1950 FIBA World Championship

The 1950 FIBA World Championship, also called the 1st World Basketball Championship – 1950, was the inaugural edition of the World Cup basketball tournament for men's national teams. It was held by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), from 22 October to 3 November 1950. Argentina hosted the competition at Luna Park in Buenos Aires, where ten nations participated in the event.

1950 World Basketball Championship
FIBA Campeonato Mundial de Basquetebol Masculino de 1950
Tournament details
Host countryArgentina
CityBuenos Aires
Dates22 October – 3 November
Officially opened byJuan Perón
Teams10
Venue(s)Luna Park Stadium
Final positions
Champions Argentina (1st title)
Runners-up United States
Third place Chile
Fourth place Brazil
Tournament statistics
Games played31
MVPArgentina Oscar Furlong
Top scorerSpain Álvaro Salvadores
(13.8 points per game)
1954

Argentina claimed the gold medal, by beating the United States 64–50 in the decisive game of the final round. After winning the tournament, Argentinian fans celebrated by burning newspapers which became known as the "Night of the Torches".[1]

Host and venue edit

In the aftermath of World War II, Argentina was chosen as host of the inaugural World Cup partly because of its neutrality during the war.[1]

GroupCityArenaCapacity
Final roundBuenos AiresEstadio Luna Park9,000

Competing nations edit

FIBA determined the requirements to qualify for the World Championship to be as follows:

Prior to the Championship, South Korea withdrew due to logistical and financial difficulties in travelling to Argentina, while Uruguay withdrew after Argentinian immigration officials refused the team visas to enter the country.

Subsequently, FIBA extended invitations to Ecuador, Yugoslavia, Spain, and Peru.

Seeded to the 1st preliminary roundSeeded to the 2nd preliminary round

Preliminary rounds edit

First roundSecond roundFirst repass round
(1st and 2nd round losers)
Second repass round
(1st repass round winners)
 Chile33
 United States37
 Chile40
 Yugoslavia24
 Brazil40
 Peru33  Peru33
 Yugoslavia27  Chile54
 Spain40
First roundSecond roundFirst repass round
(1st and 2nd round losers)
Second repass round
(1st repass round winners)
 Egypt43
 Ecuador37  Egypt57
 Spain56
 Ecuador43
 France48
 Argentina56
 France40
 Peru46
 France49

First phase edit

22 October
Peru  33–27  Yugoslavia
Scoring by half: 18-16, 15-11
Buenos Aires
22 October
Egypt  43–37  Ecuador
Scoring by half: 18-22, 25-15
Buenos Aires
  • Egypt and Peru advance to the second preliminary phase.
  • Ecuador and Yugoslavia advance to the first repass round.

Second phase edit

23 October
United States  37–33  Chile
Scoring by half: 20-19, 17-14
Buenos Aires
23 October
Argentina  56–40  France
Scoring by half: 30-17, 26-23
Buenos Aires
23 October
Peru  33–40  Brazil
Scoring by half: 15-16, 18-24
Buenos Aires
23 October
Spain  56–57  Egypt
Scoring by half: 26-23, 30-34
Buenos Aires
  • Argentina, Brazil, Egypt and USA advance to the final round.
  • Chile and France advance to the first repass round
  • Peru and Spain advance to the second repass round.

Repass rounds edit

First phase edit

24 October
Chile  40–24  Yugoslavia
Scoring by half: 27-11, 13-13
Buenos Aires
24 October
Ecuador  43–48  France
Scoring by half: 26-30, 17-18
Buenos Aires
  • Chile and France advance to the second phase.
  • Ecuador and Yugoslavia are relegated to the classification round.

Second phase edit

25 October
Spain  40–54  Chile
Scoring by half: 18-24, 22-30
Buenos Aires
25 October
France  49–46 (OT) (3-0)  Peru
Scoring by half: 25-22, 21-24
Buenos Aires
  • Chile and France advance to the final round.
  • Peru and Spain are relegated to the classification round.

Classification round edit

PosTeamPldWLPFPAPDPts
7  Peru330140123+176
8  Ecuador321142141+15
9  Spain3128997−84
10  Yugoslavia3038393−102
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
27 October
Ecuador  45–40  Yugoslavia
Scoring by half: 14-15, 31-25
27 October
Peru  43–37  Spain
Scoring by half: 20-19, 23-18
29 October
Yugoslavia  43–46 (OT)  Peru
Scoring by half: 24-14, 11-21 Overtime: 4-4, 7-4
29 October
Ecuador  54–50  Spain
Scoring by half: 29-25, 25-25
30 October
Spain  2–0  Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refused to stand for the Spanish national anthem or play for political reasons. Spain was awarded the game on forfeit.
30 October
Ecuador  43–51  Peru
Scoring by half: 17-23, 26-28

Final round edit

PosTeamPldWLPFPAPDPts
1  Argentina (C, H)550300200+10010
2  United States541221200+219
3  Chile523209233−247
4  Brazil523214182+327
5  Egypt523158208−507
6  France505173252−795
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
(C) Champions; (H) Hosts
27 October
Chile  48–44  France
Scoring by half: 27-19, 21-25
27 October
Egypt  32–34  United States
Scoring by half: 19-18, 13-16
29 October
Egypt  31–28  France
Scoring by half: 10-9, 21-19
29 October
Argentina  40–35  Brazil
Scoring by half: 22-21, 18-14
30 October
Argentina  62–41  Chile
Scoring by half: 36-17, 26-24
30 October
Brazil  42–45  United States
Scoring by half: 25-26, 17-19
31 October
Brazil  38–19  Egypt
Scoring by half: 17-11, 21-8
31 October
Argentina  66–41  France
Scoring by half: 38-19, 28-22
1 November
Chile  29–44  United States
Scoring by half: 12-29, 17-15
1 November
Argentina  68–33  Egypt
Scoring by half: 35-15, 33-18
2 November
France  33–48  United States
Scoring by half: 23-26, 10-22
2 November
Brazil  40–51  Chile
Scoring by half: 17-25, 23-26
3 November
Chile  40–43  Egypt
Scoring by half: 19-18, 21-25
3 November
Brazil  59–27  France
Scoring by half: 31-14, 28-13
3 November
Argentina  64–50  United States
Scoring by half: 34-24, 30-26
Pts: Oscar Furlong 20Pts: John Stanich 11
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Attendance: 20,000

Awards edit

Argentina won its first-ever World Cup, and Oscar Furlong was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Furlong averaged a team-high and 11.2 points during the tournament, fourth highest of all players.[1]

 1950 World Championship winner 

Argentina
First title
Most Valuable Player
Oscar Furlong

All-Tournament Team

Final standings edit

The Argentina squad that won their first World championship.
RankTeamRecord
1  Argentina6–0
2  United States5–1
3  Chile4–4
4  Brazil3–3
5  Egypt4–3
6  France2–6
7  Peru4–2
8  Ecuador2–3
9  Spain1–4
10  Yugoslavia0–5

Team rosters edit

Source: FIBA archive

  1. Argentina: 8.Óscar Furlong, 11.Ricardo González, 3.Pedro Bustos, 5.Leopoldo Contarbio, 4.Hugo del Vecchio, 7.Vito Liva, 14.Alberto López, 10.Rubén Menini, 13.Omar Monza, 6.Raúl Pérez Varela, 12.Juan Carlos Uder, 9.Roberto Viau (Coach: Jorge Hugo Canavesi – Casimiro González Trilla])
  2. USA: 20.John Stanich, 66.Bob Fisher, 75.Bryce Heffley, 55.Thomas Jaquet, 33.Dan Kahler, 19.John Langdon, 40.Les Metzger, 44.J. L. Parks, 22.Jimmy Reese, 16.Don Slocum, 77.Blake Williams (Coach: Gordon Carpenter)
  3. Chile: Rufino Bernedo, Pedro Araya, Eduardo Cordero, Mariano Fernández, Exequiel Figueroa, Juan José Gallo, Raúl López, Luis Enrique Marmentini, Juan Ostoic, Hernán Ramos, Marcos Sánchez, Víctor Mahana (Coach: Kenneth Davidson)
  4. Brazil: 45.Zenny de Azevedo "Algodão", 46.Ruy de Freitas, 44.Alfredo da Motta, 48.Paulo Rodrigues Siqueira "Montanha", 42.Hélio Marques Pereira "Godinho", 46.Celso dos Santos, 47.Plutão de Macedo, 49.Sebastião Amorim Gimenez "Tiao", 50.Thales Monteiro, 51.Alexandre Gemignani, Milton Santos Marques "Miltinho", 53.Ângelo Bonfietti "Angelim" (Coach: Moacyr Brondi Daiuto)

All-Tournament Team edit

Top scorers edit

  1. Álvaro Salvadores (Spain) 13.8
  2. Fortunato Muñoz (Ecuador) 13.2
  3. Alfredo Arroyave (Ecuador) 11.4
  4. Óscar Furlong (Argentina) 11.2
  5. Rufino Bernedo (Chile) 10.8
  6. Ricardo González (Argentina) 10.7
  7. Eduardo Kucharski González (Spain) 9.8
  8. Hussein Kamel Montasser (Egypt) 8.8
  9. Eduardo Fiestas (Peru) 8.7
  10. Alberto Fernández (Peru) 8.2

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "The Best of World Cup 1950: Argentina's first Night of the Torches, Denver Chevrolets and 20,000 fans". FIBA.basketball. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.

External links edit