2006 FIBA World Championship Final 2006 FIBA World Championship Final The 2006 FIBA World Championship Final was a basketball game between the men's national teams of Greece and the Spain that took place on September 3, 2006, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. It was the first Final appearance for Spain, whose best achievement in the World Cup was the fourth place in 1982. Greece also made its first Final appearance, after finishing fourth in the last two tournaments. Spain won the Final 47–70, and won its first World Cup title. Also, Spain qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Spain had to play
History of the FIBA Basketball World Cup continued to improve with both qualifying for the second group stage. After the 2002 FIBA World Championship ushered in a new era of parity, FIBA made the decision to expand the 2006 tournament to 24 teams for the first time since the failed expansion in 1986. In announcing the expansion, FIBA cited the "increased level of basketball around the world and the increasing number of competitive teams at the highest level." FIBA also removed the second group stage; instead, the top four teams in each group of six would move on to a 16-team, single-elimination knockout stage. The host and