Water Polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics
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10 nations competed in Water Polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. The event was open only to men's teams.
Medallists
| Gold: | Silver: | Bronze: |
Hungary |  Yugoslavia
|
Soviet Union |
Results
Preliminary round
The preliminary round consisted of a round-robin tournament held in three groups. Each team played the other teams in its group once.
Group A
| Nation | Pld. | Win | Loss | Tie | GF | GA | Points |
| Yugoslavia
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 6 |
Soviet Union | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 4 |
Romania | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 2 |
Australia | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 0 |
- 14:00 - Romania def. Australia, 4-2
- 19:30 - Yugoslavia def. Soviet Union, 3-2
- 21:15 - Soviet Union def. Romania, 4-3
- 22:15 - Yugoslavia def. Australia, 9-1
- 10:30 - Yugoslavia def. Romania, 3-2
- 16:00 - Soviet Union def. Australia, 3-0
Group B
| Nation | Pld. | Win | Loss | Tie | GF | GA | Points |
Hungary | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 4 |
United States | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 2 |
Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 0 |
- 20:30 - United States def. Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 5-3
- 15:45 - Hungary def. Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 6-1
- 11:30 - Hungary def. United States, 6-2
Group C
| Nation | Pld. | Win | Loss | Tie | GF | GA | Points |
Italy | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 4 |
Germany | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 2 |
Singapore | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 |
- 15:00 - Germany def. Singapore, 5-1
- 16:45 - Italy def. Singapore, 7-1
- 22:10 - Italy def. Germany, 4-2
Final round
The top two teams in each preliminary group advanced to the championship, in which they played each of the four other championship teams they had not previously faced. The results of the preliminary round game against the team from their group carried over into the final round.
The teams that did not advance to the championship played in a consolation tournament.
Championship
The most famous water polo match in history might be the finals round match between Hungary and the Soviet Union. As the athletes left for the games, the 1956 Hungarian revolution happened, with a Soviet army crushing an uprising of Hungarian insurgents. Many of the Hungarian athletes vowed never to return home and felt their only means of fighting back was in the pool.
With only two games left for each team, the Hungarians were leading in the standings, 1 point ahead of Yugoslavia and 2 ahead of the Soviets. A Soviet victory would have put them alongside the Hungarians in the standings, with the final match pairings favoring the Soviets, who would face the last-place Germans while Hungary had to compete with Yugoslavia. A Hungarian victory would ensure at least a silver medal for the team, with a draw or a win against Yugoslavia in the last game meaning gold.
The Hungary-Soviet Union confrontation was extremely bloody and violent, and the pool reputedly turned red from the blood spilt. The Hungarians lead the Soviets 4-0 before the game was called off in the final minute to prevent angry Hungarians in the crowd reacting to Valentin Prokopov punching Ervin Zador's eye open.
The Hungarians continued to win the championship by defeating Yugoslavia 2-1 in the final. Half of the Hungarian Olympic delegation defected after the games.
| Rank | Nation | Pld. | Win | Loss | Tie | GF | GA | Points |
| 1 |
Hungary | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 3 | 10 |
| 2 | Yugoslavia
| 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 8 | 7 |
| 3 |
Soviet Union | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 6 |
| 4 |
Italy | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 13 | 4 |
| 5 |
United States | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 20 | 2 |
| 6 |
Germany | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 20 | 1 |
- 14:40 - Soviet Union def. Italy, 3-2
- 22:40 - Yugoslavia def. United States, 5-1
- 16:50 - United States def. Germany, 4-3
- 21:30 - Hungary def. Italy, 4-0
- 15:40 - Yugoslavia tied Germany, 2-2
- 21:00 - Italy def. United States, 3-2
- 16:40 - Soviet Union def. United States, 3-1
- 22:20 - Hungary def. Germany, 4-0
- 15:25 - Hungary def. Soviet Union, 4-0
- 21:55 - Yugoslavia def. Italy, 2-1
- 14:00 - Soviet Union def. Germany, 6-4
- 21:20 - Hungary def. Yugoslavia, 2-1
Consolation
| Rank | Nation | Pld. | Win | Loss | Tie | GF | GA | Points |
| 7 |
Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 9 | 6 |
| 8 |
Romania | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 8 | 4 |
| 9 |
Australia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 2 |
| 10 |
Singapore | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 29 | 0 |
- Great Britain and Northern Ireland def. Singapore, 11-5
- Great Britain and Northern Ireland def. Australia, 5-2
- Romania def. Singapore, 15-1
- Great Britain and Northern Ireland def. Romania, 5-2
- Australia def. Singapore, 3-2
- Romania def. Australia, 4-2
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