History
Like the men's event, the Women’s World Championship was created by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). It began in 1953, three years after the first men's event, and was first held in Chile. For most of its early history, it was not held in the same year as the men's championship, and did not establish a consistent quadrennial cycle until 1967. After the 1983 event, FIBA changed the scheduling so that the women's tournament would be held in even-numbered non-Olympic years, a change that had come to the men's tournament in 1970.
The number of participating teams has remained at 16, unlike the men's event, which has been expanded to 24 and will expand further to 32 in 2019.
Only four teams have won titles in the history of the World Championship for Women. The United States has won eight titles, including five of the last seven. The Soviet Union won six titles, including five in a row from 1959 to 1975. The only other countries to win have been Brazil in 1994 and Australia in 2006.
After the 2014 World Cup and World Championship for Women, the two tournaments will no longer be played in the same year. The World Championship for Women will remain on the current four-year cycle, with the final tournament played in the same year as the FIFA World Cup, while the FIBA World Cup will move to a new cycle in which the final tournament will be held the year after the World Championship for Women. Accordingly, only the World Championship for Women will be held in 2018, with the FIBA World Cup following in 2019.
Read more about this topic: FIBA World Championship For Women
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