Greece’s men’s national water polo team delivered one of its most dominant performances in recent years, defeating Italy 17-11 in the World Championship quarterfinals to secure a spot in the semifinals.
The match was marred with controversy when Italy was forced to play four minutes with a man down after Luca Gratà was ejected for an underwater knee strike on a Greek player. This rare and unsportsmanlike incident fueled Greece’s momentum.
The win puts Greece just one victory away from securing a medal and two wins from claiming the first world title in its history. The team, coached by Thodoris Vlachos, will face the winner of Spain vs. Montenegro in Tuesday’s semifinal (July 22, 12:35).
Greece has been among the world’s elite in recent years, winning silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, silver at the 2023 World Championship, bronze in 2022, and silver at the 2020 World Cup. Despite 11 medals in major tournaments, gold has remained elusive.
This quarterfinal, however, showed a Greek team in peak form—disciplined, relentless, and hungry for redemption. The victory also served as payback for last year’s loss to Italy at the Doha World Championship.
Now, Vlachos’ squad looks determined to finish what it started—and climb to the very top of the world stage.
Yesterday, the women’s national team beat Australia in a thriller to also reach the semi-finals.
