How many players are in a water polo team, and what do the cap colours mean?
B · Beginner · The game · 1 of 7Seven players from each team are in the water, and one of them must be a goalkeeper when the match starts. A team's list has up to fourteen: twelve field players and two goalkeepers. One team wears white caps, the other blue or a contrasting colour, and both goalkeepers wear red.
How it works
- The list: "a maximum of fourteen eligible players", with at most twelve field players and at most two goalkeepers.
- In the water: a team "must start the match with seven players, one of whom must be a goalkeeper". After the start it need not keep a goalkeeper in the water and may use seven field players.
- Cap colours: the first team in the programme wears white or its national colour and starts to the left of the official table. The other wears blue or a contrasting colour.
- The goalkeeper's cap: red, numbered 1. A substitute goalkeeper wears a red cap with a number from 2 to 14.
- Numbers and ear guards: caps are numbered on both sides, tied under the chin and fitted with soft ear protectors.
- A lost cap: the player replaces it at the next suitable stoppage when their team has the ball.
- The goalkeeper's privileges: inside their own 6 metre area the goalkeeper may stand or jump from the floor, strike the ball with a clenched fist and touch it with two hands. Field players may do none of these.
- Nothing slippery: players may not have "grease, oil or any substance on the body, which might provide an advantage".
- Captains: the captain must be a playing member and, with the head coach, answers for the team's conduct.
The glossary has the team, the goalkeeper and the cap.
Tricky cases
Does the goalkeeper keep the privileges outside the 6 metre area?
No. The exceptions for standing, the clenched fist and two hands all apply only "while within the 6 metre area".
Can a team play without a goalkeeper?
Yes, once the match has started. The rule says a team "may instead have seven field players". None of them has the goalkeeper's privileges.
Both goalkeepers are out of the game. Who goes in goal?
A field player, wearing a red cap with their own number. They play with the goalkeeper's privileges.
A referee finds oil on a player after the match has started. What happens?
The player is excluded for the rest of the game. A substitute may come in at once from the re-entry area.
Why the rule exists
Caps are the only way to tell the teams apart, because everything else is under water. The numbers on both sides let the referees and the table record fouls against the right player. The red cap marks the one player allowed to break the two-hand rule, so that the referees can see at once who is using two hands.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| World Aquatics events | Fourteen on the list, seven in the water | WP 2.1 |
| Tournaments that allow fifteen | A third goalkeeper wears red cap number 15 | WP Appendix 3; WP Appendix 4 (20.4.4.3) |
| After a suspension | A team may bring in another registered player to keep fourteen for the next game | WP 16.3.7 |
From the rule book
World Aquatics, Competition Regulations, Part Six: Water Polo Rules (in force as from 1 January 2025), Articles 2.1 to 2.5, 2.7, 6.1 and 8.5 to 8.8, and Appendix 4 (caps). Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: World Aquatics Competition Regulations (PDF).