Water polo at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Twenty-one nations competed in water polo at the 1952 Summer Olympics at Helsinki.

Eliminating rounds
In order to reduce the field from 21 teams to 16 for the round-robin pools, two eliminating rounds were used. The teams were drawn into 10 pairs, with one team (Finland) drawing a bye through the eliminating rounds. The 10 winners of the first eliminating round advanced to the round robins, while the 10 losers were paired again for a second eliminating round. Again the winners advanced to the round robins; the 5 losers of this second eliminating round, however, were eliminated from competition.

First eliminating round
25 July 1952 ● Australia def. Sweden, 5-3 ● Yugoslavia def. South Japan, 12-1 ● Soviet Union def. South Africa, 7-2 ● India def. Egypt, 5-4 ● Hungary def. United States 7-0 ● Italy def. Netherlands 3-2 ● Romania def. Argentina 6-2 ● Spain def. Brazil, 3-2 ● Portugal def. Norway 3-0 ● Great Britain def. Mexico 10-3

Second eliminating round
26 July 1952 ● United States def. Egypt 4-3 ● South Africa def. Netherlands 4-2 ● Argentina def. South Japan 5-0 ● Mexico def. Norway 5-3 ● Brazil def. Sweden 6-5