Greece’s men’s water polo team touches down in Sydney this month carrying something heavier than a training bag: a silver medal from Tokyo, a runner up finish at last year’s World Cup, and a squad that has stopped believing bronze is good enough.
Greece’s men’s squad opens its campaign against Montenegro in the quarter final at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Thursday 23 July at 4.45pm, one of eight nations contesting the 2026 World Aquatics Water Polo World Cup Finals alongside hosts Australia, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Croatia and Georgia. It is the first time the tournament has come to Sydney, and the first time a global aquatics event has returned to the city since 2011.
Ahead of the tournament, Greek City Times spoke exclusively to two of the squad’s leading players, Konstantinos Kakaris and Alexandros Papanastasiou.
Spain arrives as the two time defending champion, having beaten Greece 16-14 in a tight final in Podgorica last year. That defeat still sits with the squad, not as a wound but as motivation. As centre forward, Kakaris plays the most physically punishing position in the sport, absorbing contact from defenders for the length of every match. Asked how he prepares for that level of physicality at major tournaments, he keeps his answer simple. “The position of a centre forward is really demanding and for this reason you need to practise hard and on a very high intensity both inside the pool and in the gym so that you can handle all this contact and pressure.”
That preparation has translated into recognition. Asked what his selection to the Best Seven at the 2026 European Championships said about where Greece now sits in world water polo, Kakaris says: “No matter the names and the players that were named in the best seven, the important thing is that there were two Greek players there. I think this is representative of the great level of the team and means that Greece belongs in the top national teams of the world.”
Kakaris has built that level through a career spent inside some of Europe’s toughest club pools, first at Jug Dubrovnik, then Olympiacos and Pro Recco, and now at Ferencvaros in Hungary, one of the continent’s dominant forces, where he arrives for the 2026-27 season as a two time LEN Champions League Centre Forward of the Year. Asked how that circuit of clubs shaped him as a national team player, he is clear about the benefit. “Playing in these clubs around Europe gave me a lot of experiences and different approaches on the sport which really helped me get better. Coming back to the national team I tried to use these experiences to help the team and my teammates get better and better.”
If Kakaris represents Greece’s present dominance in the pool, attacker Papanastasiou represents the moment everything changed. He was 22 when Greece won its first ever Olympic team medal in Tokyo, a silver that ended decades of near misses. He still remembers the specific feeling of that final. “I remember the feelings very clearly after that final in Tokyo,” he says. “For sure we were really happy because we had done something unprecedented, but inside most of us we knew that no loss would be easy on us from now on.”
Asked how that result changed the belief and expectations around the national team, his answer goes well beyond the question. “The silver medal in Tokyo was a milestone for Greek water polo and Greek sports in general,” he says. “The main change was that it redefined our goals from that moment on. Before that, the Greek national team was always on a good level and had won two bronze medals as well but the main goal was to pass into the semifinals some way and then battle for the best result in two games. I think after the medal this whole mentality changed. From that moment on a bronze medal was never enough again.” He is careful, though, to credit what came before. “I don’t want to take anything away from the past teams, because they laid the stepping stones for us to get where we are today.”
“The only thing missing from this team is a gold medal. And that’s the only thing we are aiming for in whatever competition we participate under whatever circumstances. Sydney is no exception.”
He describes, in the same answer, the specific texture of that shift, the sense that no opponent felt unbeatable anymore. “There was no opponent that we felt we couldn’t beat. That was the main benefit of that Olympic tournament, the mental shift in everyone involved that placed us between the best teams in the world. We have kept this place until now and we still have some big steps to make.” Asked what remains, his answer is direct. “The only thing missing from this team is a gold medal. And that’s the only thing we are aiming for in whatever competition we participate under whatever circumstances. Sydney is no exception.”
Papanastasiou’s path into the sport runs through his father, Tasos, a four time Olympian for Greece between 1984 and 1996 who also played centre forward. Asked how much that history still shapes his approach to the game, he answers with real candour. “My father is one of the main reasons I started and kept on playing water polo. It’s very helpful to have guidance from someone who had similar experiences with you. You can learn stuff from him more in depth than the rest of the kids and mainly avoid mistakes that he made and nobody prepared him for.” He is just as candid about the complications of that closeness. “Sometimes it’s difficult to not surpass the limits that a father-son relationship should have, and that can be confusing especially for a young player. But when these limits were found and respected in our case, my father’s input was always beneficial.” He adds that the relationship has settled into something steadier now. “It’s also relieving to have someone to talk to who completely understands the problems you face daily. By now, he’s more of a fan, but he definitely shaped in a way the player I’ve become.”
On the subject of pressure, a theme raised with both players, Papanastasiou offers a view shaped by years of finals and shootouts at the highest level. “Pressure is something you put on yourself. Of course there are people that can help you handle it better, but it’s there just because of your own expectations and ambitions. So to speak, pressure is something made up. We put it on ourselves to push further and become better.” He does not pretend it is easy. “Sometimes it can feel overwhelming because of the importance of a match or any other reason, but learning to manage this pressure and use it as fuel instead of it being something negative is a crucial part in professional sports. At this level I think most players have achieved that more or less, especially after some years of experience.”
Asked what Sydney will mean beyond the scoreline, both players give answers that echo each other closely. Australia’s Greek diaspora is among the largest outside Greece, and neither man has played a match in this country before. “Playing in front of the Greek community is something we really can’t wait for,” Papanastasiou says. “Playing for Greece in front of Greeks is an extraordinary experience that we rarely have. So every time we do it is unforgettable. We really hope many Greeks will come to watch us, because it will make the games even more special for us.” Kakaris puts it in terms of what he hopes the crowd will take away. “I hope that they can see the hard work we put in every day and the passion we have playing for the Greek national team.”
Greece’s route to a medal is not simple. Montenegro brings a physical, experienced Balkan style that has troubled Greece before, and beyond the quarter final sits a draw that could include Spain, Italy or Hungary. But the top three finishers in Sydney qualify automatically for the 2027 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, which raises the stakes on every match played at Sydney Olympic Park, a venue where Australia’s women famously won their first Olympic gold in 2000. For Greece, arriving with a silver medal, a growing collection of individual honours and a squad that has recalibrated its own expectations, it is less a novelty than an opportunity long in the making.
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