Upcoming season or competition: 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup | |
 | |
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1950 |
| First season | 1950 |
| No. of teams | 32 (finals) |
| Countries | FIBA members |
| Continent | FIBA (International) |
| Most recent champion(s) |  Germany(1st title) |
| Most titles |  United States / Yugoslavia(5 titles each) |
| Official website | fiba |
| Tournaments |
|---|
The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition between the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's global governing body. It takes place every four years and is considered the flagship event of FIBA.[1]
From its inception in 1950 until 2010, the tournament was known as the FIBA World Championship.[2][3]
The tournament structure is similar, but not identical, to that of the FIFA World Cup; the current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation. The FIBA Basketball World Cup and the FIFA World Cup were played in the same year as each other from 1970 through 2014. A parallel event for women's teams, now known as the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, is also held quadrennially. From 1986 through 2014, the men's and women's championships were held in the same year, though in different countries. Following the 2014 FIBA championships for men and women, the men's World Cup was scheduled on a new four-year cycle to avoid conflict with the FIFA World Cup. The men's World Cup was held in 2019, in the year following the FIFA World Cup. The women's championship, which was renamed from "FIBA World Championship for Women" to "FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup" after its 2014 edition, will remain on the previous four-year cycle, with championships in the same year as the FIFA World Cup.
The winning team receives the Naismith Trophy, first awarded in 1967. The current champion is Germany, which defeated Serbia in the final of the 2023 tournament.
The 1994 FIBA World Championship, which was held in Canada, was the first FIBA World Cup tournament in which currently active US NBA players that had already played in an official NBA regular season game were allowed to participate. All FIBA World Championship/World Cup tournaments since then are thus considered fully professional level tournaments.
- ^ "Inside USA Basketball". basketball.com. USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 September 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ "World Cup History". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
- ^ "PR N°1 – FIBA Basketball World Cup officially launched in Madrid". FIBA. 26 January 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2012.