USA Water Polo To Host World Aquatics Men's & Women's World Cup Finals

The World Aquatics World Cup, formerly known as the FINA World League, will see the men's and women's finals head to Southern California this summer! World Aquatics announced today that USA Water Polo has been selected as the host for the upcoming international competitions with the women's tournament set for June 23-25 at Long Beach City College in Long Beach, CA and the men's tournament set for June 30-July 2 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA. 

Qualifications get underway in the coming months with the following cities playing host: Athens (GRE), Berlin (GER), Podgorica (MNE), Rotterdam (NED), Zagreb (CRO). After two rounds of qualification, six teams will gather in Southern California for each competition. For more information on the qualification process, click here.

Both USA National Teams have seen success in recent years in the former World League Super Final. The USA Women claimed bronze in 2022, which broke a run of seven straight gold medals in Super Final play. The USA Men have battled for gold over the last two editions, coming up just short with silver medals in 2020 and 2022. Full competition rosters for both Team USA squads will be announced closer to the start of competition along with details on tickets, live stats and live streaming. 

USA Water Polo CEO Christopher Ramsey expressed his excitement about both the men's and women's finals being hosted in Southern California:

"Holding the inaugural World Cup Super Finals in Los Angeles and Long Beach in advance of the LA28 Olympic Games is exciting for us," said Ramsey. "Water polo has always had a special relationship with Southern California, which boasts the greatest concentration of water polo athletes in the nation, and being able to share the greatest athletes in our sport from around the world with our fan base here should give everyone a little taste of what's to come in 2028. We are grateful to World Aquatics for this opportunity and we look forward to hosting two truly memorable competitions."

Los Angeles and Long Beach have a long history hosting top water polo competitions, including the Men's Olympic Water Polo Tournaments in 1932 and 1984, the Men's and Women's Water Polo World Cup finals in 2004 and the Men's Junior Water Polo Championships in 2007. USA Water Polo last hosted the Super Final when the women's edition came to La Jolla in 2010.