World No. 7 ITA pulled off a stunning upset over reigning Olympic champions SRB in Group A of the men’s water polo competition at the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 on Monday (14 July).

Meanwhile, Group B heavyweights HUN and ESP clinched narrow victories to set up a top-of-the-table showdown. Hosts SGP also recorded a brilliant start against CAN before losing momentum and eventually falling 22-10 at the OCBC Aquatic Centre. 

After putting world No. 2 ESP to a tough test in their opening match, JPN again showed their mettle against world No. 4 HUN on Monday. The world No. 12 were tied with the Doha 2024 silver medallists after the first quarter and kept the score close at half-time. However, the Hungarians switched their tactics at half-time, instead focusing more on defence to launch quick counter-attacks. The sharpshooting Hungarians also converted 68% of their attempts to JPN’s 55%, helping them to comfortably see out the win.

ESP — with the retiring Felipe PERRONE ROCHA back in the squad, were again taken to the brink by world No. 11 AUS. Despite a commanding 9-2 lead at half-time, ESP’s defensive lapses saw AUS score two goals in the third quarter while conceding none. The final quarter saw a re-energised ESP and an aggressive AUS battling hard, but the gap proved too wide as AUS ran out of time and ESP hung on for the win. This sets up a tantalising clash between two powerhouses ESP and HUN on 16 July for top spot in the group and direct entry to the quarter-finals.

An exciting top-of-the-table battle also awaits in Group D after defending champions CRO narrowly defeated MNE 13-11. World No. 1 CRO will face world No. 3 GRE in their last group game after GRE easily beat CHN 26-5.

In a mega finale of the day, the highly-anticipated clash between ITA and SRB went down to the wire. It was ITA who led for most of the match but SRB were breathing down their necks. In the four quarter, ITA had built a three goal lead at 13-10 but an aggressive SRB offence saw Dusan MANDIC (SRB) penetrate the ITA defence to score two key goals with less than 15 seconds to go. Right wing Vasilije MARTINOVIC (SRB) then equalised with six seconds left and ITA were unable to find the winner with the last play of the match, sending it to a penalty shootout. Both teams scored their first three penalties before missing their fourth. Gianmarco NICOSIA (ITA) goalkeeper did well to save Milos CUK (SRB)’s penalty before Giacomo CANNELLA (ITA) converted the winning penalty to huge cheers from his teammates. 

The full results are as follows –
USA 16-7 BRA

RSA 5-24 ROU

GRE 26-5 CHN

JPN 18-23 HUN

AUS 7-10 ESP

CRO 13-11 MNE

SGP 10-22 CAN

ITA 17-16 SRB *PSO (4-3)

Photo Credit: Singapore 2025

The World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 runs from 11th July to 22nd August 2025. More information available here

The full schedule for the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 can be found here. Details on ticketing can be found here, and information on the extensive global coverage of the event can be found here.