| | Event type

Water Polo, Men

Date	20 – 29 July 1980
Status	Olympic
Location	Plavatelny basseyn, Sportivny kompleks Olimpiysky, Moskva / Plavatelny basseyn, Tsentralny stadion imeni V. I. Lenina, Moskva
Participants	132 from 12 countries
Format	Round-robin pools advanced teams to the round-robin final pool.

The United States-led boycott was hardly noticed as the top four water polo teams for almost 30 years had been Hungary, Yugoslavia, Italy, and the Soviet Union, all of whom were in Moscow. In major internationals before Moscow, this was still evident as Hungary won the 1977 Worlds, with Yugoslavia and Italy taking the other medals, and at the 1978 European Championships, Italy won gold, Hungary silver, and Yugoslavia bronze.

The biggest upset of the Moscow preliminaries was that Italy placed third in Group B and did not make the final round, placing behind the Soviet Union and Spain, which was moving onto the world water polo stage to soon become a power. Group A saw Hungary win with the Netherlands second, while Group C advanced Yugoslavia and Cuba to the final pool.

The Soviet Union won its second water polo gold medal, after 1972, by winning all five of its games in the medal round, defeating Yugoslavia 8-7 in a match that determined the gold medal, the Yugoslavs taking silver. Hungary won the bronze, losing both of their matches to the Soviets and Yugoslavia by one goal. This marked the 12th consecutive Olympic Games at which Hungary had won a medal in water polo, with six golds, three silvers, and three bronzes. The streak would end at Los Angeles in 1984, but likely only because of the Soviet-led boycott. István Szivós competed for Hungary in Moscow, winning his fourth consecutive Olympic medal.

Spain placed fourth, with new young star Manuel Estiarte, who led all goal scorers with 22. Estiarte would eventually compete in six Olympics, and he would be the leading goal scorer in 1980, 1984, 1988, and 1992, setting the all-time Olympic record for a single tournament in 1984 with 34 goals. He is considered, along with Hungary’s Dezső Gyarmati, winner of five Olympic medals from 1948-64, one of the two greatest water poloists of all-time.

Pos	Number	Team	NOC	GP	Goals	Attempts	Shot %	Penalty Shot Goals/Attempts	Exclusions	Exclusion (w/wo Sub)
1	–	Soviet Union	URS	8	58	96	60.4%	2/3	45	5	Gold
	1	Yevgeny Sharonov		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	2	Sergey Kotenko		8	9	–	–	–	–	–
	3	Vladimir Akimov		8	3	–	–	–	–	–
	4	Yevgeny Grishin		8	5	–	–	–	–	–
	5	Mait Riisman		8	4	–	–	–	–	–
	6	Aleksandr Kabanov		8	5	–	–	–	–	–
	7	Aleksey Barkalov		8	8	–	–	–	–	–
	8	Erkin Shagayev		8	5	–	–	–	–	–
	9	Giorgi Mshvenieradze		8	9	–	–	–	–	–
	10	Mikhail Ivanov		8	10	–	–	–	–	–
	11	Vyacheslav Sobchenko		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
Coach		Boris Popov
2	–	Yugoslavia	YUG	8	58	106	54.7%	5/5	41	4	Silver
	1	Luka Vezilić		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	2	Zoran Gopčević		8	14	–	–	–	–	–
	3	Damir Polić		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	4	Ratko Rudić		8	13	–	–	–	–	–
	5	Zoran Mustur		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	6	Zoran Roje		8	5	–	–	–	–	–
	7	Milivoj Bebić		8	6	–	–	–	–	–
	8	Slobodan Trifunović		8	5	–	–	–	–	–
	9	Boško Lozica		8	3	–	–	–	–	–
	10	Predrag Manojlović		8	8	–	–	–	–	–
	11	Milorad Krivokapić		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
Coach		Trifun Cirković
3	–	Hungary	HUN	8	51	114	44.7%	5/6	52	9	Bronze
	1	Endre Molnár		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	2	István Szívós, Jr.		8	4	–	–	–	–	–
	3	Attila Sudár		8	3	–	–	–	–	–
	4	György Gerendás		8	10	–	–	–	–	–
	5	György Horkai		8	11	–	–	–	–	–
	6	Gábor Csapó		8	5	–	–	–	–	–
	7	István Kiss		8	1	–	–	–	–	–
	8	István Udvardi		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	9	László Kuncz		8	3	–	–	–	–	–
	10	Tamás Faragó		8	14	–	–	–	–	–
	11	Károly Hauszler		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
Coach		Dezső Gyarmati
4	–	Spain	ESP	8	43	83	51.8%	15/16	28	0
	1	Manuel Delgado		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	2	Gaspar Ventura		8	1	–	–	–	–	–
	3	Antonio Esteller		8	6	–	–	–	–	–
	4	Federico Sabriá		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	5	Manuel Estiarte		8	21	–	–	–	–	–
	6	Pedro Robert		8	5	–	–	–	–	–
	7	Jorge Alonso		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	8	José Alcázar		8	1	–	–	–	–	–
	9	Antonio Aguilar		8	1	–	–	–	–	–
	10	Jorge Carmona		8	8	–	–	–	–	–
	11	Salvador Franch		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
Coach		Lolo Ibern
5	–	Cuba	CUB	8	50	103	48.5%	17/20	42	4
	1	Óscar Periche		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	2	Orlando Cowley		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	3	Bárbaro Díaz		8	8	–	–	–	–	–
	4	Lázaro Costa		8	4	–	–	–	–	–
	5	Gerardo Rodríguez		8	5	–	–	–	–	–
	6	Nelson Domínguez		8	1	–	–	–	–	–
	7	Jorge Rizo		8	20	–	–	–	–	–
	8	Arturo Ramos		8	3	–	–	–	–	–
	9	Carlos Benítez		8	5	–	–	–	–	–
	10	David Rodríguez		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	11	Oriel Domínguez		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
Coach		Juan Almeneiro
6	–	Netherlands	NED	8	42	98	42.9%	4/9	25	1
	1	Wouly de Bie		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	2	Nico Landeweerd		8	7	–	–	–	–	–
	3	Jan Evert Veer		8	9	–	–	–	–	–
	4	Hans van Zeeland		8	8	–	–	–	–	–
	5	Ton Buunk		8	8	–	–	–	–	–
	6	Eric Noordegraaf		8	5	–	–	–	–	–
	7	Stan van Belkum		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	8	Aad van Mil		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	9	Dick Nieuwenhuizen		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	10	Jan Jaap Korevaar		8	1	–	–	–	–	–
	11	Ruud Misdorp		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
Coach		Ivo Trumbić
7	–	Australia	AUS	8	45	90	50.0%	3/7	32	1
	1	Michael Turner		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	2	David Neesham		8	4	–	–	–	–	–
	3	Robert Bryant		8	6	–	–	–	–	–
	4	Peter Montgomery		8	4	–	–	–	–	–
	5	Julian Muspratt		8	1	–	–	–	–	–
	6	Andrew Kerr		8	9	–	–	–	–	–
	7	Tony Falson		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	8	Charles Turner		8	17	–	–	–	–	–
	9	Martin Callaghan		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	10	Randall Goff		8	4	–	–	–	–	–
	11	Andrew Steward		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
Coach		Tom Hoad
8	–	Italy	ITA	8	40	117	34.2%	7/11	36	4
	1	Alberto Alberani Samaritani		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	2	Roldano Simeoni		8	4	–	–	–	–	–
	3	Alfio Misaggi		8	1	–	–	–	–	–
	4	Sante Marsili		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	5	Massimo Fondelli		8	3	–	–	–	–	–
	6	Gianni De Magistris		8	20	–	–	–	–	–
	7	Antonello Steardo		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	8	Paolo Ragosa		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	9	Romeo Collina		8	4	–	–	–	–	–
	10	Enzo D'Angelo		8	4	–	–	–	–	–
	11	Umberto Panerai		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
Coach		Gianni Lonzi
9	–	Romania	ROU	8	51	110	46.4%	4/5	33	3
	1	Doru Spînu		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	2	Vasile Ungureanu		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	3	Dorin Costraș		8	1	–	–	–	–	–
	4	Adrian Nastasiu		8	11	–	–	–	–	–
	5	Dinu Popescu		8	9	–	–	–	–	–
	6	Claudiu Rusu		8	5	–	–	–	–	–
	7	Ilie Slăvei		8	4	–	–	–	–	–
	8	Liviu Răducanu		8	8	–	–	–	–	–
	9	Viorel Rus		8	11	–	–	–	–	–
	10	Adrian Schervan		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	11	Florin Slăvei		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
Coach		Anatol Grințescu
10	–	Greece	GRE	8	44	93	47.3%	6/10	32	4
	1	Ioannis Vossos		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	2	Thomas Karalogos		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	3	Sotirios Stathakis		8	16	–	–	–	–	–
	4	Spyros Kapralos		8	6	–	–	–	–	–
	5	Kyriakos Giannopoulos		8	7	–	–	–	–	–
	6	Aristidis Kefalogiannis		8	1	–	–	–	–	–
	7	Ioannis Garyfallos		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	8	Andreas Gounas		8	3	–	–	–	–	–
	9	Antonis Aronis		8	4	–	–	–	–	–
	10	Markellos Sitarenios		8	5	–	–	–	–	–
	11	Ioannis Giannouris		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
Coach		Andreas Garyfallos
11	–	Sweden	SWE	8	31	84	36.9%	1/3	32	3
	1	Anders Flodqvist		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	2	Kenth Karlsson		8	4	–	–	–	–	–
	3	Hans Lundén		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	4	Tommy Danielson		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	5	Sören Carlsson		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	6	Christer Stenberg		8	7	–	–	–	–	–
	7	Gunnar Johansson		8	1	–	–	–	–	–
	8	Peter Carlström		8	6	–	–	–	–	–
	9	Lars Skåål		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	10	Per-Arne Andersson		8	7	–	–	–	–	–
	11	Arne Claesson		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
Coach		Lars Fjärrstad
12	–	Bulgaria	BUL	8	33	104	31.7%	3/4	35	3
	1	Volodya Sirakov		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
	2	Andrey Andreev		8	1	–	–	–	–	–
	3	Kiril Kiryakov		8	1	–	–	–	–	–
	4	Asen Denchev		8	3	–	–	–	–	–
	5	Vasil Nanov		8	7	–	–	–	–	–
	6	Antoni Partalev		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	7	Petar Kostadinov		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	8	Nikola Stamatov		8	2	–	–	–	–	–
	9	Biser Georgiev		8	5	–	–	–	–	–
	10	Matey Popov		8	10	–	–	–	–	–
	11	Georgi Gospodinov		8	0	–	–	–	–	–
Coach		Lubcho Bochev

Preliminary Round

Date	20 – 22 July 1980

Group A

Date	20 – 22 July 1980
Format	Round-robin pool.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	Wins	Ties	Losses	Points	Goals
1	Hungary	HUN	2	1	0	5	19-14

2	Netherlands	NED	2	0	1	4	16-15

3	Romania	ROU	1	1	1	3	15-15

4	Greece	GRE	0	0	3	0	16-22

Match	Date/Time	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	20 Jul 11:00	Romania	ROU	6 – 6	Hungary	HUN
Match #2	20 Jul 16:00	Netherlands	NED	8 – 7	Greece	GRE
Match #3	21 Jul 11:00	Hungary	HUN	5 – 3	Netherlands	NED
Match #4	21 Jul 16:00	Romania	ROU	6 – 4	Greece	GRE
Match #5	22 Jul 11:00	Hungary	HUN	8 – 5	Greece	GRE
Match #6	22 Jul 16:00	Netherlands	NED	5 – 3	Romania	ROU

Group B

Date	20 – 22 July 1980
Format	Round-robin pool.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	Wins	Ties	Losses	Points	Goals
1	Soviet Union	URS	3	0	0	6	24-10

2	Spain	ESP	2	0	1	4	15-11

3	Italy	ITA	0	1	2	1	14-17

4	Sweden	SWE	0	1	2	1	8-23

Match	Date/Time	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	20 Jul 12:00	Spain	ESP	7 – 3	Sweden	SWE
Match #2	20 Jul 17:00	Soviet Union	URS	8 – 6	Italy	ITA
Match #3	21 Jul 12:00	Sweden	SWE	4 – 4	Italy	ITA
Match #4	21 Jul 17:00	Soviet Union	URS	4 – 3	Spain	ESP
Match #5	22 Jul 12:00	Soviet Union	URS	12 – 1	Sweden	SWE
Match #6	22 Jul 17:00	Spain	ESP	5 – 4	Italy	ITA

Group C

Date	20 – 22 July 1980
Format	Round-robin pool.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	Wins	Ties	Losses	Points	Goals
1	Yugoslavia	YUG	2	1	0	5	24-10

2	Cuba	CUB	2	1	0	5	19-11

3	Australia	AUS	1	0	2	2	15-20

4	Bulgaria	BUL	0	0	3	0	8-25

Match	Date/Time	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	20 Jul 13:00	Cuba	CUB	6 – 6	Yugoslavia	YUG
Match #2	20 Jul 18:00	Australia	AUS	9 – 5	Bulgaria	BUL
Match #3	21 Jul 13:00	Yugoslavia	YUG	9 – 2	Bulgaria	BUL
Match #4	21 Jul 18:00	Cuba	CUB	6 – 4	Australia	AUS
Match #5	22 Jul 13:00	Yugoslavia	YUG	9 – 2	Australia	AUS
Match #6	22 Jul 18:00	Cuba	CUB	7 – 1	Bulgaria	BUL

Classification Round 7-12

Date	24 – 29 July 1980
Format	Round-robin pool.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	Wins	Ties	Losses	Points	Goals
1	Australia	AUS	4	1	0	9	30-19

2	Italy	ITA	4	0	1	8	26-18

3	Romania	ROU	3	1	1	7	36-26

4	Greece	GRE	2	0	3	4	28-28

5	Sweden	SWE	1	0	4	2	23-40

6	Bulgaria	BUL	0	0	5	0	25-37

Match	Date/Time	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	24 Jul 11:00	Italy	ITA	5 – 3	Romania	ROU
Match #2	24 Jul 12:00	Greece	GRE	9 – 5	Sweden	SWE
Match #3	24 Jul 13:00	Australia	AUS	8 – 5	Bulgaria	BUL
Match #4	25 Jul 11:00	Romania	ROU	4 – 4	Australia	AUS
Match #5	25 Jul 12:00	Greece	GRE	6 – 4	Bulgaria	BUL
Match #6	25 Jul 13:00	Italy	ITA	8 – 3	Sweden	SWE
Match #7	26 Jul 11:00	Romania	ROU	8 – 3	Sweden	SWE
Match #8	26 Jul 12:00	Australia	AUS	4 – 2	Greece	GRE
Match #9	26 Jul 13:00	Italy	ITA	5 – 4	Bulgaria	BUL
Match #10	28 Jul 11:00	Romania	ROU	10 – 6	Bulgaria	BUL
Match #11	28 Jul 12:00	Italy	ITA	4 – 3	Greece	GRE
Match #12	28 Jul 13:00	Australia	AUS	9 – 4	Sweden	SWE
Match #13	29 Jul 11:00	Romania	ROU	11 – 8	Greece	GRE
Match #14	29 Jul 12:00	Australia	AUS	5 – 4	Italy	ITA
Match #15	29 Jul 13:00	Sweden	SWE	8 – 6	Bulgaria	BUL

Final Round

Date	24 – 29 July 1980
Format	Round-robin pool.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	Wins	Ties	Losses	Points	Goals
1	Soviet Union	URS	5	0	0	10	34-21

2	Yugoslavia	YUG	3	1	1	7	34-32

3	Hungary	HUN	3	0	2	6	32-30

4	Spain	ESP	2	0	3	4	28-31

5	Cuba	CUB	0	2	3	2	31-38

6	Netherlands	NED	0	1	4	1	26-33

Match	Date/Time	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	24 Jul 16:00	Soviet Union	URS	5 – 4	Hungary	HUN
Match #2	24 Jul 17:00	Spain	ESP	6 – 5	Netherlands	NED
Match #3	24 Jul 18:00	Cuba	CUB	7 – 7	Yugoslavia	YUG
Match #4	25 Jul 16:00	Yugoslavia	YUG	8 – 7	Hungary	HUN
Match #5	25 Jul 17:00	Netherlands	NED	7 – 7	Cuba	CUB
Match #6	25 Jul 18:00	Soviet Union	URS	6 – 2	Spain	ESP
Match #7	26 Jul 16:00	Hungary	HUN	6 – 5	Spain	ESP
Match #8	26 Jul 17:00	Yugoslavia	YUG	5 – 4	Netherlands	NED
Match #9	26 Jul 18:00	Soviet Union	URS	8 – 5	Cuba	CUB
Match #10	28 Jul 17:00	Hungary	HUN	7 – 5	Cuba	CUB
Match #11	28 Jul 18:00	Soviet Union	URS	7 – 3	Netherlands	NED
Match #12	28 Jul 19:00	Yugoslavia	YUG	7 – 6	Spain	ESP
Match #13	29 Jul 17:00	Hungary	HUN	8 – 7	Netherlands	NED
Match #14	29 Jul 18:00	Soviet Union	URS	8 – 7	Yugoslavia	YUG
Match #15	29 Jul 19:00	Spain	ESP	9 – 7	Cuba	CUB