# 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.

## Competing nations

| Group A | Group B | Group 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

| 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 | Final round |
| 3 | Argentina | 3 | 1 | 2 | 197 | 202 | −5 | 4 | Classification round |
| 4 | United Arab Republic | 3 | 0 | 3 | 179 | 239 | −60 | 3 | Classification round |
* 16 January
| United States | 87–73 | Argentina |
| Scoring by half: 48-27, 39-46 |||
* Concepción, Chile
* 16 January
| Formosa | 71–69 | United Arab Rep. |
| Scoring by half: 39-38, 32-31 |||
* Concepción, Chile
* 17 January
| Argentina | 65–52 | United Arab Rep. |
| Scoring by half: 36-32, 29-20 |||
* Concepción, Chile
* 17 January
| United States | 81–73 | Formosa |
| Scoring by half: 35-38, 46-35 |||
* Concepción, Chile
* 18 January
| Argentina | 59–63 | Formosa |
| Scoring by half: 33-31, 26-32 |||
* Concepción, Chile
* 18 January
| United Arab Rep. | 58–103 | United States |
| Scoring by half: 49-23, 54-35 |||
* Concepción, Chile

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Brazil | 3 | 2 | 1 | 211 | 175 | +36 | 5 | Final round |
| 2 | Soviet Union | 3 | 2 | 1 | 229 | 199 | +30 | 5 | Final round |
| 3 | Canada | 3 | 2 | 1 | 169 | 174 | −5 | 5 | Classification round |
| 4 | Mexico | 3 | 0 | 3 | 173 | 234 | −61 | 3 | Classification round |
* 1 2 3 Head-to-head record: Brazil 1–1 (1.06 GAvg), Soviet Union 1–1 (1.00 GAvg), Canada 1–1 (0.94 GAvg)
* 16 January
| Canada | 52–69 | Brazil |
| Scoring by half: 24-30, 28-39 |||
* Temuco, Chile
* 16 January
| Soviet Union | 102–72 | Mexico |
| Scoring by half: 48-42, 54-30 |||
* Temuco, Chile
* 17 January
| Canada | 54–51 | Mexico |
| Scoring by half: 26-19, 28-32 |||
* Temuco, Chile
* 17 January
| Soviet Union | 73–64 | Brazil |
| Scoring by half: 39-36, 34-28 |||
* Temuco, Chile
* 18 January
| Canada | 63–54 | Soviet Union |
| Scoring by half: 32-23, 31-31 |||
* Temuco, Chile
* 18 January
| Mexico | 50–78 | Brazil |
| Scoring by half: 20-50, 30-28 |||
* Temuco, Chile

### Group C

| 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 | Final round |
| 3 | Philippines | 3 | 1 | 2 | 192 | 220 | −28 | 4 | Classification round |
| 4 | Uruguay | 3 | 0 | 3 | 181 | 211 | −30 | 3 | Classification round |
* 16 January
| Philippines | 68–59 | Uruguay |
| Scoring by half: 36-31, 32-28 |||
* Antofagasta, Chile
* 16 January
| Bulgaria | 67–55 | Puerto Rico |
| Scoring by half: 37-16, 30-39 |||
* Antofagasta, Chile
* 17 January
| Uruguay | 64–78 | Puerto Rico |
| Scoring by half: 37-40, 27-38 |||
* Antofagasta, Chile
* 17 January
| Bulgaria | 85–61 | Philippines |
| Scoring by half: 36-21, 49-40 |||
* Antofagasta, Chile
* 18 January
| Puerto Rico | 76–63 | Philippines |
| Scoring by half: 39-32, 37-31 |||
* Antofagasta, Chile
* 18 January
| Bulgaria | 65–58 | Uruguay |
| Scoring by half: 31-28, 34-30 |||
* Antofagasta, Chile

## Classification round
### First round
#### Group D

| 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 |
* 21 January
| Philippines | 66–65 | United Arab Rep. |
| Scoring by half: 25-29, 41-36 |||
* Valparaíso, Chile
* 22 January
| Canada | 69–71 | United Arab Rep. |
| Scoring by half: 40-28, 29-43 |||
* Valparaíso, Chile
* 23 January
| Canada | 65–79 | Philippines |
| Scoring by half: 33-31, 32-48 |||
* Valparaíso, Chile

#### Group E

| 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 |
* 21 January
| Argentina | 48–51 | Uruguay |
| Scoring by half: 19-22, 29-29 |||
* Valparaíso, Chile
* 22 January
| Mexico | 47–54 | Uruguay |
| Scoring by half: 20-25, 27-29 |||
* Valparaíso, Chile
* 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 |||
* Valparaíso, Chile

#### Tenth place playoff

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

#### Eighth place playoff

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

## Final round

| 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 |
| 4 | Formosa | 6 | 2 | 4 | 315 | 350 | −35 | 8 |
| 5 | Puerto Rico | 6 | 1 | 5 | 397 | 471 | −74 | 7 |
| 6 | Soviet Union | 6 | 5 | 1 | 365 | 264 | +101 | 10 |
| 7 | Bulgaria | 6 | 2 | 4 | 315 | 338 | −23 | 7 |
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Chile 1–0 Formosa
* 1 2 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.
* 20 January
| Chile | 86–85 (OT) | Formosa |
| Scoring by half: 35-27, 36-44 Overtime: 15-14 |||
* Santiago
* 21 January
| Puerto Rico | 55–84 | Soviet Union |
| Scoring by half: 29-26, 26-58 |||
* Santiago
* 21 January
| Bulgaria | 58–63 | United States |
| Scoring by half: 27-26, 31-37 |||
* Santiago
* 22 January
| Brazil | 94–76 | Formosa |
| Scoring by half: 56-35, 38-41 |||
* Santiago
* 22 January
| Chile | 83–71 | Puerto Rico |
| Scoring by half: 46-31, 37-40 |||
* Santiago
* 23 January
| Brazil | 62–53 | Bulgaria |
| Scoring by half: 30-28, 32-25 |||
* Santiago
* 23 January
| United States | 54–53 | Puerto Rico |
| Scoring by half: 25-32, 29-21 |||
* Santiago
* 24 January
| Brazil | 63–66 | Soviet Union |
| Scoring by half: 31-30, 32-36 |||
* Santiago
* 24 January
| Bulgaria | 76–71 | Chile |
| Scoring by half: 37-33, 39-38 |||
* Santiago
* 26 January
| Formosa | 69–85 | United States |
| Scoring by half: 32-33, 37-52 |||
* Santiago
* 26 January
| Bulgaria | 58–78 | Soviet Union |
| Scoring by half: 18-35, 40-43 |||
* Santiago
* 27 January
| Formosa | 81–85 | Puerto Rico |
| Scoring by half: 34-42, 47-43 |||
* Santiago
* 27 January
| Chile | 49–75 | Soviet Union |
| Scoring by half: 28-35, 21-40 |||
* Santiago
* 28 January
| Brazil | 99–71 | Puerto Rico |
| Scoring by half: 45-29, 54-42 |||
* Santiago
* 28 January
| United States | 37–62 | Soviet Union |
| Scoring by half: 14-25, 23-37 |||
* Santiago
* 29 January
| Bulgaria | 70–62 | Puerto Rico |
| Scoring by half: 35-25, 35-37 |||
* Santiago
* 29 January
| Chile | 55–64 | United States |
* Santiago
* 30 January
| Formosa | 2–0 | Soviet Union |
* Santiago
* 30 January
| Brazil | 81–67 | United States |
| Scoring by half: 40-37, 41-30 |||
* Santiago
* 31 January
| Bulgaria | 0–2 | Formosa |
* Santiago
* 31 January
| Brazil | 73–49 | Chile |
| Scoring by half: 37-21, 36-28 |||
* Santiago

## Awards

* 1959 World Championship winner
* Brazil First title
* Most Valuable Player
* Amaury Pasos

## Final standings

| 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)

* 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

## All-Tournament team

* Juan Vicéns
* Amaury Pasos (MVP)
* Wlamir Marques
* Atanas Atanasov
* Jānis Krūmiņš