The first world basketball championship

In an effort to make basketball more popular around the world, the International Basketball Federation decided it was time to create a World Championship in the sport - just as a similar championship has been held in football for years. The decision was made during the Olympic Games in 1948, and two years later the first world basketball championship was held.

Where?

An interesting fact is that almost no country wants to take the risk of making a champion for a still unpopular sport. There are few candidates, and in the end, Argentina takes on the difficult task of providing the infrastructure for the first World Cup in sports. The host city is the capital Buenos Aires, and the chosen venue is Luna Park.

When?

The championship was held over 13 days - from November 22 to October 3, 1950.

Format?

The initial idea is for the participating teams to be 8 - the 3 best from the last Olympic Games (France, Brazil, USA), the two best teams in South America (Uruguay, Chile), the winner of EuroBasket (Egypt), the winner of Asia (South Korea) and the host Argentina. Koreans and Urus refused participation, and invitations were sent to Spain, Yugoslavia, Ecuador and Peru. So the teams become 10.

The format is extremely strange, being a combination of an elimination phase followed by final groups. In the eliminations, there is also an additional chance to qualify for the championship group, with the losing teams facing each other in "rematches". Thus, for example, Chile and France enter the championship group, which lost their first matches in the eliminations to the USA and Argentina, respectively.

The champion group

The winner of the tournament is determined in a final group of 6 teams, with each playing against each other. After all, on the last day of the tournament, there are two favorites - Argentina and the USA, and both teams have 4 wins and no losses. The last meeting in the tournament is between the two teams.

In it, the "gauchos" won decisively with 64:50 and became the first world basketball champion. Oscar Furlong, who is the best player of Argentina, scoring an average of 11.2 points, was announced as the most valuable player. The output is not great at all in the tournament, with only 6 players recording 10 points on average per match

The bronze medals go to Chile, which in a fierce battle with Brazil managed to win a place on the ladder of honor. The two teams end with an equal number of wins and losses in the final phase (2 wins, 3 losses), but in the direct clash the Chileans beat 51:40.

The top five in the tournament are as follows: Oscar Furlong, John Stanich (USA), Rufino Bernedo (Chile), Alvaro Salvadores (Spain) and Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina). The leading scorer in the tournament was Salvadores with 13.8 points per game on average, although Spain finished second to last in the standings.

The most curious moment of the tournament is in the match of "La Roja" against Yugoslavia, as the representatives of the Balkan country refuse to respect the anthem of their rival, and then do not want to go on the floor against the Spaniards. This necessitated a 2-0 victory in favor of Spain.

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