FIBA Basketball World Cup

World map depicting the number of times a country has hosted the World Cup. Dark blue: twice; light blue: once.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup was conceived at a meeting of the FIBA World Congress at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.[3] Long-time FIBA Secretary-General Renato William Jones urged FIBA to adopt a World Championship, similar to the FIFA World Cup, to be held in every four years between Olympiads. The FIBA Congress, seeing how successful the 23-team Olympic tournament was that year, agreed to the proposal, beginning with a tournament in 1950. Argentina was selected as host, largely because it was the only country willing to take on the task.[4] Argentina took advantage of the host selection, winning all their games en route to becoming the first FIBA World Champion.

The first five tournaments were held in South America, and teams from the Americas dominated the tournament, winning eight of nine medals at the first three tournaments. By 1963, however, teams from Eastern Europe (the Soviet Union) and Southeast Europe (Yugoslavia), in particular – began to catch up to the teams from the American continents. Between 1963 and 1990, the tournament was dominated by the United States, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Brazil who together accounted for every medal at the tournament.

The 1994 FIBA World Championship held in Toronto marked the beginning of a new era, as currently active American NBA players participated in the tournament for the first time (prior to that only European and South American professionals were allowed to participate as they were still classified as amateurs[5]),[6] while the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia split into many new states. The United States dominated that year and won gold, while the former states of the USSR and Yugoslavia, Russia and Croatia, won silver and bronze. The 1998 FIBA World Championship, held in Greece (Athens and Piraeus), lost some of its luster when the 1998–99 NBA lockout prevented NBA players from participating. The new Yugoslavian team, now consisting of the former Yugoslav republics of Serbia and Montenegro, won the gold medal over Russia, while the USA, with professional basketball players playing in Europe and two college players, finished third.

In 2002, other nations eventually caught up to the four powerhouse countries and their successor states. FR Yugoslavia, led by Peja Stojaković of the Sacramento Kings and Dejan Bodiroga of FC Barcelona won the final game against Argentina, while Dirk Nowitzki, who was the tournament's MVP, led Germany to the bronze, its first ever World Championship medal. Meanwhile, the United States team, this time made up of NBA players, struggled to a sixth-place finish. This new era of parity convinced FIBA to expand the tournament to 24 teams for the 2006, 2010, and 2014 editions of the tournament.[7][8]

In 2006, emerging powerhouse Spain beat Greece in the first appearance in the final for both teams. Spain became only the seventh team (Yugoslavia and FR Yugoslavia are counted separately in the FIBA records)[9] to capture a World Championship gold. The USA, who lost to Greece in a semi-final, won against Argentina in the third-place match and claimed bronze.

In the 2010 FIBA World Championship final, the USA defeated Turkey and won gold for the first time in 16 years, while Lithuania beat Serbia and won bronze. The United States became the third country to defend the championship, winning against Serbia at the 2014 edition of the tournament. France beat Lithuania in the bronze medal game.

After the 2014 edition, FIBA instituted significant changes to the World Cup. The final competition was expanded from 24 to 32 teams. Also, for the first time since 1967, the competition would no longer overlap with the FIFA World Cup. To accommodate this change, the 2014 FIBA World Cup will be followed by a 2019 edition in China,[10] then followed by a 2023 edition in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia.[11]

World map depicting the number of times a national team has participated in the World Cup.

The Basketball World Cup has used various forms of qualification throughfive tournaments were held in South America and participation was dominated by teams from the Americas. At the first tournament, FIBA intended for the three Olympic medalists to compete, plus the host Argentina and two teams each from Europe, Asia, and South America. However, no Asian team was willing to travel to the event, so six of the ten teams were from the Americas (all three Olympic medalists were from the Americas, plus the zone received two continental berths and an Asia's berth). The former European powerhouse Soviet Union, later made their first tournament appearance in 1959, after missing the first two events.

In the tournament's early years, only Europe and South America had established continental tournaments, so participation in the tournament was largely by invitation. Later, Asia added a continental championship in 1960, followed by Africa in 1962, Central America in 1965, and Oceania in 1971, As a result of these changes, qualification became more formalized starting with the 1967 tournament. In that year, the Asian champion received an automatic berth in the tournament, joining the top European and South American teams. In 1970, the African and Oceanian champion each received a berth, while the Centrobasket champion and runner-up were each invited. For most of these years, the tournament host, defending World Champion, and top Olympic basketball tournament finishers also qualified for the event.

From 1970 through the 2014 World Cup, qualification continued to be based on the continental competitions and the Olympic tournament. The only major change came in the 1990 FIBA World Championship, when the tournament started taking qualifiers from the newly redesigned FIBA Americas Championship rather than from North, Central, and South America individually. After the tournament expanded to 24 teams in 2006, the tournament allocated qualification as follows:[12]

• FIBA EuroBasket (Europe) – 6 berths
• FIBA AfroBasket (Africa) – 3 berths
• FIBA Asia Cup (Asia)  – 3 berths
• FIBA AmeriCup (Americas) – 5 berths
• FIBA Oceania Championship (Oceania) – 2 berths
• Defending Olympic Champion – 1 berth, removed from the zone of the Olympic champion
• Host team – 1 berth
• FIBA-selected wild cards – 4 berths

Each of the five continental championships also served as qualification for the Olympics, so all were held every two years. The year immediately preceding the World Championship was used to determine the berths at the tournament. For example, all of the berths at the 2010 FIBA World Championship were determined by continental championships held in 2009. After the first 20 teams qualified, FIBA then selected four wild card teams, based on sporting, economic, and governance criteria, as well as a required registration fee from each team to be considered by the FIBA board.[13] Of the four wild cards, only three could come from one continental zone. In each of the two tournaments that the wild card system was in place, FIBA selected the maximum three European teams to compete in the event.

FIBA instituted major changes to its competition calendar and the qualifying process for both the World Cup and Olympics in 2017.

First, the continental championships are now held once every four years, specifically in years that immediately follow the Summer Olympics. The continental championships no longer play a role in qualifying for either the World Cup or Olympics.[14]

The 2019 World Cup qualifying process, which began in 2017, is the first under a new format. Qualifying takes place over a two-year cycle, involving six windows of play. Qualifying zones mirror the FIBA continental zones, except that FIBA Asia and FIBA Oceania are now combined into a single Asia-Pacific qualifying zone. In each qualifying zone, nations are divided into Division A and Division B, with promotion and relegation between the two. FIBA did not initially reveal full details of the new process, but announced that at least in opening phases, it would feature groups of three or four teams, playing home-and-away within the group.[14] Below is the list of distribution of berths according to each FIBA qualifying zone.

• FIBA Europe – 12 berths
• FIBA Americas – 7 berths
• FIBA Africa – 5 berths
• Asia-Pacific (FIBA Asia and FIBA Oceania) – 7 berths
• Host team – 1 berth / 3 berths in 2023

The Basketball World Cup has existed in several different formats throughout the years, as it has expanded and contracted between 10 and 24 teams. The first tournament, in 1950, began with a ten-team double-elimination tournament, followed by a six-team round robin round to determine the champion. Between 1954 and 1974, each tournament started with a group stage preliminary round; the top teams in each preliminary round group then moved on to a final round robin group to determine the champion. In 1978, FIBA added a gold medal game between the top two finishers in the final group and a bronze medal game between the third and fourth place teams. In each year between 1959 and 1982, the host team received a bye into the final group. Of the seven host teams in this era, only three won medals, despite the head start. As a result, FIBA made the host team compete in the preliminary round starting in 1986.

In 1986, the tournament briefly expanded to 24 teams. Four groups of six teams each competed in the preliminary round group stage. The top three teams in each group then competed in the second group stage, followed by a four-team knockout tournament between the top two finishers in each group. The championship contracted back down to 16 teams for the 1990 tournament. The three tournaments between 1990 and 1998, each had two group stages followed by a four-team knockout tournament to determine the medalists. The 2002 tournament expanded the knockout round to eight teams.

In 2006, FIBA made the decision to expand back to 24 teams and introduced the format that was in place through 2014.[7] Under that format, the teams were divided into four preliminary round groups of six teams each.[15]

In 2019, the final tournament will expand to 32 teams.[14]
If the teams should be tied at the end of the preliminary round, the ties are broken by the following criteria in order:

1. Game results between tied teams
2. Goal average between games of the tied teams
3. Goal average for all games of the tied teams
4. Drawing of lots

The top two teams in each group then advance to a sixteen-team single-elimination knockout round. It begins with the eighth finals, where the top teams in each group play the fourth-placed teams in another group and the second and third-placed teams in each group face off. This is followed by the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and final. The semi-final losers play in the bronze medal game, while the quarterfinal losers play in a consolation bracket to determine fifth through eighth places.

Map of best finishes per team. Defunct countries are denoted by circles.

Since 1967, the champion of each tournament has been awarded the Naismith Trophy, named in honor of basketball's inventor, James Naismith. A trophy had been planned since the first World Championship in 1950, but did not come to fruition until FIBA finally commissioned a trophy in 1965, after receiving a US$1,000 donation. The original trophy was used from 1967 through 1994. An updated trophy was introduced for the 1998 FIBA World Championship and the original now sits at the Pedro Ferrándiz Foundation in Spain.[16]

The second trophy is designed in an Egyptian-inspired lotus shape, upon which there are carved maps of the continents and precious stones symbolizing the five continents (FIBA Americas represents both North America and South America). Dr. Naismith's name is engraved on all four sides in Latin, Arabic, Chinese, and Egyptian hieroglyphs. The trophy stands 47 centimeters (18.5 inches) tall and weighs nine kilograms (twenty pounds).[17]

The most recent Naismith Trophy design was revealed in the 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers Draw Ceremonies, last 7 May 2017. The trophy, which stands about 60 centimeters high (13 cm. higher than the 1998 version), is made almost entirely out of gold, and features the names of the previous world cup champions at the base. FIBA's original name (Federation Internationale de Basketball Amateur) is also engraved at the trophy's "hoop". The trophy was designed by Radiant, and handcrafted by the silversmith Thomas Lyte.

Edition	Year	Hosts		Gold medal game				Bronze medal game				Number of teams
				Gold	Score	Silver		Bronze	Score	Fourth place
1	1950	Argentina		Argentina	64–50 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]	United States		Chile	51–40 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]	Brazil		10
2	1954	Brazil		United States	62–41 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]	Brazil		Philippines	66–60 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]	France		12
3	1959	Chile		Brazil	81–67 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]	United States		Chile	86–85 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]	Formosa		13
4	1963	Brazil		Brazil	90–71 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]	Yugoslavia		Soviet Union	75–74 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]	United States		13
5	1967	Uruguay		Soviet Union	71–59 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]	Yugoslavia		Brazil	80–71 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]	United States		13
6	1970	Yugoslavia		Yugoslavia	80–55 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]	Brazil		Soviet Union	62–58 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]	Italy		13
7	1974	Puerto Rico		Soviet Union	79–82 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]	Yugoslavia		United States	83–70 No playoffs[lower-alpha 1]	Cuba		14
8	1978	Philippines		Yugoslavia	82–81 (OT) Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City	Soviet Union		Brazil	86–85 Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City	Italy		14
9	1982	Colombia		Soviet Union	95–94 Coliseo El Pueblo, Cali	United States		Yugoslavia	119–117 Coliseo El Pueblo, Cali	Spain		13
10	1986	Spain		United States	87–85 Palacio de Deportes, Madrid	Soviet Union		Yugoslavia	117–91 Palacio de Deportes, Madrid	Brazil		24
11	1990	Argentina		Yugoslavia	92–75 Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires	Soviet Union		United States	107–105 (OT) Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires	Puerto Rico		16
12	1994	Canada		United States	137–91 SkyDome, Toronto	Russia		Croatia	78–60 SkyDome, Toronto	Greece		16
13	1998	Greece		FR Yugoslavia	64–62 Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens	Russia		United States	84–61 Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens	Greece		16
14	2002	United States		FR Yugoslavia	84–77 (OT) Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis	Argentina		Germany	117–94 Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis	New Zealand		16
15	2006	Japan		Spain	70–47 Saitama Super Arena, Saitama	Greece		United States	96–81 Saitama Super Arena, Saitama	Argentina		24
16	2010	Turkey		United States	81–64 Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul	Turkey		Lithuania	99–88 Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul	Serbia		24
17	2014	Spain		United States	129–92 Palacio de Deportes, Madrid	Serbia		France	95–93 Palacio de Deportes, Madrid	Lithuania		24
18	2019	China		Spain	95–75 Wukesong Arena, Beijing	Argentina		France	67–59 Wukesong Arena, Beijing	Australia		32
19	2023	Philippines   Japan   Indonesia		Future event				Future event				32

(OT): game decided after overtime.

Medal table

In the most current medal table released by FIBA as seen on the FIBA archive website, the 2014 championship is taken into account, and the records of SFR Yugoslavia and FR Yugoslavia are combined under "Yugoslavia".[18]

Previously, FIBA had a medal table from 1950 to 2006,[19] and another medal table that included results from 1950 to 2006,[20] that separated the results of SFR Yugoslavia/FR Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro respectively into "Yugoslavia" or "Serbia and Montenegro". The ranking of teams between the latter two medal tables are different, with the FIBA.com ranking by number of total medals, while the FIBA World Cup website's ranking is by number of gold medals. The number of medals won by the United States differs between the latter two medal tables, despite encompassing the same period. The latter two medal tables also do not include the results of the 2010 and 2014 championships.

Finally, a FIBA.com PDF linked from the FIBA.com history section that documents the championships from 1950 to 2002 also has a medal table that included tournaments from 1950 to 1998, which also separated pre-breakup Yugoslavia, called as "Yusgoslavia" [sic] from the post-breakup Yugoslavia, called as "Serbia and Montenegro", and ranked the teams by the number of total medals.[21]

The FIBA archive also lists the achievements of each national team, separating it per IOC codes. The national team representing Serbia's first international tournament is listed as 2007,[22] Serbia and Montenegro's tournament participation lasted from 2003 to 2006,[23] and Yugoslavia's participation was from 1947 to 2002.[24] Chinese Taipei was listed not to have participated in the World Cup, indeed its first participation in any FIBA tournament started in 1986;[25] a team called "Taiwan" participated from 1960 to 1973,[26] and a "Formosa" team joined from 1954 to 1959.[27]

Below is the FIBA table as seen from the FIBA archive website, updated with results since 1998. The records of SFR Yugoslavia and FR Yugoslavia (counted together as "Yugoslavia") are separated from records of Serbia and Serbia and Montenegro. In the case of the Soviet Union, their records also didn't carry over to Russia.[28]

Italics indicates nations that no longer exist.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	5	3	4	12
2	Yugoslavia	5	3	2	10
3	Soviet Union	3	3	2	8
4	Brazil	2	2	2	6
5	Spain	2	0	0	2
6	Argentina	1	2	0	3
7	Russia	0	2	0	2
8	Greece	0	1	0	1
	Serbia	0	1	0	1
	Turkey	0	1	0	1
11	Chile	0	0	2	2
	France	0	0	2	2
13	Croatia	0	0	1	1
	Germany	0	0	1	1
	Lithuania	0	0	1	1
	Philippines	0	0	1	1
Totals (16 nations)		18	18	18	54

Key:

• 1st – Champions
• 2nd – Runners-up
• 3rd – Third place
• 4th – Fourth place
• QF: Quarter-finals (knockout stage)
• R16: Round of 16 (knockout stage)
• R2: Second round (group stage)
• R1: Preliminary round (group stage)

Team	1950	1954	1959	1963	1967	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2019	2023	2027 TBD	Total
Algeria														R1 15th							1
Angola										R1 13th	R1 13th	R1 16th		R1 11th	R16 9th	R16 15th	R1 17th	R1 27th			8
Argentina	1st		R1 10th	R1 8th	6th		R1 11th			R2 12th	R2 8th	R1 9th	QF 8th	2nd	4th	QF 5th	R16 11th	2nd			14
Australia						R1 12th	R1 12th	FR 7th	QF 5th	R2 13th	R2 7th	R2 5th	R1 9th		R16 9th	R16 10th	R16 12th	4th			12
Brazil	4th	2nd	1st	1st	3rd	2nd	6th	3rd	R1 8th	4th	R2 5th	R1 11th	R1 10th	QF 8th	R1 17th	R16 9th	QF 6th	R2 13th			18
Bulgaria			7th																		1
Canada		7th	R1 12th	R1 11th		R1 10th	8th	6th	6th	R2 8th	R1 12th	R2 7th	R1 12th	R1 13th		R1 22nd		R1 21st			14
Central African Republic							R1 14th														1
Chile	3rd	R1 10th	3rd																		3
China								R1 11th	R1 12th	R2 9th	R1 14th	R1 8th		R1 12th	R16 9th	R16 16th		R1 24th			9
Chinese Taipei[29]		5th	4th																		2
Colombia									7th												1
Croatia												3rd				R16 14th	R16 10th				3
Cuba						R1 8th	4th			R2 11th		R1 15th									4
Czech Republic																		QF 6th			1
Czechoslovakia[30]						FR 6th	R1 10th	R1 9th	R1 10th												4
Dominican Republic								R1 12th									R16 13th	R2 16th			3
Ecuador	R1 8th																				1
Egypt	FR 5th		R1 11th			R1 13th					R1 16th	R1 14th					R1 24th				6
Team	1950	1954	1959	1963	1967	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2019	2023	2027 TBD	Total
Finland																	R1 22nd				1
France	FR 6th	FR 4th		FR 5th						R1 13th					QF 5th	R16 13th	SF 3rd	SF 3rd			8
Germany[31]										R1 13th		R1 12th		SF 3rd	QF 8th	R1 17th		R1 18th			6
Greece										R2 10th	R2 6th	SF 4th	SF 4th		F 2nd	R16 11th	R16 9th	R2 11th			8
Indonesia																			Q		1
Ivory Coast									R1 13th	R1 13th						R1 21st		R1 29th			4
Iran																R1 19th	R1 20th	R1 23rd			3
Israel		8th								R2 7th											2
Italy				FR 7th	R1 9th	FR 4th		FR 4th		R2 6th	R2 9th		QF 6th		R16 9th			R2 10th			9
Japan				R1 13th	R1 11th								R1 14th		R1 17th			R1 31st	Q		6
Jordan																R1 23rd		R1 28th			2
Lebanon														R1 16th	R1 17th	R1 20th					3
Lithuania	Part of the Soviet Union												QF 7th		QF 7th	3rd	4th	R2 9th			5
Malaysia										R1 13th											1
Mexico			R1 13th	R1 9th	R1 8th		R1 9th										R16 14th				5
Montenegro	Part of Yugoslavia																	R1 25th			1
Netherlands										R1 13th											1
New Zealand										R1 13th				SF 4th	R16 9th	R16 12th	R16 15th	R1 19th			6
Nigeria													R1 13th		R16 9th			R1 17th			3
Team	1950	1954	1959	1963	1967	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2019	2023	2027 TBD	Total
Panama						R1 9th			R1 9th	R1 13th					R1 21st						4
Paraguay		R1 9th			R1 13th																2
Peru	R1 7th	R1 12th		R1 12th	R1 10th																4
Philippines		FR 3rd	R1 8th				R1 13th	FR 8th									R1 21st	R1 32nd	Q		6
Poland					FR 5th													QF 8th			2
Puerto Rico			FR 5th	FR 6th	R1 12th		FR 7th	F1 10th		R1 13th	SF 4th	R2 6th	R1 11th	QF 7th	R1 17th	R1 18th	R1 19th	R2 15th			14
Qatar															R1 21st						1
Russia	Part of the Soviet Union											2nd	2nd	R1 10th		QF 7th		R2 12th			5
Senegal								R1 14th					R1 15th		R1 21st		R16 16th	R1 30th			5
Serbia	Part of Yugoslavia														R16 9th	SF 4th	F 2nd	QF 5th			4
Slovenia	Part of Yugoslavia														R16 9th	QF 8th	QF 7th				3
South Korea						R1 11th		R1 13th		R1 13th	R1 15th	R1 13th	R1 16th				R1 23rd	R1 26th			8
Soviet Union			6th	3rd	1st	3rd	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	2nd	Does not Exist									9
Spain	R1 9th						5th		FR 4th	R2 5th	R1 10th	R1 10th	QF 5th	QF 5th	F 1st	QF 6th	QF 5th	F 1st			12
Tunisia																R1 24th		R1 20th			2
Turkey														R1 9th	QF 6th	F 2nd	QF 8th	R1 22nd			5
Ukraine	Part of the Soviet Union																R1 18th				1
United States	FR 2nd	FR 1st	FR 2nd	FR 4th	FR 4th	FR 5th	FR 3rd	FR 5th	F 2nd	F 1st	SF 3rd	F 1st	SF 3rd	QF 6th	SF 3rd	F 1st	F 1st	QF 7th			18
Uruguay		FR 6th	R1 9th	R1 10th	FR 7th	FR 7th			R1 11th	R1 13th											7
Venezuela											R1 11th			R1 14th	R1 21st			R2 14th			4
Yugoslavia[32]	R1 10th	R1 11th		2nd	2nd	FR 1st	FR 2nd	F 1st	SF 3rd	SF 3rd	F 1st		F 1st	F 1st							12
Total	10	12	13	13	13	13	14	14	13	24	16	16	16	16	24	24	24	32	32	32

Notes:

• Teams that failed to qualify to the semifinal round at the 1986 championship were ranked tied for 13th.
• In 2006, when the tournament expanded to 24 teams (four preliminary round groups of six teams each), teams that finished 5th in their preliminary round groups were ranked tied for 17th, while teams that finished 6th in their preliminary round groups were ranked tied for 21st. Teams eliminated in round of 16 were ranked tied for 9th.

Boldface denotes active basketball players and highest medal count among all players (including these who not included in these tables) per type.

Multiple gold medalists

The table shows those who have won at least 2 gold medals at the World Cups.

Rank	Player	Country	From	To	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Krešimir Ćosić	Yugoslavia	1967	1978	2	2	–	4
	Wlamir Marques	Brazil	1954	1970	2	2	–	4
3	"Amaury" Pasos	Brazil	1954	1967	2	1	1	4
	Sergei Belov	Soviet Union	1967	1978	2	1	1	4
5	Carmo de Souza ("Rosa Branca")	Brazil	1959	1970	2	1	–	3
6	Vlade Divac	Yugoslavia  FR Yugoslavia	1986	2002	2	–	1	3
	"Jatyr" Eduardo Schall	Brazil	1959	1967	2	–	1	3
	Modestas Paulauskas	Soviet Union	1967	1974	2	–	1	3
	Priit Tomson	Soviet Union	1967	1974	2	–	1	3
10	Dejan Bodiroga	FR Yugoslavia	1998	2002	2	–	–	2
	Stephen Curry	United States	2010	2014	2	–	–	2
	Predrag Drobnjak	FR Yugoslavia	1998	2002	2	–	–	2
	Rudy Fernández	Spain	2006	2019	2	–	–	2
	Marc Gasol	Spain	2006	2019	2	–	–	2
	Rudy Gay	United States	2010	2014	2	–	–	2
	Derrick Rose	United States	2010	2014	2	–	–	2
	Dejan Tomašević	FR Yugoslavia	1998	2002	2	–	–	2

Multiple medalists

The table shows those who have won at least 4 medals in total at the World Cups.

Rank	Player	Country	From	To	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Krešimir Ćosić	Yugoslavia	1967	1978	2	2	–	4
	Wlamir Marques	Brazil	1954	1970	2	2	–	4
3	"Amaury" Pasos	Brazil	1954	1967	2	1	1	4
	Sergei Belov	Soviet Union	1967	1978	2	1	1	4
5	Alexander Belostenny	Soviet Union	1978	1990	1	3	–	4
6	Ubiratan Pereira Maciel ("Bira")	Brazil	1963	1978	1	1	2	4
	Dražen Dalipagić	Yugoslavia	1974	1986	1	1	2	4

Eleven players – Ubiratan Pereira Maciel, Marcel De Souza, Marcelinho Machado, Anderson Varejao, Leandrinho Barbosa and Alex Garcia of Brazil, Phil Smyth of Australia, Daniel Santiago and Jerome Mincy of Puerto Rico, Eduardo Mingas of Angola and Luis Scola of Argentina – have appeared in five tournaments.[33][34]

Brazilian legend Oscar Schmidt is the runaway all-time leading scorer, scoring 906 career points in four tournaments, between 1978 and 1990. Nikos Galis of Greece, is the all-time leading scorer for a single tournament, averaging 33.7 points per game for the Greeks at the 1986 FIBA World Championship.

Serbian coach and former player Željko Obradović is the only person who won the title, both as a coach and a player. He was a member of the Yugoslavia team that won the 1990 FIBA World Championship and coached the Yugoslavia team that won the 1998 FIBA World Championship.

FIBA names a Most Valuable Player for each tournament. Since the tournament opened to NBA players at the 1994 tournament for the first time, NBA players have won six of the seven MVP trophies awarded – Shaquille O'Neal for the United States in 1994, Germany's Dirk Nowitzki at the 2002 tournament, Spain's Pau Gasol at the 2006 tournament, Kevin Durant for the United States at the 2010 tournament, Kyrie Irving for the United States at the 2014 tournament and Spain's Ricky Rubio at the 2019 tournament. The only exception was Dejan Bodiroga of FR Yugoslavia, who was the MVP of the 1998 tournament, when the NBA players were not able to participate, due to the 1998–99 NBA lockout.

The 2010 FIBA World Championship reached a global TV audience of 800 million people, across 171 countries, with the official website having 30 million views during the tournament. Both numbers broke the previous records set at the 2006 FIBA World Championship and at the EuroBasket 2009. Three of the games involving Lithuania were among the highest rated programs in that country. In China, 65 million watched the Chinese national team's game against Greece, in the preliminary round.[35] This was an improvement from the 2006 FIBA World Championship, which was held in Japan, and was shown in 150 countries. This meant that games aired in the morning in Europe and at night in the Americas; despite this, audiences broke records, with Italy's game against Slovenia achieving a 20% viewing share in Italy, Serbia's game against Nigeria netting a 33% share in Serbia, and a 600,000-audience in the United States for the US national team's game against Puerto Rico at 1 am.[36]

Before the 2010 FIBA World Championship started in Turkey, FIBA had already sold 350,000 tickets, for a revenue of between US$8 to 10 million. The number of tickets sold was 10% higher than 2006, although the revenue was less than 2006's US$18 million, which was widely attributed to the strong Japanese yen. Meanwhile, FIBA got two-thirds of marketing rights revenue, of which one-third, or about US$8 million, went to the local organizers. FIBA had also successfully negotiated TV rights deals, which all went to FIBA, worth US$25 million, including a TV rights deal with ESPN.[37] In 2006, the Japanese organizers were targeting to sell 180,000 tickets, mostly to a Japanese audience; as for the overseas audience, the Japanese organizers didn't "expect them in great numbers". This was seen as a big improvement from the 2002 tournament, which was a financial loss for USA Basketball and Indianapolis, in which all games were held in one city. This led to the Japanese organizers to hold games throughout the country, instead of just in a single city.[38]

At the most recent world championship, which was re-branded as the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, in Spain, FIBA reported impressive ratings from nations which were participating in the tournament during the first week of the group phase. Most games involving European teams had a market share of at least 20%, including a 40% market share in Finland, for the Finnish national team's game against the Dominican Republic.[39] The TV ratings in the United States beat out the 2014 US Tennis Open, but some US sports media still described viewers in the US as not caring about the FIBA Basketball World Cup.[40] In the Philippines, the entire tournament had an average reach of 67.8%.[41]

• FIBA Basketball World Cup records
• FIBA Basketball World Cup winning head coaches
• National team appearances in the FIBA Basketball World Cup
• FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup (formerly FIBA World Championship for Women)
• FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup
• FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup
• Wheelchair Basketball World Championship

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FIBA Basketball World Cup.

• 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup official website
• 2010 FIBA World Championship official website
• United States Men's World Championship Team History
• FIBA Basketball World Cup at the Wayback Machine (archived 4 November 1996)