Basketball at the 1968 Summer Olympics

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Basketball contests at the 1968 Summer Olympics was the seventh appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place at the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City, Mexico from October 13 to October 25, 1968. The United States defeated Yugoslavia to win their seventh consecutive gold medal in this sport, while the Soviet Union earned the bronze against Brazil.

7th Olympic Basketball Tournament
Mexico City 1968
Tournament details
Olympics1968 Summer Olympics
Host nationMexico
CityMexico City
DurationOctober 13–25, 1968
Men's tournament
Teams16
Medals
Gold medalists  United States
Silver medalists Yugoslavia
Bronze medalists  Soviet Union
Tournaments
← Tokyo 1964  Munich 1972 →

The Americans' record of seven basketball gold medals in a row was matched by their women's team in 2021 when they won the 2020 Olympics and then broken by the women's team in 2024.

Medal summary

Gold: Silver: Bronze:
 United States
Mike Barrett
John Clawson
Don Dee
Calvin Fowler
Spencer Haywood
Bill Hosket
Jim King
Glynn Saulters
Mike Silliman
Ken Spain
Jo Jo White
Charlie Scott 		 Yugoslavia
Dragutin Čermak
Krešimir Ćosić
Vladimir Cvetković
Ivo Daneu
Radivoj Korać
Zoran Marojević
Nikola Plećaš
Trajko Rajković
Dragoslav Ražnatović
Petar Skansi
Damir Šolman
Aljoša Žorga 		 Soviet Union
Anatoli Krikun
Modestas Paulauskas
Zurab Sakandelidze
Vadim Kapranov
Yuri Selikhov
Anatoli Polivoda
Sergei Belov
Priit Tomson
Sergei Kovalenko
Gennadi Volnov
Jaak Lipso
Vladimir Andreev

Qualification

Automatic qualifications were granted to the host country and the first five places at the previous tournament. Additional spots were decided by various continental tournaments held by FIBA plus two additional tournaments that granted two extra berths each.

Means of qualification Date Venue Berths Qualified
Host nation 1  Mexico
1964 Olympic Tournament 11–23 October 1964 Tokyo 5  United States
 Soviet Union
 Brazil
 Puerto Rico
 Italy
1967 Pan American Games 24 July–2 August 1967 Winnipeg 2  Cuba
 Panama
1967 ABC Championship 23 September – 1 October 1967 Seoul 2  Philippines
 South Korea
FIBA Africa Championship 1968 29 March–2 April 1968 Casablanca 2  Senegal
 Morocco
European Pre-Olympic Tournament 25 May–3 June 1968 Geneva 2  SFR Yugoslavia
 Bulgaria
Pan-Continental Pre-Olympic Tournament 26 September–2 October 1968 Monterrey 2  Poland
 Spain
Total 16

Format

  • Two groups of eight teams are formed, where the top two from each group compete for the medals in a knockout round.
  • The remaining places are defined as follows:
    • Fifth through eighth places are decided in a separate bracket between the third and fourth places from each group in a separate bracket.
    • Ninth through sixteenth places are decided between the fifth through eighth places from each group in separate brackets.

Squads

For the team rosters see: Basketball at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's team rosters.

Preliminary round

The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals, while the remaining teams compete for 5th through 16th places in separate brackets. Both group leaders, the United States and the Soviet Union advanced undefeated to the knockout stage.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  United States 7 7 0 599 392 +207 14 Semifinals
2  Yugoslavia 7 6 1 592 511 +81 13
3  Italy 7 5 2 562 539 +23 12 5th–8th classification round
4  Spain 7 4 3 557 548 +9 11
5  Puerto Rico 7 3 4 493 468 +25 10 9th–12th classification round
6  Panama 7 2 5 572 624 −52 9
7  Philippines 7 1 6 525 636 −111 8 13th–16th classification round
8  Senegal 7 0 7 383 565 −182 7
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.

October 13

United States  81–46  Spain
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Italy  91–66  Philippines
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Puerto Rico  69–26  Senegal
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
SFR Yugoslavia  96–85  Panama
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City

October 14

United States  93–36  Senegal
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Spain  108–79  Philippines
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Puerto Rico  72–93  SFR Yugoslavia
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Italy  94–87  Panama
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City

October 15

Senegal  65–84  SFR Yugoslavia
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Spain  88–82  Panama
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
United States  96–75  Philippines
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Puerto Rico  65–68  Italy
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City

October 16

Philippines  92–95  Panama
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Spain  86–62  Puerto Rico
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Senegal  55–81  Italy
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
United States  73–58  SFR Yugoslavia
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City

October 18

United States  95–60  Panama
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Senegal  54–64  Spain
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Philippines  65–89  Puerto Rico
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Italy  69–80  SFR Yugoslavia
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City

October 19

Panama  69–80  Puerto Rico
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Philippines  80–68  Senegal
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
SFR Yugoslavia  92–79  Spain
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
United States  100–61  Italy
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City

October 20

Panama  94–79  Senegal
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Italy  98–86  Spain
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
SFR Yugoslavia  89–68  Philippines
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
United States  61–56  Puerto Rico
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City

Group B

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Soviet Union 7 7 0 642 408 +234 14 Semifinals
2  Brazil 7 6 1 561 418 +143 13
3  Mexico (H) 7 5 2 493 443 +50 12 5th–8th classification round
4  Poland 7 4 3 473 504 −31 11
5  Bulgaria 7 3 4 456 478 −22 10 9th–12th classification round
6  Cuba 7 2 5 514 532 −18 9
7  South Korea 7 1 6 453 530 −77 8 13th–16th classification round
8  Morocco 7 0 7 355 634 −279 7
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
(H) Hosts

October 13

Brazil  98–52  Morocco
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Soviet Union  91–50  Poland
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Mexico  75–62  South Korea
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Cuba  61–70  Bulgaria
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City

October 14

Soviet Union  123–51  Morocco
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Poland  77–67  South Korea
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Brazil  75–59  Bulgaria
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Mexico  76–75  Cuba
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City

October 15

Morocco  59–77  Bulgaria
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Poland  78–75  Cuba
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Soviet Union  89–58  South Korea
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Mexico  53–60  Brazil
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City

October 16

Soviet Union  81–56  Bulgaria
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Morocco  38–86  Mexico
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Poland  51–88  Brazil
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
South Korea  71–80  Cuba
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City

October 18

Morocco  48–85  Poland
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Soviet Union  100–66  Cuba
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
South Korea  59–91  Brazil
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Mexico  73–63  Bulgaria
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City

October 19

Morocco  54–76  South Korea
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Cuba  68–84  Brazil
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Bulgaria  67–69  Poland
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Soviet Union  82–62  Mexico
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City

October 20

Morocco  53–89  Cuba
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Bulgaria  64–60  South Korea
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Mexico  68–63  Poland
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Soviet Union  76–65  Brazil
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City

Knockout stage

The much anticipated final between the United States and the Soviet Union would have to wait four years. Yugoslavia stunned the Soviets 63–62 in the semifinals. In the championship game the Americans had a slim 32-29 lead at intermission but put the game out of reach with a 22-3 streak to start the second half.

Medal bracket

Semifinals (October 22) Gold medal (October 25)
      
A1  United States 75
B2  Brazil 63
A1  United States 65
A2  SFR Yugoslavia 50
B1  Soviet Union 62
A2  SFR Yugoslavia 63 Bronze medal (October 25)
B2  Brazil 53
B1  Soviet Union 70

Classification brackets

5th–8th Place

Semifinals (October 22) 5th place (October 25)
      
A3  Italy 52
B4  Poland 66
B3  Poland 65
B4  Mexico 75
B3  Mexico 73
A4  Spain 72 7th place (October 25)
A3  Italy 72
A4  Spain 88

9th–12th Place

Semifinals (October 23) 9th place (October 24)
      
A5  Puerto Rico 71
B6  Cuba 65
A5  Puerto Rico 67
B5  Bulgaria 57
B5  Bulgaria 83
A6  Panama 79 11th place (October 24)
A6  Cuba 91
B6  Panama 88

13th–16th Place

Semifinals (October 23) 13th place (October 24)
      
A7  Philippines 86
B8  Morocco 57
A7  Philippines 66
B7  South Korea 63
B7  South Korea 76
A8  Senegal 59 15th place (October 24)
B8  Morocco 38
A8  Senegal 42

Awards

1968 Olympic Basketball Champions

United States
Seventh title

Final standings

Rank Team Pld W L
 United States 9 9 0
 SFR Yugoslavia 9 7 2
 Soviet Union 9 8 1
4th  Brazil 9 6 3
5th  Mexico 9 7 2
6th  Poland 9 5 4
7th  Spain 9 5 4
8th  Italy 9 5 4
9th  Puerto Rico 9 5 4
10th  Bulgaria 9 4 5
11th  Cuba 9 3 6
12th  Panama 9 2 7
13th  Philippines 9 3 6
14th  South Korea 9 2 7
15th  Senegal 9 1 8
16th  Morocco 9 0 9

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