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, 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".

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.
GroupCityArenaCapacity
Final roundBuenos AiresEstadio Luna Park9,000

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 roundSeeded to the 2nd preliminary round

  • Preliminary rounds

    First phase

    • Egypt and Peru advance to the second preliminary phase.
    • Ecuador and Yugoslavia advance to the first repass round.

    Second phase

    • 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">Repechage">Repass rounds

    First phase

    • Chile and France advance to the second phase.
    • Ecuador and Yugoslavia are relegated to the classification round.

    Second phase

    • Chile and France advance to the final round.
    • Peru and Spain are relegated to the classification round.

    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.
    Most Valuable Player
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    Final standings

    RankTeamRecord
    16–0
    25–1
    34–4
    43–3
    54–3
    62–6
    74–2
    82–3
    91–4
    100–5

    Team rosters

    Source:
    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
    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
    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
    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"

    Top scorers

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