2006 FIBA World Championship explained

Tourney Name:	FIBA World Championship
Year:	2006
Other Titles:	FIBA バスケットボール世界選手権 2006 FIBA Basukettobōru Sekai Senshuken 2006
Size:	145
Country:	Japan
Dates:	19 August – 3 September
Opened:	Akihito
Num Teams:	24
Confederations:	5
Venues:	5
Cities:	5
Champion:	Spain
Count:	1
Second:	Greece
Third:	United States
Fourth:	Argentina
Games:	80
Mvp:	Pau Gasol
Top Scorer:	Yao Ming (25.3 points per game)
Prevseason:	2002
Nextseason:	2010

The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), Japan Basketball Association (JABBA) and the 2006 Organising Committee.

For the first time since 1986, the World Championship was contested by 24 nations, eight more than in 2002. As a result, group rounds were conducted in four cities, with the knockout rounds being hosted by Saitama City.

Spain won the tournament by beating Greece 70–47 in the championship final. Spain won all nine games they played. Spain's gold medal in this tournament was the first medal Spain had ever won in a FIBA World Championship. Pau Gasol also became the first Spaniard to win the MVP award. It was the first time a country has won all nine of its games since 1994 when the United States won all nine games and took the gold medal home. The bronze medal was won by the United States, who defeated Argentina, 96–81, in the third place game, after a semi-finals loss to Greece. Up to 2019, including the 2014 tournament, it has been the only tournament where neither Yugoslavia or the USA have reached the final. The 2006 tournament marked the final appearance of Serbia and Montenegro as they broke up into the independent nations of Serbia and Montenegro after a successful independence referendum in Montenegro in May.

Seventeen years after the 2006 edition, Japan once again hosted the FIBA World Championships, now called the World Cup in 2023 in Okinawa along with the Philippines and Indonesia.

Venues

Hamamatsu		Sapporo
Hamamatsu Arena Capacity: 5,100		Sapporo Arena Capacity: 6,400

Hiroshima	Saitama	Sendai
Hiroshima Green Arena Capacity: 6,900	Saitama Super Arena Capacity: 21,000	Sendai Gymnasium Capacity: 6,100

Qualification

There were 24 teams taking part in the 2006 World Cup of Basketball.

Host nation: 1 berth
2004 Summer Olympics: 12 teams competing for 1 berth, removed from that country's FIBA zone
FIBA Africa: 12 teams competing for 3 berths
FIBA Oceania: 2 teams competing for 2 berths
FIBA Americas: 10 teams competing for 4 berths
FIBA Asia: 16 teams competing for 3 berths
FIBA Europe: 16 teams competing for 6 berths
Wild card: 4 berths

Qualified teams

Event	Date	Location	Berths
Host nation			1
2004 Olympics	August 15–28, 2004	Athens	1
2005 FIBA Africa Championship	August 15–24, 2005	Algiers	3
2005 FIBA Oceania Championship	August 17–21, 2005	Auckland and Dunedin	2
2005 FIBA Americas Championship	August 24–September 4, 2005	Santo Domingo	4
2005 FIBA Asia Championship	September 8–16, 2005	Doha	3
EuroBasket 2005	4–22 September 2005		6
Wild cards			4
TOTAL			24

Squads

See main article: 2006 FIBA World Championship squads.

At the start of tournament, all 24 participating countries had 12 players on their roster.

Competing nations

The following national teams competed:

width=25%	Group A	width=25%	Group B	width=25%	Group C	width=25%	Group D

Japan qualified as the host country, and Italy, Puerto Rico, Serbia and Montenegro, and Turkey gained FIBA wild-card invitations.^[1] Argentina qualified as the champion of the 2004 Olympics. The remaining 18 countries qualified through their continents' qualifying tournaments (six from Europe, four from the Americas, three from each of Asia and Africa and two from Oceania).

The draw for the 2006 World Championship was held in Tokyo on 15 January 2006. In the preliminary rounds, Group A played at Sendai, Group B at Hiroshima, Group C at Hamamatsu and Group D at Sapporo. The Medal Rounds were played at Saitama.

Group stage

Group A

Venue: Sendai Gymnasium, Sendai

19 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	72–82
	75–82
	80–70

20 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	77–84
	72–107
	65–61

21 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	96–54
	104–57
	64–53

23 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	64–98
	65–90
	74–73

24 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	79–83
	72–95
	81–61

Group B

Venue: Hiroshima Green Arena, Hiroshima

19 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	81–70
	83–70
	86–70

20 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	62–87
	56–80
	57–101

21 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	95–73
	71–92
	78–61

23 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	93–83
	63–81
	60–57

24 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	103–108 (3OT)
	86–75
	55–104

Group C

Venue: Hamamatsu Arena, Hamamatsu

19 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	77–83
	84–64
	76–74

20 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	66–97
	68–76
	76–81(OT)

22 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	106–65
	72–69
	73–71

23 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	57–78
	69–76
	80–91

24 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	93–46
	79–74
	76–69

Group D

Venue: Sapporo Arena, Sapporo

19 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	100–111
	96–79
	69–84

20 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	79–88
	80–76
	121–90

22 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	90–87 (OT)
	64–56
	95–114

23 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	83–100
	82–90
	94–85

24 August 2006

width=200		width=100	width=200
	77–78
	73–72
	103–58

Knockout stage

Venue: Saitama Super Arena, Saitama

5th–8th classification

Fifth place playoff

Final

See main article: 2006 FIBA World Championship Final. Since the inaugural competition in 1950 the five competing countries for the title had always been two of Argentina, United States, Soviet Union, Brazil and Yugoslavia, one of which always being either United States or Yugoslavia. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia took its place in the finals of 1994 and 1998, and after the breakup of Yugoslavia, FR Yugoslavia took its place in the finals of 1998 and 2002. The 2006 final was the first and only one in which none of these five teams competed.

The final was an unexpectedly one-sided affair, with Spain dominating from the beginning and limiting Greece to just 47 points, fewer than the Greeks had scored in any single game in the tournament, and less than half what Greece had scored against the US in the semifinals. Spain won despite having lost power forward Pau Gasol, who was ultimately named the tournament's most valuable player, to injury in a semifinal match against Argentina.