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.
| FIBA Campeonato Mundial de Baloncesto de 1959 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Chile |
| Dates | 16–31 January |
| Officially opened by | Jorge Alessandri |
| Teams | 13 |
| 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 played | 48 |
| MVP | Amaury Pasos |
| Top scorer | James T. L. Chen (20.1 points per game) |
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 edit
| Group A | Group B | Group C |
|---|---|---|
| Chile – advanced automatically to the final round as host
| ||
Competition format edit
- 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 edit
Group A edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 271 | 204 | +67 | 6 | Final round |
| 2 | Formosa
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 207 | 209 | −2 | 5 | |
| 3 |  Argentina
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 197 | 202 | −5 | 4 | Classification round |
| 4 |  United Arab Republic
|
3 | 0 | 3 | 179 | 239 | −60 | 3 |
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.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
Group B edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 211 | 175 | +36 | 5[a] | Final round |
| 2 |  Soviet Union
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 229 | 199 | +30 | 5[a] | |
| 3 |  Canada
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 169 | 174 | −5 | 5[a] | Classification round |
| 4 |  Mexico
|
3 | 0 | 3 | 173 | 234 | −61 | 3 |
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:
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:
Group C edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Bulgaria
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 217 | 174 | +43 | 6 | Final round |
| 2 |  Puerto Rico
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 209 | 194 | +15 | 5 | |
| 3 |  Philippines
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 192 | 220 | −28 | 4 | Classification round |
| 4 |  Uruguay
|
3 | 0 | 3 | 181 | 211 | −30 | 3 |
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.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
Classification round edit
First round edit
Group D edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philippines
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 145 | 130 | +15 | 4 | Eighth place playoff |
| 2 | United Arab Republic
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 136 | 135 | +1 | 3 | Tenth place playoff |
| 3 | Canada
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 134 | 150 | −16 | 2 | Twelfth 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.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
Group E edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uruguay
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 105 | 95 | +10 | 4 | Eighth place playoff |
| 2 | Argentina
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 123 | 117 | +6 | 3 | Tenth place playoff |
| 3 | Mexico
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 113 | 129 | −16 | 2 | Twelfth 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.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
Second round edit
Twelfth place playoff edit
Tenth place playoff edit
Eighth place playoff edit
Final round edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil (C)
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 472 | 382 | +90 | 11 |
| 2 | United States
|
6 | 4 | 2 | 370 | 378 | −8 | 10 |
| 3 | Chile (H)
|
6 | 2 | 4 | 393 | 444 | −51 | 8[a] |
| 4 | Formosa
|
6 | 2 | 4 | 315 | 350 | −35 | 8[a] |
| 5 | Puerto Rico
|
6 | 1 | 5 | 397 | 471 | −74 | 7 |
| 6 | Soviet Union[b]
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 365 | 264 | +101 | 10 |
| 7 | Bulgaria[b]
|
6 | 2 | 4 | 315 | 338 | −23 | 7 |
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:
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:
- ^ a b Head-to-head record: Chile 1–0 Formosa
- ^ a b FIBA demoted the Soviet Union and Bulgaria to the bottom two places after they refused to play against Formosa, forfeiting the game, due to political reasons.
Awards edit
| 1959 World Championship winner |
|---|
 Brazil First title |
| Most Valuable Player |
|---|
 Amaury Pasos
|
Final standings edit
| Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil |
7–2 |
| 2 | United States |
7–2 |
| 3 | Chile |
2–4 |
| 4 | Formosa |
4–5 |
| 5 | Puerto Rico |
3–6 |
| 6 | Soviet Union |
7–2 |
| 7 | Bulgaria |
5–4 |
| 8 | Philippines |
4–2 |
| 9 | Uruguay |
2–4 |
| 10 | Argentina |
3–3 |
| 11 | United Arab Republic |
1–5 |
| 12 | Canada |
3–3 |
| 13 | Mexico |
0–6 |
Top scorers (points per game) edit
- James T. L. Chen (Formosa) 20.1
- Juan "Pachin" Vicens (Puerto Rico) 19.7
- Wlamir Marques (Brazil) 18.6
- Jerry Vayda (USA) 18
- Lio Jin Ron (Formosa) 16.7
- Dick Welsh (USA) 16.4
- Viktor Radev (Bulgaria) 15.25
- Amaury Pasos (Brazil) 15.22
- Jose Angel Cestero (Puerto Rico) 14.3
- Evelio Droz (Puerto Rico) 13.7
