Spain won their third water polo world title by beating defending champions Italy on penalties in the final on the final day of the FINA World Championships in Budapest on Sunday. At the end of the main quarters, the two teams were tied at 9-9 and had to go to a penalty shootout, which smiled on the Spaniards with a score of 6-5.
The latter, Olympic champion in Atlanta in 1996, was already crowned in 1998 in Perth, Australia and in 2001 in Fukuoka, Japan. In 2019 in Gwangju, South Korea, they defeated the Italians in the final, three-time Olympic champions (1948, 1960, 1992) who hold the world title record with four crowns (1978, 1994, 2011 and 2019). In the group stage, Spain had already beaten Italy 14-12.
A little while ago, Greece won the bronze medal by defeating Croatia, the other was eliminated from the semi-finals, 9:7. Defeating the Hungarians in the final with a score of 9:7.
Source: Le Figaro
