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)

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 will once again host 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.

Qualified teams
Event Date Location Berths Qualified
Host nation 1  Japan
2004 Olympics August 15–28, 2004 Greece Athens 1  Argentina
2005 FIBA Africa Championship August 15–24, 2005 Algeria Algiers 3  Angola
 Senegal
 Nigeria
2005 FIBA Oceania Championship August 17–21, 2005 New Zealand Auckland and Dunedin 2  Australia
 New Zealand
2005 FIBA Americas Championship August 24–September 4, 2005 Dominican Republic Santo Domingo 4  Brazil
 Venezuela
 United States
 Panama
2005 FIBA Asia Championship September 8–16, 2005 Qatar 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
TOTAL24

Squads
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:

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

Group A

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[lower-alpha 1]
4  Serbia and Montenegro 5 2 3 409 352 +57 7[lower-alpha 1]
5  Lebanon 5 2 3 357 451 −94 7[lower-alpha 1]
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. 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

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

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

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[lower-alpha 1]
4  China 5 2 3 424 455 −31 7[lower-alpha 1]
5  Puerto Rico 5 2 3 432 440 −8 7[lower-alpha 1]
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. 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
All times are local JST (UTC+9).

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

Semifinals
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
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
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
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
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
Main article: 2006 FIBA World Championship Final
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
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
 2006 World Championship winner 

Spain
First title
Most Valuable Player
Spain Pau Gasol

All-Tournament Team
Main article: FIBA Basketball World Cup All-Tournament Team

Leading scorers
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

For the World Championship, FIBA selected 40 professional referees.

Group A
  • Japan Aibara, Nobuyasu
  • Iran Avanessian, Heros
  • Australia Aylen, Michael
  • Morocco Chlif, Abdellilah
  • Lithuania Dovidavičius, Virginijus
  • Italy Facchini, Fabio
  • Finland Jungebrand, Carl
  • United States Moore, Terry Matthew
  • Uruguay Trías Iglesias, Álvaro Darío
 Group B
  • Mozambique Muhimua Joao, Abreu
  • Serbia and Montenegro Belošević, Ilija
  • Puerto Rico Carrión, José Aníbal
  • Argentina Chiti, Alejandro César
  • Lebanon Noujaim, Rabah
  • Ukraine Ryzhyk, Borys
  • Slovakia Sudek, Petr
  • France Viator, Eddie
  • China Yang Maogong
 Group C
  • Spain Arteaga, Juan Carlos
  • Italy Cerebuch, Guerrino
  • Argentina Estévez, Pablo Alberto
  • Canada Homsy, Mike Amir
  • Dominican Republic Mercedes Sánchez, Reynaldo Antonio
  • Japan Miyatake, Yosuke
  • Croatia Muhvić, Dubravko
  • Slovenia Pukl, Saša
  • United States Rush, Eddie Fernanzo
  • Puerto Rico Vázquez, Jorge
 Group D
  • Israel Bachar, Shmuel
  • Lithuania Brazauskas, Romualdas
  • Australia Butler, Scott Jason
  • Venezuela Delgado Casadiego, Daniel Alfredo
  • Japan Hirahara, Yuji
  • Serbia and Montenegro Jovčić, Milivoje
  • Brazil Maranho, Cristiano Jesus
  • Spain Martín Bertrán, José Antonio
  • Angola Simão, Domingos Francisco

Sponsorship

• McDonald's

References
  1. Press Release no. 38: ITA, PUR, YUG and TUR receive Wild Cards
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