Key Worlds Links: Recaps of Every Game Rosters (New window) Stat Leaders: PPG RPG APG BPG SPG Also on this Page: 2006 Team Groupings How Teams Qualified Previous Results (2002) Year-by-year Winners All-time Medal Winners

The world basketball championship, taking place every four years, features top national teams representing their countries in the most significant basketball tournament on the planet. InsideHoops.com has daily coverage. Use all the links to your right, and also see the news stories (on FIBA's website) quoted below. Also know that you can watch the entire tournament on your computer.

Complete recaps of world basketball championships coming afternoon of Sept. 14. Also see tons of recap articles below (scroll down) on other sites, opening in a new window.

FINAL 2006 WORLD BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS:

1) Spain (Gold) 2) Greece (Silver) 3) USA (Bronze) 4) Argentina 5) France 6) Turkey 7) Lithuania 8) Germany

*9) Angola *9) Australia *9) China *9) Italy *9) New Zealand *9) Nigeria *9) Serbia & Mont *9) Slovenia

*17) Brazil *17) Japan *17) Lebanon *17) Puerto Rico *21) Panama *22) Qatar *23) Senegal *24) Venezuela

* = Tied for that spot


PRELIM ROUND WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
(Final Preliminary Round Standings - Includes Aug. 24)

GROUP A	W-L	GROUP B	W-L	Group C	W-L	Group D	W-L
1. Argentina	5-0	1. Spain	5-0	1. Greece	5-0	1. USA	5-0
2. France	3-2	2. Germany	4-1	2. Turkey	4-1	2. Italy	4-1
3. *Nigeria	2-3	3. Angola	3-2	3. Lithuania	3-2	3. *Slovenia	2-3
4. *Serbia & Montenegro	2-3	4. New Zealand	2-3	4. Australia	2-3	4. *China	2-3
5. *Lebanon	2-3	5. Japan	1-4	5. Brazil	1-4	5. *Puerto Rico	2-3
6. Venezuela	1-4	6. Panama	0-5	6. Qatar	0-5	6. Senegal	0-5

2006 World Basketball Championship News

Stories open in a new window. Close window after reading each article.


The FIBA 2006 World Basketball Championship will be in Japan. The world championships (or "Worlds") take place every four years and feature national teams. It's considered the biggest basketball tournament in the world by almost every country other than the United States, which popularly tends to think of the Olympic basketball competition as king. Both are huge, but the worlds stands out.

The 2006 championship tournament preliminary play (August 19-24) will be in Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center (Sapporo City), Sendai-city Gymnasium, Sendai City (Miyagi), Hamamatsu Arena, Hamamatsu City (Shizuoka) and Hiroshima Prefectural Sports Center, Hiroshima City (Hiroshima). The eigth finals are August 26-27. The Medal Round Quarterfinals are August 29-30. The 5th-8th Place Semifinals are August 31. The Medal Round Semifinals are September 1. The Bronze Medal Game & 5th/6th Place Games are September 2. The Gold Medal Games & 7th/8th Place Games are on September 3.

The final round will be played in the Saitama Super Arena, Saitama City, Saitama.

InsideHoops.com is now covering the event daily. Later today (Thursday) we're rolling out a complete calendar with key dates, exhibition and tournament schedules, and much more.

2006 Worlds Teams and Groups:

GROUP A: Argentina, Venezuela, France, Serbia & Montenegro, Lebanon, Nigeria
GROUP B: Spain, Panama, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Angola
GROUP C: Lithuania, Brazil, Greece, Turkey, Australia, Qatar
GROUP D: USA, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Italy, China, Senegal



How Each Team Qualified for 2006 Worlds:

1. Japan (Host Country/Ranked #25)
2. Argentina (2004 Olympic Champion/Ranked #3)
3. Angola (Africa Zone first place finisher/Ranked #17) (Angola defeated Senegal 70-61/FIBA Africa Qualifying Tournament - August 16-25, Algiers, Algeria)
4. Senegal (Africa Zone second place finisher/Ranked #30)
5. Nigeria (Africa Zone third place finisher/Ranked #21) (Nigeria deafted Algeria 88-76)
6. Brazil (Americas Zone first place finisher/Ranked #15) (Brazil defeated Argentina 100-88/FIBA Americas Qualifying Tournament, August 24-Sept. 4, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
7. Venezuela (Americas Zone third palce finsiher/Ranked #20) (Venezuela defeated USA 93-83)
8. USA (Americas Zone fourth place finisher/Ranked #1)
9. Panama (Americas Zone fifth place finisher/Ranked #34)
10. China (Asia Zone first place finisher/Ranked #14) (China defeated Lebanon 77-61/ FIBA Asia Qualifying Tournament - Sept. 8-16, Doha, Qatar)
11. Lebanon (Asia Zone second place finisher/Ranked #26)
12. Qatar (Asia Zone third place finisher/Ranked #28) (Qatar defeated South Korea 89-77)
13. Greece (European Zone first place finisher/Ranked #8) (Greece defeated Germany 78-62/FIBA Europe - Eurobasket, Sept. 15-25, Serbia & Montenegro)
14. Germany (European Zone second place finisher/Ranked #13)
15. France (European Zone third place finisher/Ranked #10) (France defeated Spain 98-68)
16. Spain (European Zone fourth place finisher/Ranked #5)
17. Lithuania (European Zone fifth place finisher/Ranked #4) (Lithuania defeated Slovenia 78-70)
18. Slovenia (European Zone sixth place finisher/Ranked #22)
19. Australia (Oceania Zone #1/Ranked #9) (Australia defeated New Zealand in a best of three series 3-0 to win the FIBA Oceania Championship. Australia won by scores of 84-74, 82-71, and 91-80. The Oceania Championship was held Aug 17-22, in Auckland and Dunedin, New Zealand)
20. New Zealand (Oceania Zone #2/Ranked #16)
21. Italy (Invited by FIBA/Ranked #6)
22. Puerto Rico (Invited by FIBA/Ranked #11)
23. Serbia & Montenegro (Invited by FIBA/Ranked #2)
24. Turkey (Invited by FIBA/Ranked #18)

All-Time World Championship Medal Winners:

Team           Gold  Silver  Bronze
Yugoslavia     5     3       2
United States  3     3       3
Soviet Union   3     3       2
Brazil         2     2       2
Argentina      1     1       0
Russia         0     2       0
Chile          0     0       2
Croatia        0     0       1
Germany        0     0       1
Philippines    0     0       1