Croatia and Greece have qualified for the men’s water polo tournament at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, FINA has confirmed. Croatia lost the final at the FINA world championships in Kazan, Russia, on Saturday (8 August), but as winners Serbia had already qualified for Rio, by wining the World League in June, the Olympic berths went to the silver and bronze medallists.

Croatia, the reigning Olympic champions, went down 11-4 to Serbia, who reclaimed the world title they lost to Italy in Shanghai four years ago. The bronze medal match was tighter affair, with Greece and Italy drawing 7-7 before the Greeks prevailed 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out.

Click here to follow the race to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Rio2016.com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process. Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games). The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change. When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC). Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota.