Water Polo - Team Spain

General
Spain's most recent podium finish at the Olympic Games came at Atlanta 1996, where the team claimed their only Olympic title to date. They had almost won gold four years earlier at the 1992 Games in Barcelona, but lost the final to Italy after extra time.

Spain have exited the competition at the quarterfinal stage at the past four Olympic tournaments. Spain finished top of their group at Rio 2016, with three wins, a loss, and a draw from five matches. However, they suffered a 10-7 defeat to eventual champions Serbia in the last eight. Defeat to Greece in the classification round was followed by victory over Brazil in the seventh-place play-off.

Spain were back-to-back world champions in 1998 and 2001, having finished runners-up at the two previous editions of the tournament in 1991 and 1994. They lost the final to Serbia in 2009, and at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju they defeated Croatia in the semifinals but lost 10-5 to Italy in the decider. Their runners-up result in 2019 secured one of the two Tokyo Olympic berths on offer at the tournament.

They have competed in the World League Super Final on eight occasions since 2002 but are yet to win a title. They came close in 2002, 2006, and 2012, losing in the final each time. They are also still pursuing a continental title, having finished runners-up at the European championship in 1991, 2018, and 2020.