1950 FIBA World Championship

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 →

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.

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

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]

Group City Arena Capacity
Final round Buenos Aires Estadio Luna Park 9,000

Competing nations

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 round Seeded to the 2nd preliminary round

Preliminary rounds

First round Second round First repass round
(1st and 2nd round losers) 		Second repass round
(1st repass round winners)
 Chile 33
 United States 37
 Chile 40
 Yugoslavia 24
 Brazil 40
 Peru 33  Peru 33
 Yugoslavia 27  Chile 54
 Spain 40
First round Second round First repass round
(1st and 2nd round losers) 		Second repass round
(1st repass round winners)
 Egypt 43
 Ecuador 37  Egypt 57
 Spain 56
 Ecuador 43
 France 48
 Argentina 56
 France 40
 Peru 46
 France 49

First phase

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

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

First phase

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

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

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts
7  Peru 3 3 0 140 123 +17 6
8  Ecuador 3 2 1 142 141 +1 5
9  Spain 3 1 2 89 97 −8 4
10  Yugoslavia 3 0 3 83 93 −10 2
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

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts
1  Argentina (C, H) 5 5 0 300 200 +100 10
2  United States 5 4 1 221 200 +21 9
3  Chile 5 2 3 209 233 −24 7
4  Brazil 5 2 3 214 182 +32 7
5  Egypt 5 2 3 158 208 −50 7
6  France 5 0 5 173 252 −79 5
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 20 Pts: John Stanich 11
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Attendance: 20,000

Awards

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
Argentina Oscar Furlong

All-Tournament Team

Final standings

The Argentina squad that won their first World championship.
Rank Team Record
1  Argentina 6–0
2  United States 5–1
3  Chile 4–4
4  Brazil 3–3
5  Egypt 4–3
6  France 2–6
7  Peru 4–2
8  Ecuador 2–3
9  Spain 1–4
10  Yugoslavia 0–5

Team rosters

Source: FIBA archive

  1. Argentina: 8.Oscar 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

Main article: FIBA Basketball World Cup All-Tournament Team

Top scorers

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

References

  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.
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