Italy eye historic men’s water polo hat-trick at Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games

ESSEN – Italy are chasing a third straight gold in men’s water polo at the Rhine‑Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games – a feat never achieved by any team, men’s or women’s, in the history of the showpiece event for student-athletes.

Italy arrive at Rhine‑Ruhr 2025 as back-to-back winners – having beaten Hungary in a tense final at the most recent FISU Games, held in Chengdu in 2023, after topping the podium in Naples in 2019 – and now stand on the brink of an unprecedented hat-trick.

“It will be so nice if we do that,” Pietro Faraglia, part of the gold-medal-winning team in Chengdu, told the FISU Games News Service (FGNS).

“It will be one of the most beautiful things that may happen in my career. So, I hope that this will happen, but we have to fight for that. We’ll see.”

The journey will be anything but straightforward. Italy have been drawn in Group A alongside the Republic of Korea, Chile and Georgia, bronze medallists in Chengdu, while Group B brings together Germany, USA, New Zealand and multiple men’s champions Hungary.

“Winning gold in Chengdu has been one of the best moments of my career so far,” Faraglia said. “Now we have to defend it because the gold medal is the point: it is the goal, so we have to do everything to get it. It’s a little bit (of) pressure but it’s fine.

“We are prepared for this, and every player that we have (on the team) plays in Italy in the first division, so we are used to being concentrated (focused) every time and, also, we play a lot of finals with the clubs.

“Always with international (tournaments) it is a little bit different because there is more pressure, you want to be better for the team.”

Sense of belief

“There are a lot of teams that can challenge us, like Georgia, Germany and USA,” Faraglia said. “Hungary, too, is so strong, but for now we haven’t seen each other. We just know some players of the other teams.

“Only when the tournament starts, every team will start watching each other and then we can figure out how to beat them.”

Faraglia says a sense of belief runs deep within the squad, starting with the coach.

“Mario Fiorillo is one of the best players that we have ever had in Italy,” he said. “He won everything – also the gold medal in the Olympic Games (in Barcelona in 1992).

“Everyone on our team is so excited to be here and to be guided by Mario. Everyone listens to him. We have to do what he says because we all know that he is right (laughs). So that is the main point.

“Our team is fantastic. I know every guy. They are all beautiful persons and players. We enjoy being there as a team. We enjoyed the training before. We have spent a lot of time together and we hope that we can reach the gold medal together so we can enjoy it together.”

‘Duisburg is all about passion’

The water polo competition at Rhine‑Ruhr 2025 will unfold across 10 days, from 17 to 27 July, at Amateur‑Schwimm‑Club Duisburg in western Germany. The facility adds to the legacy of Duisburg, the host city of the 1989 FISU Games Summer Universiade.

“I played many times in Duisburg,” former Montenegro international Aleksandar Radovic said. “Water polo in Duisburg is all about passion and a fantastic international atmosphere, and I’m sure this summer will be the same. It’s going to be an interesting tournament.”

The women’s tournament promises to be as compelling, despite the absence of China, winners in 2023. Chengdu silver medallists Italy will feature in Group A alongside Japan, USA and New Zealand. Over in Group B, Hungary, Germany, Turkiye and Australia, who claimed bronze last time out.

FGNS ag/lm/mb