FIBA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL WORLD CUP
The Basketball World Cup for Women, usually referred to as the FIBA Women’s World Cup or just the FIBA Women’s World Cup, is an international basketball competition for women’s national teams that is held every four years. The International Basketball Federation developed it (FIBA). Three years following the first men’s World Championship, it played its first match in Chile in 1953. It was not held in the same year as the men’s championship for the most of its early existence, and it wasn’t given a reliable quadrennial cycle until 1967. The women’s tournament was moved to even-numbered non-Olympic years after the 1983 competition, a change that had also been made to the men’s tournament in 1970.
The FIBA World Championship for Women, as it was formerly known, had a name change shortly after its 2014 edition. From 1986 to 2014, the competition was staged in a different nation each year than the men’s FIBA Basketball World Cup. The men’s event was moved to a new four-year cycle after the 2014 editions of both championships to avoid competition with the men’s FIFA World Cup, but the women’s event has remained on the same cycle since then, with editions held in the same years as the men’s FIFA World Cup and the finals tournament played a few months after it. The following FIBA Women’s World Cup will take place in Australia in 2022.
HISTORY
In the Women’s World Cup’s history, only four countries have won championships. Ten national teams took part in the first event, which was held in Chile in 1953. The United States won the first championship despite falling to Brazil in the championship game. The US team and the Soviet team, who made their World Championship debut, began their long-running rivalry at the following competition, which took place in 1957 in Brazil. On the final day of the competition, these teams played their first official match, which served as the title game.
In 1959, the third World Championship was place in Moscow, USSR. Only 8 Eastern Bloc nations were able to compete at the championship because of the Cold War’s effects on global political tensions. As a result, the United States and its allies were unable to attend the event. While the US team was absent, the Soviet team won their first World championship, Bulgaria won silver, and Czechoslovakia came in third. However, at the following World Championship, which was held in Peru in 1964, all these Eastern European teams also occupied the entire podium. The Soviet Union won their second consecutive championship, followed by Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria for silver and bronze, with the United States coming in fourth.
The Soviet Union dominated women’s basketball for the following 20 years, and this tournament signaled the start of that era. Soviet Union’s squad won three further World Championships in 1967 (Czechoslovakia), 1971 (Brazil), and 1975, all under the direction of head coach Lidiya Alekseyev a (Colombia). Eastern European and East Asian teams won the vast majority of medals at these competitions, with the United States even failing to get to the final round. Generally speaking, the Soviet side won all 40 of its matches from 1959 to 1975 by a margin of 10 points or more, setting a record for the most consecutive victories.
2022 FIBA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL WORLD CUP
The 19th FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, the highest international competition for women’s national basketball teams, will take place between September 22 and October 1, 2022, in Sydney, Australia.
VENUES
The tournament will take place in two venues.
| Sydney Super Dome | State Sports Centre |
| Capacity: 21,032 | Capacity: 5,006 |