MIES (Switzerland) - International basketball has cause for a celebration on Saturday, March 7.
The date marks the 73rd anniversary of the first FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup that was staged in Santiago, Chile.
Do a comparison of the one to be held in Berlin from September 4 to 13 this year to the first in Chile and you will see very different events.
There were 10 teams at the inaugural edition, eight from the Americas and two from Europe. The teams that took part were USA, Chile, France, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Switzerland and Cuba.
In contrast, 16 teams will square off in Berlin later this year, with representation from Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe.
In 2026, there will be hosts Germany, USA, Australia, Belgium and Nigeria, with 11 other teams coming from this month's FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournaments in China, France, Puerto Rico and Türkiye.
Unlike the Women's World Cup in 1953, there will be daily international television and internet coverage of the 2026 tournament, and this year the games will be indoors at the Max-Schmeling-Halle and the Berlin Arena.
It was a little problematic to have outdoor games at the Stadio Nacional because occasional rain lead to slippery surfaces.
Even so, the big stadium in South America allowed for big crowds, with a capacity of more than 20,000. And a lot of seats were needed because the games were packed.
According to one newspaper article from the time, fan interest was so great that even Chilean President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo sometimes had trouble finding a seat.
At the first FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, games consisted of two 16-minute halves, with a 10-minute half-time.
The games were reportedly "electric...". Competition became so heated, in fact, with fans shouting at referees that "games were interrupted."
Among the headline names at the inaugural Women's World Cup were Anne Marie Golchen of France, who was the leading scorer of the event at 19.2 points per game.
Chile's Onesima Reyes, USA's Katherine Washington and Pauline Bowden and Switzerland's Éliane Girod also shone at the first World Cup.
The tournament format consisted of a preliminary round, a repechage round, a final round for places one through six and a classification round for the teams that came in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th.
One of the similarities to most of the Women's World Cups that have been played since? The USA won.
The Americans beat Chile in their last game for the title, 49-36, for the first of their 11 crowns in the 19 editions. They only had one blemish in Santiago, a 29-23 defeat to Brazil.
France came in third.
FIBA