11–7	South Africa	Kazan Attendance: 450 Referees: Fabio Toffoli (BRA), Tadao Tahara (JPN)
		Score by quarters: 4–2, 1–2, 2–1, 4–2
		Axenov 7	Goals	P. Le Roux 3

Ninth place game

6 August 2015 12:10	Report	Canada	7–7	Brazil	Kazan Attendance: 308 Referees: Mark Koganov (AZE), Viktor Salnichenko (KAZ)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 1–1, 2–3, 2–1  PSO: 5–3
		Conway, Kubada 2	Goals	Delgado 3

Seventh place game

8 August 2015 14:00	Report	Australia	6–10	United States	Kazan Attendance: 1,677 Referees: Nenad Peris (CRO), Francesc Buch (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 3–2, 0–2, 1–4, 2–2
		Younger 2	Goals	Azevedo 4

Fifth place game

8 August 2015 15:30	Report	Montenegro	10–9	Hungary	Kazan Attendance: 2,365 Referees: Mark Koganov (AZE), Joseph Peila (USA)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 2–1, 2–2, 4–4
		Ivović 3	Goals	three players 2

Third place game

8 August 2015 20:30	Report	Greece	7–7	Italy	Kazan Attendance: 2,165 Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Radosław Koryzna (POL)
		Score by quarters: 1–0, 2–2, 4–4, 0–1  PSO: 4–2
		Vlahopoulos 3	Goals	Aicardi, Figlioli 2

Final

8 August 2015 22:00	Report	Croatia	4–11	Serbia	Kazan Attendance: 2,575 Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Georgios Stavridis (GRE)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 0–3, 2–2, 0–4
		Sukno 2	Goals	Prlainović 3

Final ranking

Qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games Qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games as winner of 2015 World League Rank[3] Team  Serbia  Croatia  Greece 4  Italy 5  Montenegro 6  Hungary 7  United States 8  Australia 9  Canada 10  Brazil 11  Kazakhstan 12  South Africa 13  Japan 14  Russia 15  China 16  Argentina

2015 FINA Men's World Champions  Serbia Fifth title Team Rosters  Serbia[3] Gojko Pijetlović, Dušan Mandić, Živko Gocić, Sava Ranđelović, Miloš Ćuk, Duško Pijetlović, Slobodan Nikić, Milan Aleksić, Nikola Jakšić, Filip Filipović, Andrija Prlainović, Stefan Mitrović, and Branislav Mitrović. Head Coach: Dejan Savić.

Awards

Most Valuable Player[2]

• Duško Pijetlović

Best Goalscorer

• Alexandr Axenov – 22 goals

All-Tournament Team[2][5]

• Josip Pavić
• Duško Pijetlović
• Francesco Di Fulvio
• Ioannis Fountoulis
• Petar Muslim
• Alexandr Axenov
• Aaron Younger

References

1. Top scorers
2. "Duško Pijetlović named MVP of men's water polo tournament at FINA Worlds". kazan2015.com. 8 August 2015.
3. "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. p. 14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
4. Draw information
5. "Στην καλύτερη 7άδα του πόλο δύο "ερυθρόλευκοι"". reader.gr (in Greek). 9 August 2015.

External links

• Official website
• Records and statistics (reports by Omega)