2006 FIBA World Championship

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.

2006 FIBA World Championship
FIBA バスケットボール世界選手権 2006
FIBA Basukettobōru Sekai Senshuken 2006
Tournament details
Host countryJapan
Dates19 August – 3 September
Officially opened byAkihito
Teams24 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)5 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Spain (1st title)
Runners-up Greece
Third place United States
Fourth place Argentina
Tournament statistics
Games played80
MVPSpain Pau Gasol
Top scorerChina Yao Ming
(25.3 points per game)
2002
2010

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

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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

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

Qualified teams

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Event Date Location Berths Qualified
Host nation 1   Japan
2004 Olympics August 15–28, 2004   Athens 1   Argentina
2005 FIBA Africa Championship August 15–24, 2005   Algiers 3   Angola
  Senegal
  Nigeria
2005 FIBA Oceania Championship August 17–21, 2005   Auckland and Dunedin 2   Australia
  New Zealand
2005 FIBA Americas Championship August 24–September 4, 2005   Santo Domingo 4   Brazil
  Venezuela
  United States
  Panama
2005 FIBA Asia Championship September 8–16, 2005   Doha 3   China
  Lebanon
  Qatar
EuroBasket 2005 4–22 September 2005   Serbia and Montenegro 6   Greece
  Germany
  France
  Spain
  Lithuania
  Slovenia
Wild cards 4   Italy
  Puerto Rico
  Serbia and Montenegro
  Turkey
TOTAL 24

Squads

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

Competing nations

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The following national teams competed:

 
Teams that entered qualification tournaments; Asia (purple), Africa (orange), Americas (green), Europe (blue) and Oceania (yellow) and automatic qualifiers (aqua)
Group A Group B Group C Group D

  Argentina
  France
  Lebanon
  Nigeria
  Serbia and Montenegro
  Venezuela

  Angola
  Germany
  Japan
  New Zealand
  Panama
  Spain

  Australia
  Brazil
  Greece
  Lithuania
  Qatar
  Turkey

  China
  Italy
  Puerto Rico
  Senegal
  Slovenia
  United States

 
Teams qualified

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

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Group A

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Venue: Sendai Gymnasium, Sendai

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Argentina 5 5 0 464 339 +125 10 Round of 16
2   France 5 3 2 353 329 +24 8
3   Nigeria 5 2 3 371 393 −22 7[a]
4   Serbia and Montenegro 5 2 3 409 352 +57 7[a]
5   Lebanon 5 2 3 357 451 −94 7[a]
6   Venezuela 5 1 4 336 426 −90 6
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Head-to-head record: Nigeria 2–0, Serbia and Montenegro 1–1, Lebanon 0–2

19 August 2006

Venezuela   72–82   Lebanon
Serbia and Montenegro   75–82   Nigeria
Argentina   80–70   France

20 August 2006

Nigeria   77–84   Venezuela
Lebanon   72–107   Argentina
France   65–61   Serbia and Montenegro

21 August 2006

Argentina   96–54   Venezuela
Serbia and Montenegro   104–57   Lebanon
France   64–53   Nigeria

23 August 2006

Nigeria   64–98   Argentina
Venezuela   65–90   Serbia and Montenegro
Lebanon   74–73   France

24 August 2006

Serbia and Montenegro   79–83   Argentina
Lebanon   72–95   Nigeria
France   81–61   Venezuela

Group B

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Venue: Hiroshima Green Arena, Hiroshima

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Spain 5 5 0 476 336 +140 10 Round of 16
2   Germany 5 4 1 421 384 +37 9
3   Angola 5 3 2 451 406 +45 8
4   New Zealand 5 2 3 345 393 −48 7
5   Japan (H) 5 1 4 322 393 −71 6
6   Panama 5 0 5 326 429 −103 5
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
(H) Hosts

19 August 2006

Germany   81–70   Japan
Angola   83–70   Panama
Spain   86–70   New Zealand

20 August 2006

Japan   62–87   Angola
New Zealand   56–80   Germany
Panama   57–101   Spain

21 August 2006

Angola   95–73   New Zealand
Germany   71–92   Spain
Japan   78–61   Panama

23 August 2006

Spain   93–83   Angola
Panama   63–81   Germany
New Zealand   60–57   Japan

24 August 2006

Angola   103–108 (3OT)   Germany
New Zealand   86–75   Panama
Japan   55–104   Spain

Group C

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Venue: Hamamatsu Arena, Hamamatsu

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Greece 5 5 0 404 358 +46 10 Round of 16
2   Turkey 5 4 1 370 358 +12 9
3   Lithuania 5 3 2 413 353 +60 8
4   Australia 5 2 3 370 349 +21 7
5   Brazil 5 1 4 399 392 +7 6
6   Qatar 5 0 5 310 456 −146 5
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.

19 August 2006

Brazil   77–83   Australia
Greece   84–64   Qatar
Turkey   76–74   Lithuania

20 August 2006

Qatar   66–97   Brazil
Australia   68–76   Turkey
Lithuania   76–81(OT)   Greece

22 August 2006

Lithuania   106–65   Qatar
Greece   72–69   Australia
Turkey   73–71   Brazil

23 August 2006

Australia   57–78   Lithuania
Qatar   69–76   Turkey
Brazil   80–91   Greece

24 August 2006

Australia   93–46   Qatar
Lithuania   79–74   Brazil
Greece   76–69   Turkey

Group D

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Venue: Sapporo Arena, Sapporo

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   United States 5 5 0 543 428 +115 10 Round of 16
2   Italy 5 4 1 386 367 +19 9
3   Slovenia 5 2 3 434 433 +1 7[a]
4   China 5 2 3 424 455 −31 7[a]
5   Puerto Rico 5 2 3 432 440 −8 7[a]
6   Senegal 5 0 5 355 451 −96 5
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Head-to-head record: Slovenia 1–1 (1.04 GAvg), China 1–1 (0.99 GAvg), Puerto Rico 1–1 (0.97 GAvg)

19 August 2006

Puerto Rico   100–111   United States
Slovenia   96–79   Senegal
China   69–84   Italy

20 August 2006

Senegal   79–88   Puerto Rico
Italy   80–76   Slovenia
United States   121–90   China

22 August 2006

Puerto Rico   90–87 (OT)   China
Italy   64–56   Senegal
Slovenia   95–114   United States

23 August 2006

Senegal   83–100   China
Puerto Rico   82–90   Slovenia
United States   94–85   Italy

24 August 2006

Slovenia   77–78   China
Italy   73–72   Puerto Rico
United States   103–58   Senegal

Knockout stage

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Venue: Saitama Super Arena, Saitama

 
Round of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
              
 
26 August
 
 
  Argentina79
 
29 August
 
  New Zealand62
 
  Argentina83
 
26 August
 
  Turkey58
 
  Turkey90
 
1 September
 
  Slovenia84
 
  Argentina74
 
26 August
 
  Spain75
 
  Spain87
 
29 August
 
  Serbia and Montenegro75
 
  Spain89
 
26 August
 
  Lithuania67
 
  Italy68
 
3 September
 
  Lithuania71
 
  Spain70
 
27 August
 
  Greece47
 
  Greece95
 
30 August
 
  China64
 
  Greece73
 
27 August
 
  France56
 
  France68
 
1 September
 
  Angola62
 
  Greece101
 
27 August
 
  United States95 Third place
 
  United States113
 
30 August2 September
 
  Australia73
 
  United States85  United States96
 
27 August
 
  Germany65   Argentina81
 
  Germany78
 
 
  Nigeria77
 

Round of 16

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26 August 2006
10:00
Argentina   79–62   New Zealand
Scoring by quarter: 21–16, 16–13, 22–15, 20–18
Pts: Oberto 23
Rebs: Oberto 10
Asts: Sánchez 5
Pts: Dickel 15
Rebs: Bradshaw 5
Asts: Dickel 4
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Attendance: 9,100
26 August 2006
13:00
Italy   68–71   Lithuania
Scoring by quarter: 20–17, 15–19, 14–14, 19–21
Pts: Rocca, Di Bella 15
Rebs: Di Bella 9
Asts: Soragna 5
Pts: Macijauskas 15
Rebs: Javtokas 8
Asts: Kalnietis 2
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Attendance: 9,100
26 August 2006
17:00
Turkey   90–84   Slovenia
Scoring by quarter: 20–19, 24–17, 16–24, 30–24
Pts: Erdoğan 24
Rebs: Gönlüm 8
Asts: Arslan 3
Pts: Nachbar 18
Rebs: Nachbar 8
Asts: Bečirovič 5
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Attendance: 8,150
26 August 2006
20:00
Spain   87–75   Serbia and Montenegro
Scoring by quarter: 20–10, 23–21, 23–21, 21–23
Pts: Gasol 19
Rebs: Gasol 15
Asts: Calderón 4
Pts: Miličić 18
Rebs: Miličić 15
Asts: Popović 4
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Attendance: 8,150
27 August 2006
10:00
Germany   78–77   Nigeria
Scoring by quarter: 25–22, 23–22, 14–14, 16–19
Pts: Nowitzki 23
Rebs: Nowitzki 9
Asts: Nowitzki 5
Pts: Ibekwe 22
Rebs: Ibekwe 10
Asts: Muoneke 4
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Attendance: 14,800
27 August 2006
13:00
United States   113–73   Australia
Scoring by quarter: 27–23, 32–6, 29–20, 25–24
Pts: Johnson 18
Rebs: Bosh 9
Asts: Hinrich 5
Pts: Bogut 20
Rebs: Mackinnon 7
Asts: Bruton 4
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Attendance: 14,800
27 August 2006
17:00
France   68–62   Angola
Scoring by quarter: 17–6, 17–18, 15–11, 19–27
Pts: Jeanneau 16
Rebs: Piétrus 7
Asts: Jeanneau 5
Pts: Almeida 13
Rebs: Gomes 7
Asts: Cipriano 7
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Attendance: 12,900
27 August 2006
20:00
Greece   95–64   China
Scoring by quarter: 11–18, 30–18, 26–6, 28–22
Pts: Papaloukas 19
Rebs: Kakiouzis 7
Asts: Papaloukas 6
Pts: Wang S 16
Rebs: Yao 8
Asts: Chen, Zhu, Sun 2
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Attendance: 12,900

Quarterfinals

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29 August 2006
16:30
Spain   89–67   Lithuania
Scoring by quarter: 28–11, 19–19, 18–12, 24–25
Pts: Gasol 25
Rebs: Gasol 9
Asts: Navarro, Rodríguez 3
Pts: Lavrinovič 17
Rebs: Kleiza 14
Asts: Kleiza 5
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Attendance: 8,700
29 August 2006
19:30
Argentina   83–58   Turkey
Scoring by quarter: 25–16, 18–7, 32–17, 8–18
Pts: Nocioni 21
Rebs: Delfino 8
Asts: Sánchez 6
Pts: Akyol 11
Rebs: Peker 6
Asts: Demirel 4
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Attendance: 8,700
30 August 2006
16:30
Greece   73–56   France
Scoring by quarter: 12–8, 22–16, 19–19, 20–13
Pts: Papadopoulos, Fotsis 14
Rebs: Diamantidis 8
Asts: Diamantidis 5
Pts: Gelabale 12
Rebs: Piétrus, Diaw, Turiaf 6
Asts: Gomis, Jeanneau, Piétrus, Diaw 2
30 August 2006
19:30
United States   85–65   Germany
Scoring by quarter: 23–21, 17–18, 27–13, 18–13
Pts: Anthony 19
Rebs: Wade, Bosh 7
Asts: Paul 5
Pts: Okulaja, Nowitzki 15
Rebs: Okulaja, Nowitzki 9
Asts: Femerling 2

5th–8th classification

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Classification roundFifth place
 
      
 
31 August
 
 
  Lithuania84
 
2 September
 
  Turkey (OT)95
 
  Turkey56
 
31 August
 
  France64
 
  France75
 
 
  Germany73
 
Seventh place
 
 
3 September
 
 
  Lithuania77
 
 
  Germany62

Semifinals

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31 August 2006
16:30
Lithuania   84–95 (OT)   Turkey
Scoring by quarter: 10–19, 17–4, 21–17, 27–35, Overtime: 9–20
Pts: Songaila 17
Rebs: Lavrinovič 7
Asts: Lavrinovič 4
Pts: Kuqo 24
Rebs: Gönlüm 8
Asts: Arslan 5
31 August 2006
19:30
France   75–73   Germany
Scoring by quarter: 17–16, 21–15, 15–26, 22–16
Pts: Gomis 17
Rebs: Gelabale, Diaw 8
Asts: Diaw 3
Pts: Nowitzki 29
Rebs: Okulaja 10
Asts: Okulaja 4

Seventh place playoff

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3 September 2006
16:30
Lithuania   77–62   Germany
Scoring by quarter: 30–17, 17–24, 11–13, 19–8
Pts: Lavrinovič 18
Rebs: Kleiza 7
Asts: Javtokas 3
Pts: Nowitzki 18
Rebs: Okulaja, Nowitzki 6
Asts: Roller 3

Fifth place playoff

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2 September 2006
16:30
Turkey   56–64   France
Scoring by quarter: 7–20, 13–15, 23–14, 13–15
Pts: Atsür 15
Rebs: Gönlüm 11
Asts: Atsür, Arslan, İlyasova, Gönlüm 1
Pts: Pietrus 12
Rebs: Pietrus 9
Asts: Diaw 3

Semifinals

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1 September 2006
16:30
Greece   101–95   United States
Scoring by quarter: 14–20, 31–21, 32–24, 24–30
Pts: Spanoulis 22
Rebs: Kakiouzis 6
Asts: Papaloukas 12
Pts: Anthony 27
Rebs: Howard 7
Asts: James 5
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Attendance: 17,000
1 September 2006
19:30
Spain   75–74   Argentina
Scoring by quarter: 15–21, 25–17, 20–18, 15–18
Pts: Garbajosa 19
Rebs: Gasol 11
Asts: Navarro 5
Pts: Ginóbili 21
Rebs: Scola 8
Asts: Ginóbili 4
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Attendance: 17,000

Third place playoff

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2 September 2006
19:30
United States   96–81   Argentina
Scoring by quarter: 21–27, 29–22, 19–13, 27–19
Pts: Wade 32
Rebs: James 9
Asts: James 7
Pts: Scola 19
Rebs: Sánchez, Nocioni 6
Asts: Sánchez 6
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Attendance: 16,700

Final

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3 September 2006
19:30
Greece   47–70   Spain
Scoring by quarter: 12–18, 11–25, 11–11, 13–16
Pts: Kakiouzis 17
Rebs: Kakiouzis 9
Asts: Papaloukas, Diamantidis 3
Pts: Garbajosa, Navarro 20
Rebs: Jiménez 11
Asts: Garbajosa, Rodríguez 4
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Attendance: 18,500
Referees: Carl Jungebrand (FIN), Terry Moore (USA), Pablo Alberto Estévez (ARG)
 
Scene from the final
 
Spain's Gold Medal ceremony

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.

Final standings

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2006 FIBA World Championship final rankings.
  • Teams that were eliminated at the round of 16 are officially tied for 9th.
  • Teams that were 5th at their preliminary rounds are officially tied for 17th.
  • Teams that were 6th at their preliminary rounds are officially tied for 21st.
Rank Team Record
1   Spain 9–0
2   Greece 8–1
3   United States 8–1
4   Argentina 7–2
5   France 6–3
6   Turkey 6–3
7   Lithuania 5–4
8   Germany 5–4
9   Angola 3–3
  Australia 2–4
  China 2–4
  Italy 4–2
  New Zealand 2–4
  Nigeria 2–4
  Serbia and Montenegro 2–4
  Slovenia 2–4
17   Brazil 1–4
  Japan 1–4
  Lebanon 2–3
  Puerto Rico 2–3
21   Panama 0–5
  Qatar 0–5
  Senegal 0–5
  Venezuela 1–4

Awards

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 2006 World Championship winner 
 
Spain
First title
Most Valuable Player
  Pau Gasol

All-Tournament Team

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Leading scorers

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No. Player Team PPG
1
Yao Ming   China
25.3
2
Dirk Nowitzki   Germany
23.2
3
Pau Gasol   Spain
21.3
4
Carlos Arroyo   Puerto Rico
21.2
5
Larry Ayuso   Puerto Rico
21.2

Referees

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For the World Championship, FIBA selected 40 professional referees.

Group A
  •   Aibara, Nobuyasu
  •   Avanessian, Heros
  •   Aylen, Michael
  •   Chlif, Abdellilah
  •   Dovidavičius, Virginijus
  •   Facchini, Fabio
  •   Jungebrand, Carl
  •   Moore, Terry Matthew
  •   Trías Iglesias, Álvaro Darío
Group B
  •   Muhimua Joao, Abreu
  •   Belošević, Ilija
  •   Carrión, José Aníbal
  •   Chiti, Alejandro César
  •   Noujaim, Rabah
  •   Ryzhyk, Borys
  •   Sudek, Petr
  •   Viator, Eddie
  •   Yang Maogong
Group C
  •   Arteaga, Juan Carlos
  •   Cerebuch, Guerrino
  •   Estévez, Pablo Alberto
  •   Homsy, Mike Amir
  •   Mercedes Sánchez, Reynaldo Antonio
  •   Miyatake, Yosuke
  •   Muhvić, Dubravko
  •   Pukl, Saša
  •   Rush, Eddie Fernanzo
  •   Vázquez, Jorge
Group D
  •   Bachar, Shmuel
  •   Brazauskas, Romualdas
  •   Butler, Scott Jason
  •   Delgado Casadiego, Daniel Alfredo
  •   Hirahara, Yuji
  •   Jovčić, Milivoje
  •   Maranho, Cristiano Jesus
  •   Martín Bertrán, José Antonio
  •   Simão, Domingos Francisco

Sponsorship

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McDonald's

References

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