The men's 10,000 metres event featured at the 1987 World Championships in Rome, Italy. There were a total number of 30 participating athletes, with the final being held on 29 August 1987. The winning margin was 10.35 seconds. As of 2024, this is the only time the men's 10,000 metres has been won by more than four seconds at these championships.
| Gold |  Paul KipkoechKenya (KEN) | |
| Silver |  Francesco PanettaItaly (ITA) | |
| Bronze | Hansjörg Kunze East Germany (GDR) |
Existing records at the start of the event.
| World Record | 27:13.81 | Stockholm, Sweden | July 2, 1984 | ||
| Championship Record | 27:45.54 | Helsinki, Finland | August 7, 1983 |
| RANK | FINAL | TIME | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27:38.63 CR | |||
| 27:48.98 | |||
| 27:50.37 | |||
| 4. | 27:59.66 | ||
| 5. | 28:03.08 | ||
| 6. | 28:05.59 | ||
| 7. | 28:07.17 NR | ||
| 8. | 28:11.38 | ||
| 9. | 28:19.47 | ||
| 10. | 28:20.24 | ||
| 11. | 28:28.24 | ||
| 12. | 28:29.08 | ||
| 13. | 28:29.21 | ||
| 14. | 28:30.00 | ||
| 15. | 28:31.97 | ||
| 16. | 28:33.77 | ||
| 17. | 28:34.58 | ||
| 18. | 28:34.96 | ||
| 19. | 28:41.89 | ||
| 20. | 28:45.89 | ||
| 21. | 29:00.33 | ||
| 22. | 29:06.40 | ||
| 23. | 29:10.45 | ||
| 24. | 29:17.09 | ||
| 25. | 29:21.35 | ||
| 26. | 29:22.14 | ||
| - | DNF | ||
| - | DNF | ||
| - | DNS | ||
| - | DNS |