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 super exciting international competition where the best netball teams from all over the world compete! It happens every four years and is organized by World Netball. The first tournament was held in 1963.

Teams from Australia and New Zealand have won most of the titles. Only one other team, Trinidad and Tobago, has ever won a championship. That happened in 1979, when three teams tied for the win! The most recent tournament was the 2023 Netball World Cup in South Africa, which Australia won.

History of the Netball World Cup

Sign remembering the 1979 World Netball Championships in Trinidad and Tobago.

The idea for the Netball World Cup started in 1960. Representatives from different countries met to make sure everyone played netball with the same rules. This meeting led to the creation of the International Federation of Netball Associations, which is now called World Netball.

At this first meeting, they decided to hold a World Championship every four years. The very first tournament was in 1963 and was hosted by England. For a long time, it was called the "World Netball Championships." But in 2015, the name changed to the Netball World Cup.

For many years, the tournament used a "round-robin" system. This meant every team played against every other team. Sometimes, this even led to more than one team being crowned champions, like in 1979! Since 1991, the tournament has had semi-finals and finals matches, making it more like other big sports competitions.

Australia and New Zealand have been the strongest teams, winning nearly all the titles. However, other teams like England, South Africa, and Jamaica have come very close to winning. For example, South Africa was second in 1995, and England was second in 2023.

Australia is the current champion, having beaten England in the 2023 final. The next Netball World Cup will be in Sydney, Australia, in 2027. After 2027, the tournament will happen every two years instead of four. This is because a Men's Netball World Cup will also start.

Netball World Cup Winners

The Netball World Cup has seen many exciting matches and champions over the years. Here's a look at the teams that have won the top spots:

Edition	Year	Host Country	Top Two Teams			Third and Fourth Place			Teams
			Champion	Score	Runner-up	Third	Score	Fourth
1	1963	England	Australia	Round-robin	New Zealand	England	Round-robin	Trinidad and Tobago	11
2	1967	Australia	New Zealand	Round-robin	Australia	South Africa	Round-robin	England	8
3	1971	Jamaica	Australia	Round-robin	New Zealand	England	Round-robin	Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago	9
4	1975	New Zealand	Australia	Round-robin	England	New Zealand	Round-robin	Trinidad and Tobago	11
5	1979	Trinidad and Tobago	Australia New Zealand Trinidad and Tobago	Round-robin	N/A	N/A	Round-robin	England	19
6	1983	Singapore	Australia	Round-robin	New Zealand	Trinidad and Tobago	Round-robin	England	14
7	1987	Scotland	New Zealand	Round-robin	Australia Trinidad and Tobago	N/A	Round-robin	England	17
8	1991	Australia	Australia	53–52	New Zealand	Jamaica	63–54	England	20
9	1995	England	Australia	68–48	South Africa	New Zealand	60–31	England	27
10	1999	New Zealand	Australia	42–41	New Zealand	England	57–43	Jamaica	26
11	2003	Jamaica	New Zealand	49–47	Australia	Jamaica	46–40	England	24
12	2007	New Zealand	Australia	42–38	New Zealand	Jamaica	53–52	England	16
13	2011	Singapore	Australia	58–57	New Zealand	England	70–49	Jamaica	16
14	2015	Australia	Australia	58–55	New Zealand	England	66–44	Jamaica	16
15	2019	England	New Zealand	52–51	Australia	England	58–42	South Africa	16
16	2023	South Africa	Australia	61–45	England	Jamaica	52–45	New Zealand	16
17	2027	Australia	N/A		N/A	N/A		N/A	N/A

Who Won the Most Titles?

Australia has won the Netball World Cup an amazing 12 times! New Zealand is second with 5 titles. Trinidad and Tobago has won once, sharing the title in 1979. England has been the runner-up twice and finished third six times. Jamaica has earned third place four times.

Images for kids

• 

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

• 

  Liz Ellis is a famous Australian netball player who won the World Cup three times.

See also

In Spanish: Campeonato Mundial de Netball para niños

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