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.

1959 FIBA World Championship
FIBA Campeonato Mundial de Baloncesto de 1959
Tournament details
Host countryChile
Dates16–31 January
Officially opened byJorge Alessandri
Teams13
Venue(s)5 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Brazil (1st title)
Runners-up United States
Third place Chile
Fourth place Formosa
Tournament statistics
Games played48
MVPBrazil Amaury Pasos
Top scorerTaiwan James T. L. Chen
(20.1 points per game)
1954
1963
Brazilian stamp marking the team's victory

The hosting cities for the competition were Antofagasta, Concepción, Temuco, Valparaíso, with the final stages being held at the capital of Santiago.

The final stages were supposed to be held at the newly constructed Metropolitan Indoor Stadium, but because the venue was not finished in time the games were postponed by a year from the original date and moved outdoors to the Estadio Nacional de Chile, configured in a way that the games were seen by a crowd of 16,000.

Competing nations

Group AGroup BGroup C

 Argentina
 United Arab Rep.
 Formosa
 United States

 Brazil
 Canada
 Mexico
 Soviet Union

 Bulgaria
 Philippines
 Puerto Rico
 Uruguay

 Chile – advanced automatically to the final round as host

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 (A1, B2, C1 and A2, B1, C2) 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.

Preliminary round

Group A

PosTeamPldWLPFPAPDPtsQualification
1  United States330271204+676Final round
2  Formosa321207209−25
3  Argentina312197202−54Classification round
4  United Arab Republic303179239−603
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.
16 January
United States  87–73  Argentina
Scoring by half: 48-27, 39-46
16 January
Formosa  71–69  United Arab Rep.
Scoring by half: 39-38, 32-31
17 January
Argentina  65–52  United Arab Rep.
Scoring by half: 36-32, 29-20
17 January
United States  81–73  Formosa
Scoring by half: 35-38, 46-35
18 January
Argentina  59–63  Formosa
Scoring by half: 33-31, 26-32
18 January
United Arab Rep.  58–103  United States
Scoring by half: 49-23, 54-35

Group B

PosTeamPldWLPFPAPDPtsQualification
1  Brazil321211175+365[a]Final round
2  Soviet Union321229199+305[a]
3  Canada321169174−55[a]Classification round
4  Mexico303173234−613
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.
Notes:
16 January
Canada  52–69  Brazil
Scoring by half: 24-30, 28-39
16 January
Soviet Union  102–72  Mexico
Scoring by half: 48-42, 54-30
17 January
Canada  54–51  Mexico
Scoring by half: 26-19, 28-32
17 January
Soviet Union  73–64  Brazil
Scoring by half: 39-36, 34-28
18 January
Canada  63–54  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 32-23, 31-31
18 January
Mexico  50–78  Brazil
Scoring by half: 20-50, 30-28

Group C

PosTeamPldWLPFPAPDPtsQualification
1  Bulgaria330217174+436Final round
2  Puerto Rico321209194+155
3  Philippines312192220−284Classification round
4  Uruguay303181211−303
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.
16 January
Philippines  68–59  Uruguay
Scoring by half: 36-31, 32-28
16 January
Bulgaria  67–55  Puerto Rico
Scoring by half: 37-16, 30-39
17 January
Uruguay  64–78  Puerto Rico
Scoring by half: 37-40, 27-38
17 January
Bulgaria  85–61  Philippines
Scoring by half: 36-21, 49-40
18 January
Puerto Rico  76–63  Philippines
Scoring by half: 39-32, 37-31
18 January
Bulgaria  65–58  Uruguay
Scoring by half: 31-28, 34-30

Classification round

First round

Group D

PosTeamPldWLPFPAPDPtsQualification
1  Philippines220145130+154Eighth place playoff
2  United Arab Republic211136135+13Tenth place playoff
3  Canada202134150−162Twelfth place playoff
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.
21 January
Philippines  66–65  United Arab Rep.
Scoring by half: 25-29, 41-36
22 January
Canada  69–71  United Arab Rep.
Scoring by half: 40-28, 29-43
23 January
Canada  65–79  Philippines
Scoring by half: 33-31, 32-48

Group E

PosTeamPldWLPFPAPDPtsQualification
1  Uruguay22010595+104Eighth place playoff
2  Argentina211123117+63Tenth place playoff
3  Mexico202113129−162Twelfth place playoff
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.
21 January
Argentina  48–51  Uruguay
Scoring by half: 19-22, 29-29
22 January
Mexico  47–54  Uruguay
Scoring by half: 20-25, 27-29
23 January
Argentina  75–66  Mexico
Scoring by half: 34-34, 41-32
Valparaíso, Chile

Second round

Twelfth place playoff

25 January
Canada  64–56  Mexico
Scoring by half: 33-25, 31-31

Tenth place playoff

25 January
United Arab Rep.  59–61  Argentina
Scoring by half: 29-32, 30-29

Eighth place playoff

25 January
Philippines  78–70  Uruguay
Scoring by half: 47-36, 31-34

Final round

PosTeamPldWLPFPAPDPts
1  Brazil (C)651472382+9011
2  United States642370378−810
3  Chile (H)624393444−518[a]
4  Formosa624315350−358[a]
5  Puerto Rico615397471−747
6  Soviet Union[b]651365264+10110
7  Bulgaria[b]624315338−237
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
Notes:
20 January
Chile  86–85 (OT)  Formosa
Scoring by half: 35-27, 36-44 Overtime: 15-14
21 January
Puerto Rico  55–84  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 29-26, 26-58
21 January
Bulgaria  58–63  United States
Scoring by half: 27-26, 31-37
22 January
Brazil  94–76  Formosa
Scoring by half: 56-35, 38-41
22 January
Chile  83–71  Puerto Rico
Scoring by half: 46-31, 37-40
23 January
Brazil  62–53  Bulgaria
Scoring by half: 30-28, 32-25
23 January
United States  54–53  Puerto Rico
Scoring by half: 25-32, 29-21
24 January
Brazil  63–66  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 31-30, 32-36
24 January
Bulgaria  76–71  Chile
Scoring by half: 37-33, 39-38
26 January
Formosa  69–85  United States
Scoring by half: 32-33, 37-52
26 January
Bulgaria  58–78  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 18-35, 40-43
27 January
Formosa  81–85  Puerto Rico
Scoring by half: 34-42, 47-43
27 January
Chile  49–75  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 28-35, 21-40
28 January
Brazil  99–71  Puerto Rico
Scoring by half: 45-29, 54-42
28 January
United States  37–62  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 14-25, 23-37
29 January
Bulgaria  70–62  Puerto Rico
Scoring by half: 35-25, 35-37
29 January
Chile  55–64  United States
30 January
Formosa  2–0  Soviet Union
30 January
Brazil  81–67  United States
Scoring by half: 40-37, 41-30
31 January
Bulgaria  0–2  Formosa
31 January
Brazil  73–49  Chile
Scoring by half: 37-21, 36-28

Awards

 1959 World Championship winner 

Brazil
First title
Most Valuable Player
Amaury Pasos

Final standings

RankTeamRecord
1  Brazil7–2
2  United States7–2
3  Chile2–4
4  Formosa4–5
5  Puerto Rico3–6
6  Soviet Union7–2
7  Bulgaria5–4
8  Philippines4–2
9  Uruguay2–4
10  Argentina3–3
11  United Arab Republic1–5
12  Canada3–3
13  Mexico0–6

Top scorers (points per game)

  1. James T. L. Chen (Formosa) 20.1
  2. Juan "Pachin" Vicens (Puerto Rico) 19.7
  3. Wlamir Marques (Brazil) 18.6
  4. Jerry Vayda (USA) 18
  5. Lio Jin Ron (Formosa) 16.7
  6. Dick Welsh (USA) 16.4
  7. Viktor Radev (Bulgaria) 15.25
  8. Amaury Pasos (Brazil) 15.22
  9. Jose Angel Cestero (Puerto Rico) 14.3
  10. Evelio Droz (Puerto Rico) 13.7

All-Tournament team

[1]

References

External links