1963 FIBA World Championship
Tourney nameFIBA World Championship
Year1963
Other titlesFIBA Campeonato Mundial de Basquetebol Masculino de 1963
CountryBrazil
Dates12–25 May
OpenedJoão Goulart
Num teams13
Confederations3
Venues5
Cities5
ChampionBrazil
Champion-flagvar1960
Count2
SecondYugoslavia
ThirdSoviet Union
Third-flagvar1955
FourthUnited States
Fourth-flagvar1960
Games54
MvpWlamir Marques
Top scorerRicardo Duarte
(23.1 points per game)
Prevseason1959
Nextseason1967

The 1963 FIBA World Championship was the 4th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The competition was hosted by Brazil from 12 to 25 May 1963.

The Philippines was originally awarded the right to host the tournament, but FIBA rescinded this after the Filipino immigration officials refused to grant visas to players from communist countries.

Brazil, the defending champion and a previous host, re-hosted the championship from 12 to 25 May 1963, and won the first back-to-back title with just six games, having been seeded and entering the well-rested team in the final round only.

Background

The Philippines was supposed to host the FIBA World Championship in 1962 but FIBA revoked hosting rights after the government of then President Diosdado Macapagal, refused to grant visas to players and officials of socialists countries including Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union.[1][2] A smaller tournament, the Spalding Invitation Tournament was held in the Philippines in its place.[3]

The FIBA World Championship was held in 1963 in Brazil.

Competing nations

EventDateLocationBerthsQualified
Original host nation0Philippines
1959 FIBA World Championship / host nation16–31 January 1959Chile1Brazil
1960 Summer Olympics26 August–10 September 1960Rome1United States
EuroBasket 196129 April–8 May 1961Beograd3Soviet Union
Yugoslavia
France
South American Basketball Championship 196120–30 April 1961Rio de Janeiro3Peru
Uruguay
Argentina
Wild cards5Canada
Mexico
Puerto Rico
Italy
Japan

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: All bottom two teams from preliminary round group play each other once. The team with the best record is ranked eighth; the worst is ranked 13th.
  • Final round: All top two teams from preliminary round group, the 1960 Olympic champion, and the host team play each other once. The team with the best record wins the championship.

Awards

Most Valuable Player
Wlamir Marques

Final standings

RankTeamRecord
1Brazil6–0
2Yugoslavia8–1
3Soviet Union7–2
4United States6–3
5France4–5
6Puerto Rico3–6
7Italy2–7
8Argentina4–4
9Mexico4–4
10Uruguay4–4
11Canada3–5
12Peru2–6
13Japan1–7
—PhilippinesSuspended

All-Tournament Team

Main article: FIBA Basketball World Cup All-Tournament Team

Top scorers (ppg)

  1. Ricardo Duarte (Peru) 23.1
  2. Aleksander Petrov (USSR) 17.6
  3. Luis Enrique Grajeda (Mexico) 17.5
  4. Radivoj Korać (Yugoslavia) 16.8
  5. Maxime Dorigo (France) 16.8
  6. Alfredo Tulli (Argentina) 16.1
  7. Alberto Desimone (Argentina) 16
  8. Rafael Valle (Puerto Rico) 15.8
  9. Nemanja Đurić (Yugoslavia) 14.6
  10. Paolo Vittori (Italy) 14.3

References

  1. ^ Ramirez, Bert (4 August 2014). "Looking back: The 1978 World Basketball Championship in Manila (Part I)". Rappler. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  2. ^ "A roundup of the sports information of the week". Sports Illustrated. 17 December 1962. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  3. ^ Grana, Rhia. "A Doctor’s Mission to Protect the Legacy of Philippine Basketball". Esquiremag.ph. Retrieved 16 January 2026.