# 1950 FIBA World Championship

The 1950 FIBA World Championship, also called the 1st World Basketball Championship – 1950, was the inaugural edition of the World Cup basketball tournament for men's national teams. It was held by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), from 22 October to 3 November 1950. Argentina hosted the competition at Luna Park in Buenos Aires, where ten nations participated in the event.
Argentina claimed the gold medal, by beating the United States 64–50 in the decisive game of the final round. After winning the tournament, Argentinian fans celebrated by burning newspapers which became known as the "Night of the Torches".

## Host and venue

In the aftermath of World War II, Argentina was chosen as host of the inaugural World Cup partly because of its neutrality during the war.
| Group | City | Arena | Capacity |
| Final round | Buenos Aires | Estadio Luna Park | 9,000 |

## Competing nations

FIBA determined the requirements to qualify for the World Championship to be as follows:
* The top three teams in the previous Olympic tournament (the United States, France and Brazil).
* The top two teams from the previous South American Championship (Uruguay and Chile).
* The winner of EuroBasket 1949 (Egypt).
* The top team in Asia (South Korea).
* The host country (Argentina).
Prior to the Championship, South Korea withdrew due to logistical and financial difficulties in travelling to Argentina, while Uruguay withdrew after Argentinian immigration officials refused the team visas to enter the country.
Subsequently, FIBA extended invitations to Ecuador, Yugoslavia, Spain, and Peru.
| Seeded to the 1st preliminary round | Seeded to the 2nd preliminary round |
| Egypt  Peru  Yugoslavia  Ecuador | Argentina  Brazil  Chile  France  Spain  United States |

## Preliminary rounds

| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | First repass round (1st and 2nd round losers) | First repass round (1st and 2nd round losers) | First repass round (1st and 2nd round losers) | Second repass round (1st repass round winners) | Second repass round (1st repass round winners) | Second repass round (1st repass round winners) |
| | | | Chile | Chile | 33 | | | | | | |
| | | | United States | United States | 37 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Chile | Chile | 40 | | | |
| | | | | | | Yugoslavia | Yugoslavia | 24 | | | |
| | | | Brazil | Brazil | 40 | | | | | | |
| Peru | Peru | 33 | Peru | Peru | 33 | | | | | | |
| Yugoslavia | Yugoslavia | 27 | | | | | | | Chile | Chile | 54 |
| | | | | | | | | | Spain | Spain | 40 |
| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | First repass round (1st and 2nd round losers) | First repass round (1st and 2nd round losers) | First repass round (1st and 2nd round losers) | Second repass round (1st repass round winners) | Second repass round (1st repass round winners) | Second repass round (1st repass round winners) |
| Egypt | Egypt | 43 | | | | | | | | | |
| Ecuador | Ecuador | 37 | Egypt | Egypt | 57 | | | | | | |
| | | | Spain | Spain | 56 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Ecuador | Ecuador | 43 | | | |
| | | | | | | France | France | 48 | | | |
| | | | Argentina | Argentina | 56 | | | | | | |
| | | | France | France | 40 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | Peru | Peru | 46 |
| | | | | | | | | | France | France | 49 |

### First phase

* 22 October
| Peru | 33–27 | Yugoslavia |
| Scoring by half: 18-16, 15-11 |||
* Buenos Aires
* 22 October
| Egypt | 43–37 | Ecuador |
| Scoring by half: 18-22, 25-15 |||
* Buenos Aires
* Egypt and Peru advance to the second preliminary phase.
* Ecuador and Yugoslavia advance to the first repass round.

### Second phase

* 23 October
| United States | 37–33 | Chile |
| Scoring by half: 20-19, 17-14 |||
* Buenos Aires
* 23 October
| Argentina | 56–40 | France |
| Scoring by half: 30-17, 26-23 |||
* Buenos Aires
* 23 October
| Peru | 33–40 | Brazil |
| Scoring by half: 15-16, 18-24 |||
* Buenos Aires
* 23 October
| Spain | 56–57 | Egypt |
| Scoring by half: 26-23, 30-34 |||
* Buenos Aires
* Argentina, Brazil, Egypt and USA advance to the final round.
* Chile and France advance to the first repass round
* Peru and Spain advance to the second repass round.

## Repass rounds
### First phase

* 24 October
| Chile | 40–24 | Yugoslavia |
| Scoring by half: 27-11, 13-13 |||
* Buenos Aires
* 24 October
| Ecuador | 43–48 | France |
| Scoring by half: 26-30, 17-18 |||
* Buenos Aires
* Chile and France advance to the second phase.
* Ecuador and Yugoslavia are relegated to the classification round.

### Second phase

* 25 October
| Spain | 40–54 | Chile |
| Scoring by half: 18-24, 22-30 |||
* Buenos Aires
* 25 October
| France | 49–46 (OT) (3-0) | Peru |
| Scoring by half: 25-22, 21-24 |||
* Buenos Aires
* Chile and France advance to the final round.
* Peru and Spain are relegated to the classification round.

## Classification round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 7 | Peru | 3 | 3 | 0 | 140 | 123 | +17 | 6 |
| 8 | Ecuador | 3 | 2 | 1 | 142 | 141 | +1 | 5 |
| 9 | Spain | 3 | 1 | 2 | 89 | 97 | −8 | 4 |
| 10 | Yugoslavia | 3 | 0 | 3 | 83 | 93 | −10 | 2 |
* 27 October
| Ecuador | 45–40 | Yugoslavia |
| Scoring by half: 14–15, 31–25 |||
* La Plata, Argentina
* 27 October
| Peru | 43–37 | Spain |
| Scoring by half: 20–19, 23–18 |||
* La Plata, Argentina
* 29 October
| Yugoslavia | 43–46 (OT) | Peru |
| Scoring by half: 24–14, 11–21 Overtime: 4–4, 4–7 |||
* Rosario, Argentina
* 29 October
| Ecuador | 54–50 | Spain |
| Scoring by half: 29–25, 25–25 |||
* Rosario, Argentina
* 30 October
| Spain | 2–0 | Yugoslavia |
| Yugoslavia refused to stand for the Spanish national anthem or play for political reasons. Spain was awarded the game on forfeit. |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 30 October
| Ecuador | 43–51 | Peru |
| Scoring by half: 17–23, 26–28 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina

## Final round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Argentina (C, H) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 300 | 200 | +100 | 10 |
| 2 | United States | 5 | 4 | 1 | 221 | 200 | +21 | 9 |
| 3 | Chile | 5 | 2 | 3 | 209 | 233 | −24 | 7 |
| 4 | Brazil | 5 | 2 | 3 | 214 | 182 | +32 | 7 |
| 5 | Egypt | 5 | 2 | 3 | 158 | 208 | −50 | 7 |
| 6 | France | 5 | 0 | 5 | 173 | 252 | −79 | 5 |
* 27 October
| Chile | 48–44 | France |
| Scoring by half: 27-19, 21-25 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 27 October
| Egypt | 32–34 | United States |
| Scoring by half: 19-18, 13-16 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 29 October
| Egypt | 31–28 | France |
| Scoring by half: 10-9, 21-19 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 29 October
| Argentina | 40–35 | Brazil |
| Scoring by half: 22-21, 18-14 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 30 October
| Argentina | 62–41 | Chile |
| Scoring by half: 36-17, 26-24 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 30 October
| Brazil | 42–45 | United States |
| Scoring by half: 25-26, 17-19 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 31 October
| Brazil | 38–19 | Egypt |
| Scoring by half: 17-11, 21-8 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 31 October
| Argentina | 66–41 | France |
| Scoring by half: 38-19, 28-22 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 1 November
| Chile | 29–44 | United States |
| Scoring by half: 12-29, 17-15 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 1 November
| Argentina | 68–33 | Egypt |
| Scoring by half: 35-15, 33-18 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 2 November
| France | 33–48 | United States |
| Scoring by half: 23-26, 10-22 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 2 November
| Brazil | 40–51 | Chile |
| Scoring by half: 17-25, 23-26 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 3 November
| Chile | 40–43 | Egypt |
| Scoring by half: 19-18, 21-25 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 3 November
| Brazil | 59–27 | France |
| Scoring by half: 31-14, 28-13 |||
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 3 November
| Argentina | 64–50 | United States |
| Scoring by half: 34-24, 30-26 |||
| Pts: Oscar Furlong 20 | | Pts: John Stanich 11 |
* Buenos Aires, Argentina Attendance: 20,000

## Awards

Argentina won its first-ever World Cup, and Oscar Furlong was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Furlong averaged a team-high and 11.2 points during the tournament, fourth highest of all players.
* 1950 World Championship winner
* Argentina First title
* Most Valuable Player
* Oscar Furlong
All-Tournament Team
* Oscar Furlong (Argentina)
* John Stanich (USA)
* Rufino Bernedo (Chile)
* Álvaro Salvadores (Spain)
* Ricardo González (Argentina)

## Final standings

| Rank | Team | Record |
| 1 | Argentina | 6–0 |
| 2 | United States | 5–1 |
| 3 | Chile | 4–4 |
| 4 | Brazil | 3–3 |
| 5 | Egypt | 4–3 |
| 6 | France | 2–6 |
| 7 | Peru | 4–2 |
| 8 | Ecuador | 2–3 |
| 9 | Spain | 1–4 |
| 10 | Yugoslavia | 0–5 |

## Team rosters

Source: FIBA archive
* Argentina: 8.Oscar Furlong, 11.Ricardo González, 3.Pedro Bustos, 5.Leopoldo Contarbio, 4.Hugo del Vecchio, 7.Vito Liva, 14.Alberto López, 10.Rubén Menini, 13.Omar Monza, 6.Raúl Pérez Varela, 12.Juan Carlos Uder, 9.Roberto Viau (Coach: Jorge Hugo Canavesi – Casimiro González Trilla])
* USA: 20.John Stanich, 66.Bob Fisher, 75.Bryce Heffley, 55.Thomas Jaquet, 33.Dan Kahler, 19.John Langdon, 40.Les Metzger, 44.J. L. Parks, 22.Jimmy Reese, 16.Don Slocum, 77.Blake Williams (Coach: Gordon Carpenter)
* Chile: Rufino Bernedo, Pedro Araya, Eduardo Cordero, Mariano Fernández, Exequiel Figueroa, Juan José Gallo, Raúl López, Luis Enrique Marmentini, Juan Ostoic, Hernán Ramos, Marcos Sánchez, Víctor Mahana (Coach: Kenneth Davidson)
* Brazil: 45.Zenny de Azevedo "Algodão", 46.Ruy de Freitas, 44.Alfredo da Motta, 48.Paulo Rodrigues Siqueira "Montanha", 42.Hélio Marques Pereira "Godinho", 46.Celso dos Santos, 47.Plutão de Macedo, 49.Sebastião Amorim Gimenez "Tiao", 50.Thales Monteiro, 51.Alexandre Gemignani, Milton Santos Marques "Miltinho", 53.Ângelo Bonfietti "Angelim" (Coach: Moacyr Brondi Daiuto)

## Top scorers

* Álvaro Salvadores (Spain) 13.8
* Fortunato Muñoz (Ecuador) 13.2
* Alfredo Arroyave (Ecuador) 11.4
* Oscar Furlong (Argentina) 11.2
* Rufino Bernedo (Chile) 10.8
* Ricardo González (Argentina) 10.7
* Eduardo Kucharski González (Spain) 9.8
* Hussein Kamel Montasser (Egypt) 8.8
* Eduardo Fiestas (Peru) 8.7
* Alberto Fernández (Peru) 8.2