The international era.

The Westchester Cup

The earliest international series in our sources is between Great Britain (later England) and the United States. Wikipedia says the trophy was given to the Westchester Polo Club in 1886 and is also called the International Polo Cup. The Hurlingham Polo Association's (HPA) results list records the first contest that year at Newport, Rhode Island, won by Great Britain 10-4 and 14-2. John Watson played back for the British, and the American side included Thomas Hitchcock (Sr.).

The table follows the HPA's list in its 2024 year book. Scores are given where the HPA gives them.

The United States team that won in 1909 was Lawrence Waterbury, J. M. Waterbury Jr., Harry Payne Whitney and Devereux Milburn, the side Wikipedia calls the "Big Four". After 1939 the cup lapsed until its revival in 1992. The HPA says England's 2023 win, on 31 March 2023, came under Tommy Beresford as captain for the first time and was the first away win in the series since 2009.

The lists do not match. Wikipedia's table leaves out the 1900 match and England's 2018 win that the HPA records, and adds two matches in 2012 (England at Guards and the USA at Grand Champions) that the HPA's list does not show.

The Cup of the Americas

The Cup of the Americas between the United States and Argentina began in 1928 at Meadow Brook. According to Wikipedia, the United States won the first two series and Argentina won every series from 1936 onward. Olympedia says Tommy Hitchcock Jr. played in nearly every US international from 1920 to 1940 and that his teams lost only one of them, the 1936 Cup of the Americas. The Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame credits Juan Carlos Harriott Jr. with four Cup of the Americas wins as Argentina's captain.

We did not find a complete, primary list of every series with years and scores, or a firm date for the last series, so we do not give one.

The Coronation Cup

The HPA says the Coronation Cup was first played in 1911. Until 1939 it was contested by the winners of the London open tournaments (Hurlingham, Roehampton, Ranelagh and the Inter-Regimental). After two earlier post-war revivals, it has been played at the HPA's International Day since 1971.

• The first International Day, in 1971, was won by the United States, 9-6 over England.
• Argentina won the Coronation Cup over England in 1995, 2000, 2009, 2014 and 2019. The 2019 Argentine team was A. Pieres, J. Britos, B. Castagnola and F. Pieres.
• The event was not played in 2020 or 2021.
• England won the 2023 Coronation Cup 12-8 over a Commonwealth side at Guards Polo Club on 29 July 2023.

The Federation of International Polo

The Federation of International Polo (FIP) says it was founded in 1982, has its headquarters in Montevideo, Uruguay, has more than 80 affiliated national associations and is recognised by the International Olympic Committee. Its members page gives the figure as 86, and Olympedia reported the same count as of January 2026. The FIP's authorities page lists Piero Dillier of Switzerland as president, with a term running to December 2026.

The founding date has three versions:

• Olympedia says the FIP was founded in Buenos Aires on 25 November 1982 with 11 founding members.
• Wikipedia says the federation was formally in place by April 1982.
• The Australian Polo Federation's history page says the FIP was founded in 1984.

The FIP's own page gives only the year 1982. An EFE report from 2021 and Wikipedia both say Marcos Uranga, then president of the Argentine Polo Association, drove the federation's creation and served as its first president, from 1982 to 1997.

The World Polo Championship

The FIP says its World Polo Championship is played in a 10 to 14 goal format, on horses supplied by the host country and pooled among the teams so that conditions are equal. Wikipedia says the first championship, in April 1987 at the Campo Argentino de Polo in Buenos Aires, was a five-team round robin, and that Argentina won it on games won after a 14-14 draw with runner-up Mexico.

Winners as the FIP lists them:

Spain beat the United States 11-10 in overtime in the 2022 final, according to Wikipedia. Wikipedia's medal table through 2022 gives Argentina 5 titles, Brazil 3, Chile 2 and the United States and Spain 1 each; England has two silver and three bronze medals but no title.

The next championship

Gulf Today reported in December 2023 that the United Arab Emirates would host the XIII FIP World Polo Championship from 6 to 20 December 2026, with eight teams at a 10-goal level, at the Ghantoot, Al Habtoor, Desert Palm and Dubai polo clubs. The FIP's report on its December 2025 General Assembly says the XIII championship is due in 2026 but gives no host or dates, and Wikipedia's list, when read, showed the next edition as 2027 with no host announced. The most recent source we found, the FIP's report on its September 2026 qualifier at Chantilly, says the XIII championship will be held in Uruguay in 2027, without giving exact dates. The sources therefore disagree, and we have found no FIP confirmation of the UAE dates.

Women's and arena world championships

The first FIP Women's World Polo Championship was held in Buenos Aires in 2022. Argentina won, the United States were second and England third. The FIP also runs an Arena World Polo Championship: it reports that the United States beat Argentina 16-14 in Virginia in 2025 to win the second edition, its first title in the event. The FIP's General Assembly report says that championship was played at Roseland Farm and the University of Virginia, and that the XV FIP European Championship was held the same year at Sowiniec Polo Club in Poland.

For the current international calendar, see the World Polo Championship and international cups pages.