Sport Basketball Inaugural season 1953 Country FIBA member nations | Founded 1953 No. of teams 16 Continent FIBA (International) | |
 | ||
The FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup (also called the Basketball World Championship for Women or the FIBA Women's World Cup) is a world basketball tournament for women's national teams held quadrennially. Its inaugural game was in 1953 with the four-year cycle established in 1967. The next FIBA Women's World Cup will be held in September/October 2018.
Contents
Formerly known as the FIBA World Championship for Women, the name changed shortly after its 2014 edition. From 1986 through 2014, the tournament was held in the same year as the men's FIBA Basketball World Cup, though in different countries. After the 2014 editions of both championships, the men's event was rescheduled on a new four-year cycle (the next in September 2019) to avoid conflict with the men's FIFA World Cup. The Women's World Cup (September 2018) remains on the current four-year cycle, with editions held in the same years as the men's FIFA World Cup (June and July 2018). The next FIFA Women's World Cup is in June and July 2019.
History
The Women’s World Cup was created by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). It began in 1953, held in Chile, three years after the first men's World Championship. For most of its early history, it was not held in the same year as the men's championship, and was not granted a consistent quadrennial cycle until 1967. After the 1983 event, FIBA changed the scheduling so that the women's tournament would be held in even-numbered non-Olympic years, a change that had come to the men's tournament in 1970.
The number of participating women's FIBA teams has remained at 16, unlike the men's event, which has been expanded to 24 and will expand further to 32 in 2019.
Only four nations have won titles in the history of the Women's World Cup. The United States has won the title nine times, including six of the last eight. The Soviet Union won six titles, including five in a row from 1959 to 1975. The only other countries to win have been Brazil in 1994 and Australia in 2006.
The 2014 World Championship for Women was the last tournament played in the same year as the men's, and also the last to be known as the "World Championship for Women". The Women's World Cup will remain on the current four-year cycle, with the final tournament played a few months after the men's FIFA World Cup. The men's FIBA World Cup will move to the year after the Women's World Cup. Accordingly, only the FIBA Women's World Cup will be held in 2018.
Summaries
Note: From 1953 through 1979 the medalists were decided in a league format instead of in a knockout tournament; results of the final round matches are shown.