Paris 2024: Croatia and Serbia Advance to Men’s Gold Medal Match, USA to Play for Bronze

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• Water Polo: July 27 – August 11, 2024
•  Paris Aquatic Centre/La Défense Arena — Paris, France
• Meet Central
• Full Water Polo Match Schedule

In an action-packed day, Serbia and Croatia cemented their places in the men’s gold medal match in Paris, giving both teams the potential to make history in the coming days.

Serbia def. USA, 10-6

The defending Olympic champions Serbia will have the chance to defend their title with a win over the United States, moving the Serbian team on to the gold medal match.

Through the first quarter of the game, the United States held on to the explosive Serbian offense. The US actually struck first in the match, pulling out to a 1-0 lead early in the first quarter. However, that lead was quickly eliminated as Serbia scored to tie it up 1-1. The teams each scored again before the end of the quarter to finish-off in a 2-2 tie. At the beginning of the second quarter, Serbia’s Petar Jaksic scored to bring the team to a 3-2 lead. From there, it was all Serbia as the team netted another three goals before halftime. Though the US tried to climb their way back into the game, the Americans could only manage to score twice, resulting in a 6-4 lead for Serbia.

Despite trailing after halftime, the Americans did not relent in their defense, blocking several key attempts by Serbia early in the third quarter. Though Serbia managed to slip by the US defense twice, the US matched each goal, maintaining their two point deficit into the fourth and final quarter with a score of 8-6. Unfortunately for the US, their last goal would come in the third quarter as the Serbian defense locked them down in the 4th quarter, holding them scoreless. On offense, the Serbians managed to extend their margin of victory, with Nikola Dedovic netting another shot early in the quarter, creating a 9-6 lead. Nikola Jaksic contributed the final goal of the game with 3:13 left to play, resulting in a 10-6 victory for Serbia.

Jaksic and Dedovic were key players for Serbia in the win, combining for 7 of the team’s 10 goals. Goalkeeper Radoslav Filipovic also had a strong showing, blocking 10/16 shots.

Croatia def. Hungary, 9-8

The second semi-final of the day was a much closer game as Croatia and Hungary battled for a spot in the gold medal game. Despite Hungary putting up a great showing, 2023 World Champions Croatia managed to hold on for the 9-8 victory.

Croatia got the ball-rollling early in the 1st quarter, with Maro Jokovic scoring only 30 seconds into the game. A goal from Hungary quickly followed, tying the game up 1-1. The Hungarian team then took advantage of a series of Croatian penalities, to rapidly add an additional 2 goals to their tally, creating a 3-1 lead. In the closing minutes of the first quarter, the Croatians managed to fire-back, scoring two goals of their own to create a 3-3 tie. Hungary got off to another hot start in the second quarter, scoring right out of the gate to create a 4-3 lead. However, Croatia matched the goal almost immediately afterwards, tying the score again. Though Hungary added another goal, the Croatians then caught a wave of momentum, finishing the quarter with a 7-5 lead. The margin remained the same throughout the third quarter, with both teams adding two goals to their tallies, ending the quarter in a 9-7 score in favor of Croatia. Both teams locked-down on defense in the fourth quarter, holding each other scoreless through the first four minutes of play. With 4:34 left in the game, Adam Nagy netted another goal for Hungary, closing Croatia’s lead to 1-point. However, Hungary couldn’t build-off of the momentum from the goal, failing to score again. Thus, the game ended in a 9-8 score in favor of Croatia, sending the team to the gold medal match.

Schedule for Remaining Games

Croatia and Serbia both advanced through to the gold medal match with their wins. The two teams also faced-off in the gold medal match at the 2016 Olympic Games, with Serbia emerging victorious. If Serbia wins, it will be the team’s third-straight Olympic title.

Meanwhile, the US and Hungary will now face off for the bronze medal. Hungary won the bronze medal at the 2021 Olympic Games, while the US settled for 6th place. For the US, a medal in this event would be significant as the men’s team hasn’t won an Olympic medal since 2008, when the team won silver.

Schedule, Men’s Medal Matches (all times in EST): 

• August 11th
  • USA v. Hungary, Bronze Medal Match – 4:35 AM
  • Serbia v. Croatia, Gold Medal Match – 8:00 AM

Other Scores: 

• Men’s Classification 5-8th:
  •  Spain def. Italy, 11-9
  • Greece def. Australia, 15-9

Other Remaining Matches:

• August 10th
  • Australia v. Italy, Men’s Classification 7-8th, 1:35 PM
• August 11th
  • Greece v. Spain, Men’s Classification 5-6th, 3:00 AM