Four women’s water polo teams secured their spots in the World Championship quarterfinals today: Australia, The U.S., Hungary, and Spain. All four teams went undefeated in the preliminary group play, and they have three days off before quarterfinals begin on Saturday.
On the flip side, the four teams with no wins in group play have been eliminated from quarterfinal consideration. This group consists of the host country, Singapore, as well as Argentina, Croatia, and South Africa.
The remaining eight teams will duke it out on Thursday for the remaining four spots in the quarterfinal.
Elena Ruiz led the Spaniards to the 16-7 victory against Britain that was necessary to advance through to the quarterfinal. Ruiz scored the first goal of the match, and she was the highest scorer of the game with three points.
In the battle of Oceania’s two teams, Australia and New Zealand, it was Australia who emerged as the 15-6 winners. The Aussies, reigning Olympic silver medalists, dialed up the heat from the get-go with a 4-0 lead in the first quarter. They never looked back as they emerged undefeated against the rest of Group A.
The 2024 World Champions will officially defend their title after knocking out Argentina 26-3. American attacker Ava Stryker got an impressive six goals throughout the game.
Hungary capped off an impressive three days of group play with a dominant win against Croatia, 22-6.
Interestingly and perhaps expectedly, the four teams to win their groups were the gold and silver medalists of the 2024 Olympics (Spain and Australia) as well as the 2024 Worlds (United States and Hungary).
Italy, The Netherlands, Greece, Great Britain, New Zealand, China, Japan, and France will compete for the remaining four quarterfinalist spots on Thursday. On paper, The Netherlands and Greece look like the most likely teams of these to advance. #4 Greece won the 2025 World Cup, and #2 The Netherlands were the 2024 Olympic bronze medalists.
Group Standings Through 7/15 (Points)
Group A
#1 Australia — 9
#2 Italy –- 6
#3 New Zealand –- 3
#4 Singapore — 0
Group B
#1 The United States — 9
#2 The Netherlands — 6
#3 China — 3
#4 Argentina — 0
Group C
#1 Hungary — 9
#2 Greece — 6
#3 Japan — 3
#4 Croatia — 0
Group D
#1 Spain — 9
#2 Great Britain — 6
#3 France — 3
#4 South Africa — 0
