Comprehensive results by tournament

Notes:

• Results of Olympic qualification tournaments are not included. Numbers refer to the final placing of each team at the respective Games.
• At the 1904 Summer Olympics, a water polo tournament was contested, but only American contestants participated. Currently the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Swimming Federation (FINA) consider water polo event as part of unofficial program in 1904.
• Last updated: 5 May 2021.

Legend

More information Men's team, Years ...

Men's team[1]	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	Years
Italy		—			10	11				1	3	4	1	4	4	6	2	8	7	7	1	3	5	8	9	2	3	Q	21
Total teams	7		4	6	12	13	14	5	16	18	21	10	16	13	15	16	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

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Number of appearances

Last updated: 27 July 2021.

Legend

• Year^* – As host team

More information Men's team, Apps ...

Men's team[1]	Apps	Record streak	Active streak	Debut	Most recent	Best finish	Confederation
Italy	21	19	19	1920	2020	Champions	Europe – LEN

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Best finishes

Last updated: 27 July 2021.

Legend

• Year^* – As host team

More information Men's team, Best finish ...

Men's team[1]	Best finish	Apps	Confederation
Italy	Champions (1948, 1960*, 1992)	21	Europe – LEN

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Finishes in the top four

Last updated: 5 May 2021.

Legend

• Year^* – As host team

More information Men's team, Total ...

Men's team[1]	Total	Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	First	Last
Italy	13	3 (1948, 1960*, 1992)	2 (1976, 2012)	3 (1952, 1996, 2016)	3 (1956, 1964, 1968)	1948	2016

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Medal table

Last updated: 5 May 2021.

More information Men's team, Gold ...

Men's team	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Italy (ITA)	3	2	3	8

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Multiple appearances

The following table is pre-sorted by number of Olympic appearances (in descending order), year of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), year of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), date of birth (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

• Number of six-time Olympians: 0
• Number of five-time Olympians: 3
• Number of four-time Olympians: 7
• Last updated: 27 July 2021.

Legend and abbreviation

•     – Hosts
• AUS – Australia
• ITA – Italy

Multiple medalists

The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), year of receiving the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), year of receiving the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

• Number of four-time Olympic medalists: 0
• Number of three-time Olympic medalists: 0
• Last updated: 1 May 2021.

Top goalscorers

The following table is pre-sorted by number of total goals (in descending order), year of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), year of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

• Number of goalscorers (50+ goals): 2
• Number of goalscorers (40–49 goals): 2
• Number of goalscorers (30–39 goals): 4
• Last updated: 1 April 2021.

Legend and abbreviation

•     – Hosts
• AUS – Australia
• ITA – Italy

Sources:

• Official Reports (PDF): 1920–1924, 1948–1996;
• Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (pp. 47, 52, 55, 64, 68–69, 74, 76), 2004 (pp. 211–212), 2008 (pp. 205–206), 2012 (pp. 484–485), 2016 (pp. 123–124).

Goalkeepers

The following table is pre-sorted by edition of the Olympics (in ascending order), cap number or name of the goalkeeper (in ascending order), respectively.

Last updated: 27 July 2021.

Legend and abbreviation

•     – Hosts
• Eff % – Save efficiency (Saves / Shots)

More information Year, Cap No. ...

Year	Cap No.	Goalkeeper	Birth	Age	ISHOF member	Note	Ref
1920		Salvatore Cabella	1896	23–24		Starting goalkeeper	[20]
		(Unknown)
1924		Mario Balla	1903	20–21		Starting goalkeeper	[21]
		(Unknown)
1948		Pasquale Buonocore	1916	32		Starting goalkeeper	[22]
		(Unknown)
1952		Raffaello Gambino	1928	24			[23]
		Renato Traiola	1924	27			[24]
1956		Cosimo Antonelli	1925	31			[25]
		Enzo Cavazzoni	1932	24			[26]
1960		Dante Rossi	1936	24			[27]
		Brunello Spinelli	1939	21			[28]
1964		Eugenio Merello	1940	24			[29]
		Dante Rossi (2)	1936	28			[27]
1968	1	Alberto Alberani	1947	21			[7]
	11	Eugenio Merello (2)	1940	28			[29]
1972	1	Alberto Alberani (2)	1947	25			[7]
	11	Ferdinando Lignano	1948	28			[30]
1976	1	Alberto Alberani (3)	1947	29			[7]
	11	Umberto Panerai	1953	23			[31]
1980	1	Alberto Alberani (4)	1947	33			[7]
	11	Umberto Panerai (2)	1953	27			[31]
1984	1	Roberto Gandolfi	1956	28			[32]
	13	Umberto Panerai (3)	1953	31			[31]
1988	1	Paolo Trapanese	1962	26			[33]
	13	Gianni Averaimo	1964	24			[34]
1992	1	Francesco Attolico	1963	29			[35]
	13	Gianni Averaimo (2)	1964	27			[34]
Year	Cap No.	Goalkeeper	Birth	Age	ISHOF member	Note	Ref

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More information Year, Cap No. ...

Year	Cap No.	Goalkeeper	Birth	Age	Saves	Shots	Eff %	ISHOF member	Note	Ref
1996	1	Francesco Attolico (2)	1963	33	44	110	40.0%		Starting goalkeeper	[35]
	10	Marco Gerini	1971	24	6	15	40.0%			[36]
2000	1	Francesco Attolico (3)	1963	37	28	61	45.9%			[35]
	5	Stefano Tempesti	1979	21	24	43	55.8%			[3]
2004	1	Stefano Tempesti (2)	1979	25	50	86	58.1%		Starting goalkeeper	[3]
	5	Marco Gerini (2)	1971	33	0	4	0.0%			[36]
2008	1	Stefano Tempesti (3)	1979	29	83	169	49.1%		Starting goalkeeper	[3]
	13	Fabio Violetti	1974	34	0	0	—
2012	1	Stefano Tempesti (4)	1979	33	87	147	59.2%		Starting goalkeeper	[3]
	13	Giacomo Pastorino	1980	32	0	0	—			[37]
2016	1	Stefano Tempesti (5)	1979	37	51	101	50.5%		Starting goalkeeper	[3]
	13	Marco Del Lungo	1990	26	21	37	56.8%			[38]
2020	1	Marco Del Lungo (2)	1990	31						[38]
	13	Gianmarco Nicosia	1998	23						[39]
Year	Cap No.	Goalkeeper	Birth	Age	Saves	Shots	Eff %	ISHOF member	Note	Ref

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Sources:

• Official Reports (PDF): 1996 (pp. 62–66, 70, 72–73);
• Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (pp. 47, 52, 55, 64, 68–69, 74, 76), 2004 (pp. 211–212), 2008 (pp. 205–206), 2012 (pp. 484–485), 2016 (pp. 123–124).

Top sprinters

The following table is pre-sorted by number of total sprints won (in descending order), year of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), year of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), name of the sprinter (in ascending order), respectively.

* Number of sprinters (30+ sprints won, since 2000): 1

• Number of sprinters (20–29 sprints won, since 2000): 0
• Number of sprinters (10–19 sprints won, since 2000): 4
• Number of sprinters (5–9 sprints won, since 2000): 0
• Last updated: 15 May 2021.

Legend and abbreviation

•     – Hosts
• Eff % – Efficiency (Sprints won / Sprints contested)
• AUS – Australia
• ITA – Italy

Source:

• Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (pp. 47, 52, 55, 64, 68–69, 74, 76), 2004 (pp. 211–212), 2008 (pp. 205–206), 2012 (pp. 484–485), 2016 (pp. 123–124).

Medals as coach and player

The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), year of winning the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), year of winning the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the person (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 5 May 2021.

As a water polo player, Ratko Rudić won a silver medal for Yugoslavia at the 1980 Summer Olympics. He led Italy men's national water polo team to win two Olympic medals in 1992 and 1996.^[44][45][46]

Italian Alessandro Campagna won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, coached by Ratko Rudić. As a head coach, he guided Italy men's national team to two medals in 2012 and 2016.^[47][48]

Legend

• Year^* – As host team

More information Rk, Person ...

Rk	Person	Birth	Height	Player				Head coach			Total medals				Ref
				Age	Men's team	Pos	Medal	Age	Men's team	Medal	G	S	B	T
1	Ratko Rudić	1948	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	32	Yugoslavia	FP	1980	44–48	Italy	1992 , 1996	1	1	1	3	[44][45] [46]
	Alessandro Campagna	1963	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	29	Italy	FP	1992	49–53	Italy	2012 , 2016	1	1	1	3	[47] [48]
3	Gianni Lonzi	1938	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	22	Italy	FP	1960*	37	Italy	1976	1	1	0	2	[49] [50]
4	Mario Majoni	1910		38	Italy	FP	1948*	42	Italy	1952	1	0	1	2	[51] [52]

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1948 Summer Olympics

• Edition of men's tournament: 10th
• Host city: London, United Kingdom
• Number of participating teams: 18
• Competition format: Series of round-robin elimination pools, followed by round-robin semi-final pools, and then round-robin final pools
• Champion:  Italy (1st title; 1st place in round one D group; 1st place in round two I group; 1st place in semi-final L group; 1st place in final group)

More information Match, Round ...

Match	Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Goals for	Goals against	Goal diff.	Note
Match 1/7	Round one – Group D	30 July 1948	Australia	Won	9	0	9
Match 2/7	Round one – Group D	30 July 1948	Yugoslavia	Won	4	2	2	The match result was annulled and ordered to be replayed.[lower-alpha 1]
Replay 2/7	Round one – Group D	1 August 1948	Yugoslavia	Drawn	4	4	0	Replay of Match 2/7[lower-alpha 1]
Match 3/7	Round two – Group I	2 August 1948	Hungary	Won	4	3	1
Match 4/7	Semi-final round – Group L	4 August 1948	Egypt	Won	5	1	4
Match 5/7	Semi-final round – Group L	5 August 1948	France	Won	5	2	3
Match 6/7	Final round – Group	6 August 1948	Belgium	Won	4	2	2
Match 7/7	Final round – Group	7 August 1948	Netherlands	Won	4	2	2
Total	Matches played: 7 • Wins: 6 • Ties: 1 • Defeats: 0 • Win %: 85.7%				35	14	21	Note

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Source: Official Reports (PDF): 1948 (pp. 643, 645, 646).

• Head coach: Giuseppe Valle (1st title as head coach)

Note: Gianfranco Pandolfini and Tullio Pandolfini are brothers.
Sources:

• Official Reports (PDF): 1948 (pp. 643, 645, 646);
• Olympedia: 1948 (men's tournament);
• Sports Reference: 1948 (men's tournament);
• ISHOF.

1960 Summer Olympics

• Edition of men's tournament: 13th
• Host city: Rome, Italy
• Number of participating teams: 16
• Competition format: Round-robin pools advanced teams to the round-robin semi-final pool; round-robin semi-final pools advanced teams to the round-robin final pool
• Champion:  Italy (2nd title; 1st place in preliminary A group; 1st place in semi-final A group; 1st place in final group)

More information Match, Round ...

Match	Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Goals for	Goals against	Goal diff.
Match 1/7	Preliminary round – Group A	25 August 1960	Romania	Won	4	3	1
Match 2/7	Preliminary round – Group A	26 August 1960	Japan	Won	8	1	7
Match 3/7	Preliminary round – Group A	27 August 1960	Egypt	Won	9	4	5
Match 4/7	Semi-final round – Group A	30 August 1960	United Team of Germany	Won	3	0	3
Match 5/7	Semi-final round – Group A	31 August 1960	Soviet Union	Won	2	0	2
Match 6/7	Final round – Group	2 September 1960	Yugoslavia	Won	2	1	1
Match 7/7	Final round – Group	3 September 1960	Hungary	Drawn	3	3	0
Total	Matches played: 7 • Wins: 6 • Ties: 1 • Defeats: 0 • Win %: 85.7%				31	12	19

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Source: Official Reports (PDF): 1960 (pp. 618, 619, 627, 628, 631).

• Head coach: Andres Zolyomy (1st title as head coach)

Sources:

• Official Reports (PDF): 1960 (pp. 618, 619, 627, 628, 631);
• Olympedia: 1960 (men's tournament);
• Sports Reference: 1960 (men's tournament);
• ISHOF.

1992 Summer Olympics

• Edition of men's tournament: 21st
• Host city: Barcelona, Spain
• Number of participating teams: 12
• Competition format: Round-robin pools advanced teams to classification matches
• Champion:  Italy (3rd title; 2nd place in preliminary B group)

More information Match, Round ...

Match	Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Goals for	Goals against	Goal diff.
Match 1/7	Preliminary round – Group B	1 August 1992	Hungary	Drawn	7	7	0
Match 2/7	Preliminary round – Group B	2 August 1992	Netherlands	Won	6	4	2
Match 3/7	Preliminary round – Group B	3 August 1992	Cuba	Won	11	8	3
Match 4/7	Preliminary round – Group B	5 August 1992	Spain	Drawn	9	9	0
Match 5/7	Preliminary round – Group B	6 August 1992	Greece	Won	8	6	2
Match 6/7	Semi-finals	8 August 1992	Unified Team[lower-alpha 2]	Won	9	8	1
Match 7/7	Gold medal match	9 August 1992	Spain	Won	9	8	1
Total	Matches played: 7 • Wins: 5 • Ties: 2 • Defeats: 0 • Win %: 71.4%				59	50	9

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Source: Official Reports (PDF): 1992 (pp. 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 399, 400).

• Head coach: Ratko Rudić (3rd title as head coach)
• Assistant coach: Giuseppe Castellucci

Note: Francesco Porzio and Pino Porzio are brothers.
Sources:

• Official Reports (PDF): 1992 (pp. 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 399, 400);
• Olympedia: 1992 (men's tournament);
• Sports Reference: 1992 (men's tournament);
• ISHOF.

Source: Official Reports (PDF): 1992 (pp. 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 399, 400).