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.
| FIBA Campeonato Mundial de Baloncesto de 1959 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Chile |
| Dates | 16–31 January |
| Officially opened by | Jorge Alessandri |
| Teams | 13 |
| Venue(s) | 5 (in 5 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Brazil (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  United States |
| Third place |  Chile |
| Fourth place |  Formosa |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 48 |
| MVP | Amaury Pasos |
| Top scorer | James T. L. Chen (20.1 points per game) |
← 1954 1963 → | |
The hosting cities for the competition were Antofagasta, Concepción, Temuco, Valparaíso, with the final stages being held at the capital of Santiago.
The final stages were supposed to be held at the newly constructed Metropolitan Indoor Stadium, but because the venue was not finished in time the games were postponed by a year from the original date and moved outdoors to the Estadio Nacional de Chile, configured in a way that the games were seen by a crowd of 16,000.
| Group A | Group B | Group C |
|---|---|---|
| Chile – advanced automatically to the final round as host
| ||
| 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 | |
| 3 |  Argentina
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 197 | 202 | −5 | 4 | Classification round |
| 4 |  United Arab Republic
|
3 | 0 | 3 | 179 | 239 | −60 | 3 |
16 January |
|
| United States |
87–73 | Argentina |
| Scoring by half: 48-27, 39-46 | ||
16 January |
|
| Formosa |
71–69 | United Arab Rep. |
| Scoring by half: 39-38, 32-31 | ||
17 January |
|
| Argentina |
65–52 | United Arab Rep. |
| Scoring by half: 36-32, 29-20 | ||
17 January |
|
| United States |
81–73 | Formosa |
| Scoring by half: 35-38, 46-35 | ||
18 January |
|
| Argentina |
59–63 | Formosa |
| Scoring by half: 33-31, 26-32 | ||
18 January |
|
| United Arab Rep. |
58–103 | United States |
| Scoring by half: 49-23, 54-35 | ||
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 211 | 175 | +36 | 5[a] | Final round |
| 2 |  Soviet Union
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 229 | 199 | +30 | 5[a] | |
| 3 |  Canada
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 169 | 174 | −5 | 5[a] | Classification round |
| 4 |  Mexico
|
3 | 0 | 3 | 173 | 234 | −61 | 3 |
16 January |
|
| Canada |
52–69 | Brazil |
| Scoring by half: 24-30, 28-39 | ||
16 January |
|
| Soviet Union |
102–72 | Mexico |
| Scoring by half: 48-42, 54-30 | ||
17 January |
|
| Canada |
54–51 | Mexico |
| Scoring by half: 26-19, 28-32 | ||
17 January |
|
| Soviet Union |
73–64 | Brazil |
| Scoring by half: 39-36, 34-28 | ||
18 January |
|
| Canada |
63–54 | Soviet Union |
| Scoring by half: 32-23, 31-31 | ||
18 January |
|
| Mexico |
50–78 | Brazil |
| Scoring by half: 20-50, 30-28 | ||
| 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 | |
| 3 |  Philippines
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 192 | 220 | −28 | 4 | Classification round |
| 4 |  Uruguay
|
3 | 0 | 3 | 181 | 211 | −30 | 3 |
16 January |
|
| Philippines |
68–59 | Uruguay |
| Scoring by half: 36-31, 32-28 | ||
16 January |
|
| Bulgaria |
67–55 | Puerto Rico |
| Scoring by half: 37-16, 30-39 | ||
17 January |
|
| Uruguay |
64–78 | Puerto Rico |
| Scoring by half: 37-40, 27-38 | ||
17 January |
|
| Bulgaria |
85–61 | Philippines |
| Scoring by half: 36-21, 49-40 | ||
18 January |
|
| Puerto Rico |
76–63 | Philippines |
| Scoring by half: 39-32, 37-31 | ||
18 January |
|
| Bulgaria |
65–58 | Uruguay |
| Scoring by half: 31-28, 34-30 | ||
| 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 | ||
22 January |
|
| Canada |
69–71 | United Arab Rep. |
| Scoring by half: 40-28, 29-43 | ||
23 January |
|
| Canada |
65–79 | Philippines |
| Scoring by half: 33-31, 32-48 | ||
| 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 | ||
22 January |
|
| Mexico |
47–54 | Uruguay |
| Scoring by half: 20-25, 27-29 | ||
23 January |
|
| Argentina |
75–66 | Mexico |
| Scoring by half: 34-34, 41-32 | ||
Valparaíso, Chile |
25 January |
|
| Canada |
64–56 | Mexico |
| Scoring by half: 33-25, 31-31 | ||
25 January |
|
| United Arab Rep. |
59–61 | Argentina |
| Scoring by half: 29-32, 30-29 | ||
25 January |
|
| Philippines |
78–70 | Uruguay |
| Scoring by half: 47-36, 31-34 | ||
| 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[a] |
| 4 | Formosa
|
6 | 2 | 4 | 315 | 350 | −35 | 8[a] |
| 5 | Puerto Rico
|
6 | 1 | 5 | 397 | 471 | −74 | 7 |
| 6 | Soviet Union[b]
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 365 | 264 | +101 | 10 |
| 7 | Bulgaria[b]
|
6 | 2 | 4 | 315 | 338 | −23 | 7 |
20 January |
|
| Chile |
86–85 (OT) | Formosa |
| Scoring by half: 35-27, 36-44 Overtime: 15-14 | ||
21 January |
|
| Puerto Rico |
55–84 | Soviet Union |
| Scoring by half: 29-26, 26-58 | ||
21 January |
|
| Bulgaria |
58–63 | United States |
| Scoring by half: 27-26, 31-37 | ||
22 January |
|
| Brazil |
94–76 | Formosa |
| Scoring by half: 56-35, 38-41 | ||
22 January |
|
| Chile |
83–71 | Puerto Rico |
| Scoring by half: 46-31, 37-40 | ||
23 January |
|
| Brazil |
62–53 | Bulgaria |
| Scoring by half: 30-28, 32-25 | ||
23 January |
|
| United States |
54–53 | Puerto Rico |
| Scoring by half: 25-32, 29-21 | ||
24 January |
|
| Brazil |
63–66 | Soviet Union |
| Scoring by half: 31-30, 32-36 | ||
24 January |
|
| Bulgaria |
76–71 | Chile |
| Scoring by half: 37-33, 39-38 | ||
26 January |
|
| Formosa |
69–85 | United States |
| Scoring by half: 32-33, 37-52 | ||
26 January |
|
| Bulgaria |
58–78 | Soviet Union |
| Scoring by half: 18-35, 40-43 | ||
27 January |
|
| Formosa |
81–85 | Puerto Rico |
| Scoring by half: 34-42, 47-43 | ||
27 January |
|
| Chile |
49–75 | Soviet Union |
| Scoring by half: 28-35, 21-40 | ||
28 January |
|
| Brazil |
99–71 | Puerto Rico |
| Scoring by half: 45-29, 54-42 | ||
28 January |
|
| United States |
37–62 | Soviet Union |
| Scoring by half: 14-25, 23-37 | ||
29 January |
|
| Bulgaria |
70–62 | Puerto Rico |
| Scoring by half: 35-25, 35-37 | ||
29 January |
|
| Chile |
55–64 | United States |
30 January |
|
| Formosa |
2–0 | Soviet Union |
30 January |
|
| Brazil |
81–67 | United States |
| Scoring by half: 40-37, 41-30 | ||
31 January |
|
| Bulgaria |
0–2 | Formosa |
31 January |
|
| Brazil |
73–49 | Chile |
| Scoring by half: 37-21, 36-28 | ||
| 1959 World Championship winner |
|---|
 Brazil First title |
| Most Valuable Player |
|---|
 Amaury Pasos
|
| 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 |
