1959 FIBA World Championship

The 1959 FIBA World Championship was the 3rd FIBA World Championship—the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. It was hosted by Chile from 16 to 31 January 1959. Amaury Antônio Pasos was named the MVP.
The hosting cities for the competition were Antofagasta, Concepción, Temuco, Valparaíso, with the final stages held at the capital of Santiago.
The final games were supposed to be conducted at the newly constructed Metropolitan Indoor Stadium, but because the venue was not finished in time, competition was postponed by a year from the original date. Organizers moved outdoors to the Estadio Nacional de Chile, where the events were watched at by a crowd of at least 16,000.

Competition format

Preliminary round: Three groups of four teams play each other once; top two teams progress to the final round, bottom two teams relegated to classification round.
Classification round:
* First round: Two groups of three teams play each other once.
* Second round: Top teams from each group play for eighth, second placers play for tenth, and last placers play for twelfth.
Final round: All top two from preliminary round group play each other once. The team with the best record wins the championship.