France will host the Men's Basketball World Cup for the first time in 2031, the International Basketball Federation announced on Wednesday. Japan will be the host country of the 2030 Women's World Cup.
Published on: 04/22/2026 - 1:08 p.m. Modified on: 04/22/2026 - 1:26 p.m.
A first for France. The country will host the World Basketball Championship in 2031, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) announced on Wednesday April 22.
Lille, Lyon and Paris will be the host cities of the competition, scheduled from August 29 to September 14, 2031. The final phase will take place in Paris.
At the same time, FIBA named Japan as the host country for the 2030 Women's World Cup.
“Japan and France are two nations passionate about basketball, two extremely popular destinations for our fans, our players and our partners,” FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis said in a statement.
“A lot of things line up”
Among the major sporting events recently organized in France are the Paris 2024 Olympic Games but also the men's Eurobasket, in 2015, or the women's Eurobasket, in 2013 and 2021.
In October 2025, the president of the French Basketball Federation (FFBB), Jean-Pierre Huckler, had already mentioned to AFP the interest in a single candidacy.
"There has never been a Basketball World Cup in France. There are quite a few things that line up (...) We are coming out of the Olympic Games which were euphoric, basketball ticket sales represented 10% of Olympic Games ticket sales, 1.1 million spectators, it's pharaonic," he said.
With AFP and Reuters
Keywords associated with the article
The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.
