Wheelchair Basketball World Championship facts for kids

The IWBF World Wheelchair Basketball Championship is a big international competition for wheelchair basketball. National teams from all over the world compete in it. Both men's and women's teams take part. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) organizes this exciting event. The IWBF is the main group that runs wheelchair basketball globally.

The first unofficial World Championship for men happened in 1973. It was held in Bruges, Belgium. A team from Great Britain won this first event. A player named Philip Craven was on that winning team. He later became the President of the International Paralympic Committee. The first official World Championships, also called the Gold Cup, took place in Bruges in 1975.

For men, the United States has won the championship 7 times. Australia and Great Britain have each won twice. Israel, France, and Canada have each won once. Women's world championships started in 1990. Canada has won four women's titles. The United States has won two women's titles.

Past Winners

This table shows the winners of the World Wheelchair Basketball Championship over the years. It lists the host city and the winning teams for both men and women.

Number	Year	Host	Men	Women
1	1973*	Bruges (Belgium)	Great Britain	–
2	1975	Bruges (Belgium)	Israel	–
3	1979	Tampa (United States)	United States	–
4	1983	Halifax (Canada)	United States	–
5	1986	Melbourne (Australia)	United States	–
6	1990	Bruges (Belgium)	France	–
		Saint-Étienne (France)	–	United States
7	1994	Edmonton (Canada)	United States	–
		Stoke Mandeville (Great Britain)	–	Canada
8	1998	Sydney (Australia)	United States	Canada
9	2002	Kitakyushu (Japan)	United States	Canada
10	2006	Amsterdam (Netherlands)	Canada	Canada
11	2010	Birmingham (United Kingdom)	Australia	United States
12	2014	Incheon (South Korea)	Australia	–
		Toronto (Canada)	–	Canada
13	2018	Hamburg (Germany)	Great Britain	Netherlands
14	2022	Dubai (United Arab Emirates)	United States	Netherlands
15	2026	Ottawa (Canada)

* Unofficial Championship

Detailed Results

This section provides more details about the final games. You can see who played for gold and bronze medals.

Men's Tournament Results

Year	Dates	Host (final location)		Gold medal game				Bronze medal game
				Gold	Score	Silver		Bronze	Score	Fourth place
1973* Details		Belgium (Bruges)		Great Britain	50–37	France		Netherlands	–	Germany
1975 Details	28-31 July 16 Sept (Finals)	Belgium (Bruges)		Israel	50–47	United States		Great Britain	–	Netherlands
1979 Details	9-13 May	United States (Tampa)		United States	60–49	Netherlands		France	–	Israel
1983 Details	23-28 May	Canada (Halifax)		United States	86–67	France		Sweden	–	Israel
1986 Details	6-12 April	Australia (Melbourne)		United States	61–40	Canada		Netherlands	–	France
1990 Details	5-10 August	Belgium (Bruges)		France	62–61	United States		Canada	–	Netherlands
1994 Details	21-30 July	Canada (Edmonton)		United States	67–53	Great Britain		Canada	72–62	France
1998 Details	23-30 October	Australia (Sydney)		United States	61–59	Netherlands		Canada	63–56	Australia
2002 Details	23-31 August	Japan (Kitakyushu)		United States	64–55	Great Britain		Canada	58–47	Australia
2006 Details	6-15 July	Netherlands (Amsterdam)		Canada	59–41	United States		Australia	80–53	Netherlands
2010 Details	7-17 July	Great Britain (Birmingham)		Australia	79–69	France		United States	71–42	Italy
2014 Details	5-14 July	South Korea (Incheon)		Australia	63–57	United States		Turkey	68–63	Spain
2018 Details	16-26 August	Germany (Hamburg)		Great Britain	79–62	United States		Australia	68–57	Iran
2022 Details	9–20 June 2023	United Arab Emirates (Dubai)		United States	67–66	Great Britain		Iran	72–54	Netherlands
2026 Details	9–19 September	Canada (Ottawa)

* Unofficial Championship

Women's Tournament Results

Year	Dates	Host (final location)		Gold medal game				Bronze medal game
				Gold	Score	Silver		Bronze	Score	Fourth place
1990 Details	5-11 July	France (Saint-Étienne)		United States	58–55	Germany		Canada	–	Netherlands
1994 Details	6-13 August	Great Britain (Stoke Mandeville)		Canada	45–34	United States		Australia	38–36	Netherlands
1998 Details	26-30 Oct	Australia (Sydney)		Canada	54–38	United States		Australia	40–35	Japan
2002 Details	26-31 August	Japan (Kitakyushu)		Canada	51–46	United States		Australia	43–39	Japan
2006 Details	8-14 July	Netherlands (Amsterdam)		Canada	58–50	United States		Germany	52–48	Australia
2010 Details	7-16 July	Great Britain (Birmingham)		United States	55–53	Germany		Canada	59–49	Australia
2014 Details	20-28 July	Canada (Toronto)		Canada	54–50	Germany		Netherlands	74–58	United States
2018 Details	16-26 August	Germany (Hamburg)		Netherlands	56–40	Great Britain		Germany	44–43	China
2022 Details	9–20 June 2023	United Arab Emirates (Dubai)		Netherlands	57–34	China		United States	57–42	Germany
2026 Details	9–19 September	Canada (Ottawa)

Medal Count

This section shows which countries have won the most medals. It lists the total gold, silver, and bronze medals for both men's and women's teams.

Men's Medals (1973-2022)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	7	5	1	13
2	Great Britain	2	3	1	6
3	Australia	2	0	2	4
4	France	1	3	1	5
5	Canada	1	1	4	6
6	Israel	1	0	0	1
7	Netherlands	0	2	2	4
8	Iran	0	0	1	1
	Sweden	0	0	1	1
	Turkey	0	0	1	1
Totals (10 entries)		14	14	14	42

Women's Medals (1990-2022)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Canada	5	0	2	7
2	United States	2	4	1	7
3	Netherlands	2	0	1	3
4	Germany	0	3	2	5
5	China	0	1	0	1
	Great Britain	0	1	0	1
7	Australia	0	0	3	3
Totals (7 entries)		9	9	9	27

Participating Nations

These tables show how different countries have placed in the championships over the years.

Men's Nations

Year	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th
1973	GBR	FRA	NED	GER	BEL	SWE	ESP	SUI
1975	ISR	USA	GBR	NED	SWE	ITA	CAN	GER	BEL	SUI	POL
1979	USA	NED	FRA	ISR	CAN	SWE	ESP	GBR	BEL
1983	USA	FRA	SWE	ISR	NED	CAN	GER	GBR	JPN	BEL	AUS
1986	USA	CAN	NED	FRA	ISR	SWE	YUG	ITA	GER	AUS	GBR
1990	FRA	USA	CAN	NED	AUS	GER	JPN	SWE	BEL	ITA	AUT	GBR
1994	USA	GBR	CAN	FRA	NED	AUS	ESP	SWE	GER	ARG	JPN	ISR
1998	USA	NED	CAN	AUS	GBR	ESP	FRA	FIN	JPN	MEX	KOR	EGY
2002	USA	GBR	CAN	AUS	GER	FRA	NED	JPN	ISR	BRA	KOR	RSA
2006	CAN	USA	AUS	NED	GBR	SWE	JPN	ITA	BRA	ISR	FRA	RSA
2010	AUS	FRA	USA	ITA	GBR	POL	CAN	TUR	MEX	JPN	KOR	ALG
2014	AUS	USA	TUR	ESP	ITA	KOR	GBR	IRI	JPN	COL	GER	ARG	SWE	MEX	NED	ALG
2018	GBR	USA	AUS	IRI	ESP	POL	ARG	TUR	JPN	NED	ITA	CAN	GER	KOR	BRA	MAR
2022	USA	GBR	IRI	NED	ITA	CAN	AUS	GER	FRA	BRA	ARG	THA	KOR	EGY	IRQ	UAE

Women's Nations

Year	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th
1990	USA	GER	CAN	NED	FRA	AUS	GBR	ESP
1994	CAN	USA	AUS	NED	GER	GBR	JPN	FRA	ISR	ESP
1998	CAN	USA	AUS	JPN	GER	NED	GBR	MEX
2002	CAN	USA	AUS	JPN	MEX	NED	GER	GBR
2006	CAN	USA	GER	AUS	NED	JPN	MEX	FRA
2010	USA	GER	CAN	AUS	NED	GBR	JPN	CHN	MEX	BRA
2014	CAN	GER	NED	USA	GBR	AUS	CHN	FRA	JPN	MEX	BRA	PER
2018	NED	GBR	GER	CHN	CAN	USA	ESP	FRA	AUS	BRA	ARG	ALG
2022	NED	CHN	USA	GER	CAN	AUS	JPN	ESP	GBR	BRA	THA	ALG

Other Wheelchair Basketball Events

Besides the World Championship, there are many other important wheelchair basketball events. These include:

• Wheelchair basketball at the Summer Paralympics
• Wheelchair Eurobasket
• European Wheelchair Basketball Championship
• IWBF U23 World Wheelchair Basketball Championship (for players under 23)
• Africa Wheelchair Basketball Championship
• IWBF Champions Cup
• André Vergauwen Cup
• Willi Brinkmann Cup
• IWBF Challenge Cup
• Kitakyushu Champions Cup
• Wheelchair Basketball Intercontinental Cup (held in Turkey in June 2023)
• NCC 2023 International Köln (Nations Cup Cologne 2023 Continental Cup)
• 2023 Easter Tournament Wheelchair Basketball (the fifteenth edition, held in Belgium from April 7-9, 2023, with six teams)
• 3x3 wheelchair basketball tournaments (first held in Japan starting in autumn 2022)
• 2023 Osaka Cup (held in Osaka, Japan, from February 10-12, 2023)