The men’s water polo tournament in Rio has been extremely competitive thus far, with eight games being decided by one goal, and five games ending in a tie. The only team to make it through group play was Hungary, who still only came away with two wins and three ties.
Hungary finished No. 1 on Group A, and Spain was the top seed in Group B.
Here’s a look at what to expect in the men’s quarterfinals that begin Tuesday morning
Quarterfinal 1 – Hungary vs. Montenegro, 10 a.m. ET
Hungary (2-0-3) was far and away the leading scoring team in group play, finishing with 57 goals in five games. The second highest was Serbia with 49 goals. Hungary averaged more than 11 goals a game, and shot 41 percent from the field.
Six different players have scored at least seven goals for Hungary in Rio.
Hungary also has the highest goal differential in the tournament, allowing just 43 goals to opponents. Goalkeeper Viktor Nagy has 48 saves on 90 shot attempts. As a team Hungary has 34 steals and 21 blocked shots.
The Hungarians will have to face Montenegro (2-2-1) in the first round. The Montenegrins have scored 36 goals while allowing 32. Darko Brguljan leads the Montenegrin offense, having scored two goals in each of his team’s five games thus far.
Quarterfinal 2 – Greece vs. Italy, 10:20 a.m. ET
Greece finished second in Group A with a 2-1-2 record, despite a goal differential of just one. Greece scored 41 goals of their own, but also allowed 40.
As a team, Greece is shooting just 31 percent. They’re led by Ioannis Fountoulis, who scored 10 goals on 24 shot attempts
Italy (3-2-0) comes into the quarterfinals with one more win than the Greek team, but a -1 goal differential. They’ve scored 40 goals, but allowed 41. Francesco Di Fulvio and Pietro Figlioli lead Italy with eight goals each.
Stefano Tempesti and Mar Del Lungo have split time in goal for the Italian team, combining for 44 saves on 85 shot attempts. Together they’ve saved 17 of 20 shot attempts from beyond five meters.
Quarterfinal 3 – Brazil vs. Croatia, 2:10 p.m. ET
Brazil was the true Cinderella story of group play, winning their first three games before losing their last two. That 3-2 record was still good enough for third in Group A.
The key to Brazil’s success has been between the posts. Goalkeeper Slobodan Soro has made double-digit saves in all five games. He’s made 58 saves on 97 shot attempts, good enough for 60 percent in the goal.
Brazil’s Felipe Perrone leads the team with nine goals.
The Brazilians will face a Croatian team that was expected to compete for the gold medal prior to coming to Rio. Croatia got off to a rockier start than they may have wanted, but still managed to finish group play with a 3-2 record.
Croatia has scored and given up exactly 37 goals. Croatia has shot the ball 135 times, but with just 37 goals they’re shooting just 27 percent from the field.
Quarterfinal 4 – Serbia vs. Spain, 3:30 p.m. ET
Serbia was the clear gold medal favorites heading into Rio, having won four of the last five international tournaments. Their start was not what they expected though, tying their first two games on the way to a 2-1-2 record in group play.
The Serbian’s key to success has been superstar Filip Filipovic, who scored six goals in Croatia’s final game, the most of any play in a single game thus far. Filipovic leads all scorers with 13 goals on 27 shots for a 48 goal percent goal percentage.
Serbia will have to go up against one of the biggest surprises in Rio thus far, a Spain team that won Group B after going 3-1-1 in group play.
Spain allowed just 35 goals, tied for second lowest among all 12 teams, while scoring 46 of their own.
Goalkeeper Daniel Pinedo has made 57 saves on 96 shot attempts. He’s stopped 21 of 31 shot attempts from beyond five meters.
Driver Gonzalo Echnique has scored 11 goals on 19 shot attempts, while teammate Guillermo Rios has scored 10 goals on 29 shots attempts.