World Water Polo Championship - a water polo tournament held under the auspices of FINA . It is the second most prestigious tournament after the Olympic water polo tournaments for men's national teams. It takes place within the framework of the World Aquatics Championships , being one of the types of championship programs. The first tournament was held in 1973 .
The women's world championship has been played since 1986 .
World Championship winners
| Year | Location | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1973 Details | Yugoslavia Belgrade | Hungary | the USSR | Yugoslavia |
| 1975 Details | Colombia Kali | the USSR | Hungary | Italy |
| 1978 Details | West Berlin | Italy | Hungary | Yugoslavia |
| 1982 Details | Ecuador Guayaquil | the USSR | Hungary | Germany |
| 1986 Details | Spain Madrid | Yugoslavia | Italy | the USSR |
| 1991 Details | Australia Perth | Yugoslavia | Spain | Hungary |
| 1994 Details | Italy Rome | Italy | Spain | Russia |
| 1998 Details | Australia Perth | Spain | Hungary | Yugoslavia |
| 2001 Details | Japan Fukuoka | Spain | Yugoslavia | Russia |
| 2003 Details | Spain Barcelona | Hungary | Italy | Serbia and Montenegro |
| 2005 Details | Canada Montreal | Serbia and Montenegro | Hungary | Greece |
| 2007 Details | Australia Melbourne | Croatia | Hungary | Spain |
| 2009 Details | Italy Rome | Serbia | Spain | Croatia |
| 2011 Details | China Shanghai | Italy | Serbia | Croatia |
| 2013 Details | Spain Barcelona | Hungary | Montenegro | Croatia |
| 2015 Details | Russia Kazan | Serbia | Croatia | Greece |
| 2017 Details | Hungary Budapest | Croatia | Hungary | Serbia |
| 2019 Details | South Korea Gwangju | Italy | Spain | Croatia |
| 2021 Details | Japan Fukuoka | |||
| 2023 Details | Qatar Doha |
Total Medals
| A place | A country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| one | Serbia | five | 2 | five | 12 |
| 2 | Italy | four | 2 | one | 7 |
| 3 | Hungary | 3 | 7 | one | eleven |
| four | Spain | 2 | four | one | 7 |
| five | Croatia | 2 | one | four | 7 |
| 6 | USSR / Russia | 2 | one | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Montenegro | 0 | one | 0 | one |
| eight | Greece | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | Germany | 0 | 0 | one | one |