Netball World Cup facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Netball World Cup

Formerly	World Netball Championships (1963–2011)
Sport	Netball
Founded	1963; 62 years ago (1963)
Inaugural season	1963
Administrator	World Netball
No. of teams	16 teams (2023)
Most recent champion(s)	Australia (12th title)
Most titles	Australia (12 titles)

The Netball World Cup is a major international netball competition. It happens every four years. World Netball organizes this exciting event. The first tournament was held in 1963.

Since it began, two teams have won most of the titles. These are the Australian and New Zealand teams. Only one other team, Trinidad and Tobago, has ever won a title. This happened in 1979 when they tied with Australia and New Zealand. The most recent tournament was in Cape Town, South Africa in 2023. Australia won that competition.

Netball World Cup History

Sign remembering the 1979 World Netball Championships in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

In 1960, important people from different countries met. They came from Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa, and the West Indies. Their goal was to make the rules of netball the same for everyone.

This meeting led to the creation of a new group. It was first called the International Federation of Women's Basketball and Netball. Later, its name changed to the International Federation of Netball Associations. At this first meeting, they set up the official rules for netball. They also decided to hold a World Championship tournament every four years.

The very first World Netball Championship took place in 1963. England was the host country for this historic event. In 2015, the tournament's name changed. It became the World Cup instead of the "Championships."

Before 1991, the tournament used a "round-robin" system. This meant every team played against every other team. Sometimes, this led to more than one country being named world champions. Since 1991, the tournament has had semi-finals and finals matches. This makes sure there is only one winner.

Most of the titles have been won by Australia or New Zealand. However, other strong netball nations have come close. These include England, South Africa, and Jamaica.

In 1979, Australia, New Zealand, and Trinidad and Tobago all shared the championship. South Africa finished second in 1995. England also came in second in 2023. Jamaica has often played for the bronze medal. They have also had very close games in the semi-finals.

The current world champions are Australia. They won against England in the 2023 final. Australia will defend their title in Sydney, Australia, in 2027.

Tournament Results

World Cup Winners and Runners-Up

This table shows the winners and top teams from each Netball World Cup.

Ed.	Year	Host	First/Second place			Third/Fourth place			Num. teams
			Champion	Score	Runner-up	Third	Score	Fourth
1	1963	England	Australia	Round-robin Eastbourne	New Zealand	England	Round-robin Eastbourne	Trinidad and Tobago	11
2	1967	Australia	New Zealand	Round-robin Matthews Netball Centre, Perth	Australia	South Africa	Round-robin Matthews Netball Centre, Perth	England	8
3	1971	Jamaica	Australia	Round-robin National Stadium, Kingston	New Zealand	England	Round-robin National Stadium, Kingston	Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago	9
4	1975	New Zealand	Australia	Round-robin Windmill Road, Auckland	England	New Zealand	Round-robin Windmill Road, Auckland	Trinidad and Tobago	11
5	1979	Trinidad and Tobago	Australia New Zealand Trinidad and Tobago	Round-robin West Park Complex, Port of Spain	N/A	N/A	Round-robin West Park Complex, Port of Spain	England	19
6	1983	Singapore	Australia	Round-robin National University, Singapore	New Zealand	Trinidad and Tobago	Round-robin National University, Singapore	England	14
7	1987	Scotland	New Zealand	Round-robin Crownpoint Sports Park, Glasgow	Australia Trinidad and Tobago	N/A	Round-robin Crownpoint Sports Park, Glasgow	England	17
8	1991	Australia	Australia	53–52 Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney	New Zealand	Jamaica	63–54 Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney	England	20
9	1995	England	Australia	68–48 National Indoor Arena, Birmingham	South Africa	New Zealand	60–31 National Indoor Arena, Birmingham	England	27
10	1999	New Zealand	Australia	42–41 Westpac Trust Centre, Christchurch	New Zealand	England	57–43 Westpac Trust Centre, Christchurch	Jamaica	26
11	2003	Jamaica	New Zealand	49–47 National Indoor Stadium, Kingston	Australia	Jamaica	46–40 National Indoor Stadium, Kingston	England	24
12	2007	New Zealand	Australia	42–38 Trusts Stadium, Auckland	New Zealand	Jamaica	53–52 Trusts Stadium, Auckland	England	16
13	2011	Singapore	Australia	58–57 Singapore Indoor Stadium, Kallang	New Zealand	England	70–49 Singapore Indoor Stadium, Kallang	Jamaica	16
14	2015	Australia	Australia	58–55 Allphones Arena, Sydney Olympic Park	New Zealand	England	66–44 Allphones Arena, Sydney Olympic Park	Jamaica	16
15	2019	England	New Zealand	52–51 Liverpool Arena, Liverpool	Australia	England	58–42 Liverpool Arena, Liverpool	South Africa	16
16	2023	South Africa	Australia	61–45 Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town	England	Jamaica	52–45 Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town	New Zealand	16
17	2027	Australia	N/A	Sydney SuperDome, Sydney Olympic Park	N/A	N/A	Sydney SuperDome, Sydney Olympic Park	N/A	N/A

How Nations Have Performed

This table shows how well different countries have done in the Netball World Cup. It lists how many times they've been champions, runners-up, or placed third or fourth.

Team	Champions	Runners-up	Third	Fourth	Apps in top six
Australia	12 (1963, 1971, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2023)	4 (1967, 1987, 2003, 2019)	N/A	N/A	16
New Zealand	5 (1967, 1979, 1987, 2003, 2019)	8 (1963, 1971, 1983, 1991, 1999, 2007, 2011, 2015)	2 (1975, 1991)	1 (2023)	16
Trinidad and Tobago	1 (1979)	1 (1987)	1 (1983)	3 (1963, 1971, 1975)	8
England	N/A	2 (1975, 2023)	6 (1963, 1971, 1999, 2011, 2015, 2019)	8 (1967, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995)	16
South Africa	N/A	1 (1995)	1 (1967)	1 (2019)	10
Jamaica	N/A	N/A	4 (1991, 2003, 2007, 2023)	4 (1971, 1999, 2011, 2015)	16

Images for kids

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  This map shows which countries have played in the Netball World Cup.

• 

  Liz Ellis is a famous Australian netball player. She won the World Cup three times with the Australian team.

See also

• World Netball (WN)
• World Netball Rankings
• World Netball Series
• Netball World Youth Cup