The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was won by Spain
The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball tournament contested between the top men’s national teams of the International Basketball Federation.
Played on a four-year basis, the Basketball World Cup follows a similar structure to the FIFA World Cup, despite undergoing several changes to the qualifying procedure in recent years.
As of 2019, 32 teams are eligible to play in the World Cup, an expansion on the 24 teams eligible in 2014. Due to the USA’s dominance on the tournament and Asia’s lack of interest in recent years, FIBA decided to expand on the number of berths each continent was allowed ahead of the 2019 tournament.
The list of the 2019 berths are as follows:
• Europe – 12 berths
• Americas – 7 berths
• Africa – 5 berths
• Asia-Pacific – 7 berths
• Host team – 1 berth
Similar to soccer, the 32 teams will be divided into groups, with the top two teams in each group advancing to a sudden death elimination round of 16. Following the round of 16, the winners will move into a round of eight, followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and the final.
The outright winner of the FIBA World Cup final is awarded a gold medal, and the loser a silver. The two semifinal losers also play off to decide the bronze medal winner.
2019 FIBA World Cup
- Host Country: China
- Dates: 31 August – 15 September, 2019
- Champions: Spain (2nd title)
- Final Score: Spain 95 – 75 Argentina
- Runners-Up: Argentina
- Third Place: France
- Fourth Place: Australia
- MVP: Ricky Rubio (Spain)
- Teams to Qualify for 2020 Summer Olympics: Spain, Argentina, France, Australia, US, Nigeria, Iran, Japan (already qualified)
For the first time in its 69-year history, China played host to the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
Spain secured their second title being crowned the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup Champions with a 95 – 75 win in the Final over Argentina.
Australia finished fourth in the World Cup results going down to third-placegetters France 67 – 59 in the Bronze Medal Match.
After being rescheduled 2018 to 2019, the tournament began on August 31st with the hosts playing the Ivory Coast.
The top two teams from the Americas and Europe also qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics, while the top team from Africa, Asia and Oceania also gained automatic entry as well as China.
Montenegro and the Czech Republic were the only two teams making their World Cup debuts this year. The last team to make the preliminary round on debut was Slovenia back in 2006.
History
The USA has won the FIBA World Cup five times, more than any other current nation. The USA and Brazil are the only two sides to have taken part in every World Cup since its inception in 1950.
The United States’ dominance has seen them win every game in the World Cup during the following years: 1954, 1994, 2010, 2014. Argentina (1950, Brazil (1963), Spain (2006) and the defunct Yugoslavia (1978) are the only other teams to do so.
In 2019, the USA were hoping to become the first team to win three consecutive FIBA World Cup tournaments. Brazil (1959, 1963) and Yugoslavia (1998, 2002) are the only two sides to have also gone back-to-back.
The 2019 Basketball World Cup Final was won by Spain who secured their second title with a 95 – 75 victory over Argentina.
Naismith Trophy
Alongside a gold medal, the outright winner of the Basketball World Cup is also awarded the Naismith Trophy, named after FIBA Hall of Famer, James Naismith.
The trophy itself is made of gold with Naismith’s name and past winners engraved on the sides.
FIBA World Cup Records
• Highest Scoring Game: Brazil (154) v China (97), 1978.
• Most Games Played Without Ever Conceding 100-points: France (55)
• Highest Team Average: USA, 1994 (120 points per-game)
• Most Top Four Finishes: USA (14)
• Most MVP’s: USA (4), Yugoslavia (4)
• Most Points Scored: Nikos Galis, 1986 (387)
• Top Scoring Average: Nikos Galis (33.7)
• Korea has lost 100% of their games during three World Cup’s (1986, 1998, 2014)