1979 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup
# 1979 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup

The 1979 FINA Men's Water Polo World Cup was the first edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the International Swimming Federation (FINA). The event took place in Rijeka and in the Tašmajdan Swimming Pool in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

Participating teams were the eight best teams from the last World Championships in Berlin, West Germany (1978). The teams played a round robin to decide the first ever winner of what would be a bi-annual event until 1999.

## Results Matrix

| | HUN | USA | YUG | URS | FRG | ITA | ROU | BUL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Hungary | | 4 – 3 | 7 – 8 | 4 – 3 | 4 – 4 | 5 – 2 | 5 – 4 | 8 – 4 |
| United States | 3 – 4 | | 4 – 6 | 6 – 3 | 4 – 2 | 9 – 4 | 8 – 4 | 6 – 3 |
| Yugoslavia | 8 – 7 | 6 – 4 | | 1 – 5 | 3 – 4 | 7 – 6 | 6 – 4 | 7 – 2 |
| Soviet Union | 4 – 5 | 3 – 6 | 5 – 1 | | 9 – 4 | 6 – 6 | 3 – 2 | 5 – 1 |
| West Germany | 4 – 4 | 2 – 4 | 4 – 3 | 4 – 9 | | 5 – 4 | 4 – 4 | 6 – 3 |
| Italy | 2 – 5 | 4 – 9 | 6 – 7 | 6 – 6 | 4 – 5 | | 8 – 8 | 10 – 5 |
| Romania | 4 – 5 | 4 – 8 | 4 – 6 | 2 – 3 | 4 – 4 | 8 – 8 | | 3 – 3 |
| Bulgaria | 4 – 8 | 3 – 6 | 2 – 7 | 1 – 5 | 3 – 6 | 5 – 10 | 3 – 3 | |

## Final standings

| | Team | Points | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | Diff |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1. | Hungary | 11 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 37 | 28 | +9 |
| 2. | United States | 10 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 26 | +14 |
| 3. | Yugoslavia | 10 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 38 | 32 | +6 |
| 4. | Soviet Union | 9 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 35 | 25 | +10 |
| 5. | West Germany | 8 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 29 | 31 | –2 |
| 6. | Italy | 4 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 40 | 45 | –5 |
| 7. | Romania | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 30 | 38 | –8 |
| 8. | Bulgaria | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 45 | –24 |

## Final ranking

| RANK | TEAM |
| - | - |
| | Hungary |
| | United States |
| | Yugoslavia |
| 4. | Soviet Union |
| 5. | West Germany |
| 6. | Italy |
| 7. | Romania |
| 8. | Bulgaria |

* 1979 Men's FINA World Cup winners
* Hungary First title
