FIBA World Cup 1986 was held in Spain. It was the second time that the tournament was played on European soil, and the number of participants was expanded to 24.
This World Cup was marked by one of the biggest comebacks in basketball history in the semi-finals, while another final was played between United States and Soviet Union. The epilogue was different than four years earlier in Colombia. The final game was once again in the focus of world public, like everything that connected these two countries during the “Cold War”.
Yugoslavia continued to win medals. For the seventh time in a row, they finished on the podium. Nikos Galis introduced himself to the world. Someone who will become recognizable not only for Greek but also for European basketball.
Another tradition continued. Once again, MVP became a player who does not come from a championship team. Fully deserved, Drazen Petrovic received the award.
The number of participants increased to 24
Until the FIBA World Cup 2006 in Japan, this was the only one in which 24 national teams participated. The teams were divided into four groups of six selections each, so that the best three would qualify for the second stage.
Guaranteed spot at the 1986 FIBA World Cup was held by Spain as the host and the Soviet Union as reigning champion. Europe was also represented by Yugoslavia, France, Italy, West Germany, Greece, Israel and the Netherlands, while Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Panama arrived from the American continents.
The draw, which included a total of 24 national teams, was also filled by Angola and Ivory Coast as representatives of Africa, as well as China, South Korea, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand who arrived from Asia and Oceania.
One of the biggest comebacks in basketball history
At 50 seconds before the end of the semi-final game, Yugoslavia led 85:76 against Soviet Union. This fact alone tells you that it is much more difficult to lose such an advantage in basketball than to win the game. However, the “Blues” allowed an unreal comeback to the opponent.
First, Arvydas Sabonis hit a three-pointer for 85:79, and then Zoran Radovic lost the ball just a few seconds later, which cruelly punished Valeri Tikhonenko with another hit from downtown. Yugoslavia head coach Kresimir Cosic took a time-out to calm the team down, but a new shock will follow right after. The ball came into Vlade Divac‘s hands, and he got tangled up and made a travelling ten seconds before the end of the game.
“In those moments, the most important thing for me was to calm the players down. I remember that I didn’t say too much to them, I just wanted to support them and assure them that everything is still in our hands. I couldn’t even imagine that the youngest Vlade Divac could get the ball.” – coach Cosic said after the game.
In the last possession in regular time, Valdis Valters took responsibility and with another three-pointer for the Soviet Union, he sent the semi-final to overtime, in which his team won by 91:90. To make the tragedy for Yugoslavia even greater, the footage later showed that the Latvian stepped on the three-point line.
“I saw total loss in the eyes of the Yugoslav basketball players. I just had the feeling that they didn’t know where they are. I was firmly convinced that I couldn’t miss the triple. I was so carried away by the great atmosphere that I didn’t even look where my teammates were at that moment.” – Valters will talk later.
The grand finale and the United States “cold” revenge
In Colombia in 1982, the Soviet Union defeated the United States in a dramatic ending by 95:94. Doc Rivers missed the shot for win, and the “Americans” had to wait four years for the revenge.
The team led by David Robinson and Kenny Smith defeated the Soviet Union by 87:85 this time. During the final itself, nothing indicated that it would be any kind of drama late in the game. The United States led by 78:60 with eight minutes left, but then Arvydas Sabonis and Valdemaras Chomicius created a sensational comeback, and the score was 85:83 with 50 seconds left.
Smith took responsibility for the United States and he put an end to this final with a great penetration and layup. With 23 points, the aforementioned player was the best individual of the match, while Chomicius had 17 for the Soviet Union.
In addition to Robinson and Smith, this American team was adorned by individuals such as Steve Kerr, Brian Shaw, Mugsy Bogues, Sean Elliott… All of them will later have extremely successful careers.
In addition to his playing career where he was a member of the legendary Chicago Bulls, Kerr became famous as a head coach. He won four titles with the Golden State Warriors, and he will be the United States national team head coach in two weeks in Asia.
Drazen Petrovic debut, Nikos Galis introduction on the world stage and the beginning of Andrew Gaze legend
Drazen Petrovic made his debut at the World Cup in a spectacular way. In the victory against the Netherlands, the “Basketball Mozart” scored an incredible 47 points. Before that, he “packed” 34 to New Zealand, and in the fight for the bronze medal, he was the most responsible for Yugoslavia’s triumph against Brazil (117:91) with 23 points.
At the end of the tournament, Petrovic deservedly received the MVP award, including a place in the All-Tournament Team of the FIBA World Cup 1986. Along with him, there were also Arvydas Sabonis and Valeri Tikhonenko from the Soviet Union, Oscar Schmidt from Brazil and David Robinson from the United States.
Along with Petrovic, another European basketball legend made his debut at the World Cup. It was Nikos Galis. He was known in European circles as a top scorer, and at this championship he presented himself on the world stage.
Galis recorded an unreal 33.7 points on average and was by far the best scorer. It was clearly a record looking at all the championships, yet to be broken. In Spain, there were ten games where someone “counted” over 40 points, and the “Greek God” himself put four such matches next to his name.
Andrew Gaze is one of the few players who played at five Olympic Games. At this championship, the Australian was only 20 years old and still scored 37 points against Israel. He played three more Mundobaskets, plus in 2000 he carried the flag of his country at the Olympic Games in Sydney.
Trivia
As we have already mentioned, in this tournament there were ten games where one player had 40 or more points. That was no accident. The three-point shot was first introduced in 1984 and made its debut at the Mundobasket in Spain. By doing so, the players easily scored more points.
The Philippines were originally supposed to participate in the tournament, but due to financial struggles, they could not travel to Spain. Their place was “invaded” by Malaysia. Canada demolished them by 90-point difference (128:38), while against Yugoslavia they stayed at -70 (131:61).
After experimenting with a format of 24 national teams, FIBA reduced that number to 16 already four years later because there were simply not more than 20 competitive national teams at that time.