After five editions in Latin America, the World Cup landed in Europe, with Yugoslavia being the chosen host, a country with a basketball in full swing, as the tournament would show. The hosts, led on the court by the centre of the park by Cosic, had one day left to win the tournament. They did so after beating the United States (70-63) in a boiling Tivoli Palace in Ljubljana with 14,000 spectators in the stands

Brazil finished second after also defeating the United States (69-65) in a clear downgrade, and the USSR took bronze after beating Italy (62-58).

Yugoslavia 70
*Plecas – 12p
*Simonovic – 7p
*Cermak – 6p
*Skansi – 14p
*Cosic – 15p
Tvrdic – 4p
Jelovac – 0p
Rajkovic – 6p
Zorga – 0p
Kapicic – 2p
Daneu – 0p
Solman – 4p

United States 63
*Hillman – 12p
*McDonald – 10p
*Silliman – 16p
*Washington – 15p
*Wolf – 2p
Brody – 2p
Williams – 2p
Wilmore – 0p
Isaac – 2p
Smith – 2p
Luchini – 0p
Walton – 0p