- Hungary (+200) and Spain (+200) are favored to win gold in men’s water polo this summer
- USA (-250) is heavy chalk to win the women’s event at the 2024 Paris Olympics
- The water polo tournament will take place between August 5 – 11 with 10 teams competing for the women and 12 for the men.
While the American women head to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics looking for their fourth consecutive gold medal, the men’s water polo tournament looks wide open.
Before we check the odds for both the men’s and women’s tournaments, check out all the Sports & Competitions to bet on in 2024 and see the latest Sports Betting Odds & Picks.
Olympic Water Polo Men
Hungary and Spain favored
Hungary (+200) is a traditional world power in water polo with nine Olympic gold medals. However, since winning three-straight golds from 2000 to 2008, they’ve only medaled once in the past three Olympics, picking up the bronze in Tokyo in 2020. Hungary also failed to medal at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships after a quarterfinal loss to France.
Spain (+200) picked up the bronze medal at the 2023 and 2024 Worlds, in addition to winning the 2023 FINA Men’s Water Polo World Cup. The Spaniards haven’t medaled at the Olympics since winning gold in Atlanta in 1996.
Zalanki crowned Water Polo Player of 2023 🇭🇺
Let’s take a look back at the #EuropeanAquatics Male Water Polo Player of 2023’s huge contributions to @ProRecco‘s Final 8 win last season 👀#waterpoloCL #waterpolo pic.twitter.com/0FTGxIPXJO
— Water Polo Champions League (@WaterpoloCL) March 29, 2024
Other gold medal contenders
Italy (+300) has shorter odds than Croatia (+600) despite suffering a 15-13 loss to their rivals in the 2024 World Aquatic Championship final. Looking for their first Olympic gold since 1992, the Italians also finished runners up at the 2023 Water Polo World Cup. Croatia captured Olympic gold in 2012 and 2016 before a 5th-place finish in 2020.
As the two-time defending Olympics champions, Serbia (+1400) stands out as an incredible longshot bet. However, with a new generation of athletes in the pool, the Serbs have struggled of late, finishing 7th at the 2023 World Cup and 6th at the 2024 Worlds in Doha.
Olympic Water Polo Women
Americans remain dominant
Team USA (-500) finished atop the podium at the 2024 World Championships and the 2023 World Cup in addition to winning three Olympic golds in a row from 2012 to 2020.
2012, 2016 and now 2020.
The #USA have made it three #Gold medals in a row in women’s water polo!#StrongerTogether | #Tokyo2020 | @fina1908 | #WaterPolo pic.twitter.com/94PdVtj5EY
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) August 7, 2021
The Netherlands (+500) lost to the Americans in the 2023 World Cup final. They also won the 2023 World Championship before finishing fifth this past February. Their last Olympic gold was in 2008 before the USA won three straight. Spain (+600) scored silver in Tokyo 2020 and medaled at both the World Championships in 2023 and 2024 as well as the 2023 World Cup.
Best Bets
Team USA (-250) is appropriately priced considering their recent dominance of women’s water polo.
On the men’s side, Croatia (+600) is a strong value given they just defeated their rivals and won gold at the most recent international event.
See below the top sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you:
