World Cup

World Cup

Links
Wikipedia

Wikipedia - Netball World Cup

The Netball World Cup is a quadrennial international netball world championship organised by World Netball, inaugurated in 1963. Since its inception the competition has been dominated primarily by the Australia national netball team and the New Zealand national netball team, Trinidad and Tobago is the only other team to have won a title (a three-way tie in the 1979 championship). The most recent tournament was the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa, which was won by Australia.

History

Sign commemorating the 1979 World Netball Championships, held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

In 1960, representatives from Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and the West Indies met to discuss standardising the rules of the sport. This led to the establishment of the International Federation of Women's Basketball and Netball (which later became the International Federation of Netball Associations). Formal rules were established at this inaugural meeting and a decision to hold World Championship tournaments every four years was also made. The first World Netball Championship was held in 1963 and was hosted by England. The tournament was renamed to the World Cup as opposed to "Championships" in 2015. Since 1991 the tournament has maintained a format allowing semi-finals and finals matches to be played, where previously the tournament held no finals and instead utilised the round-robin system, which occasionally led to more than one nation being crowned world champions.

Australia or New Zealand have won all of the titles, though emerging netball nations England, South Africa and Jamaica have come close to dislodging the top-tier nations on several occasions. In 1979 Australia, New Zealand and Trinidad and Tobago were all joint champions. South Africa finished runners-up in 1995, England too in 2023. Jamaica have contested several bronze medal matches and come up short in narrow semi-final defeats. The reigning world champions are Australia, who defeated England in the 2023 final. They will defend their title in Sydney, Australia in 2027.

From 2027 onwards, the tournament will be held in a two-year cycle interval ahead of the inaugural Men’s Netball World Cup.

The Netball World Cup is the premier international tournament in the sport of netball, bringing together the world's top national teams to compete for the prestigious title. Held every four years, the event showcases exceptional skill, teamwork, and athleticism as teams from across the globe battle through intense matches to claim global supremacy. The tournament features a vibrant atmosphere with passionate fans, thrilling gameplay, and memorable moments that highlight the sport's speed, agility, and strategic depth. The Netball World Cup not only celebrates the best in international netball but also promotes the growth and popularity of the sport worldwide.