| Highestgoverning body | IBSA |
|---|---|
| First played | 1978 |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | None |
| Type | |
| Equipment | Goalball Eyeshades |
| Presence | |
| Country or region | Worldwide |
| Paralympic | 1976 |
TheIBSA Goalball World Championships is an internationalgoalball tournament held every four years, since 1978, betweenParalympic Games goalball tournaments.[1] It is organised by theInternational Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Goalball Subcommittee.
A 'world' youth-level championships was created in 2005. It was not officially recognised in the Rules until the 2014–2017 version, and has no prescribed selection process unlike the World Championships orParalympic Games tournaments. Games are undertaken with the standard 1.25 kilograms (2.8 lb) competition ball. In December 2024, it was determined to hold the youth championships in odd-numbered years, commencing from 2026.[2]
Qualification for the World Championships is usually throughAfrica,Asia-Pacific,America, andEurope regional championships.
The inaugural world championships were held inVöcklamarkt,Austria. Final ranked men's teams were:Germany,Austria,Denmark,Italy,Belgium,Israel,Canada,United States of America, South Africa,Great Britain.[3]
The 1982 Goalball World Championships was held atButler University,Indianapolis,Indiana,United States of America. Final ranked teams were:[3]
The 1986 Goalball World Championships was held atRoermond,The Netherlands. Final ranked teams were:[3]
The 1990 Goalball World Championships was held inCalgary,Alberta,Canada. Final ranked teams were:[3]
The 1994 Goalball World Championships was held inColorado Springs,Colorado,United States of America. Final ranked teams were:[3]
The 1998 Goalball World Championships was held inMadrid,Spain. Final ranked teams were:[3]
The 2002 Goalball World Championships was held inRio de Janeiro,Brazil. The new long ball penalty rule was played (the ball must bounce once in each of the neutral areas), but quickly dismissed and the penalty reverted to the previous rule (the ball must bounce at least once in one or both of the neutral areas). There were fourteen men's and ten women's teams. The pools were:
Final ranked teams were:[3]
The 2006 Goalball World Championships was held inSpartanburg,South Carolina,United States of America. Hall 1 was in the main basketball court of theUniversity of South Carolina Upstate, while Hall 2 was at the nearby Lone Oak Elementary School. Most athletes stayed in the residences of the university.
The teams were:[3]
The 2010 Goalball World Championships was held inSheffield,England, from 20 to 25 June 2010.[4] The tournament was held in both halls of theEnglish Institute of Sport. Officials and many athletes stayed at the Novotel Hotel in theSheffield City Centre. Sponsorship and many volunteers were provided byCadbury and other corporations. The organising committee used theTwitter account 'worldgoalball'.
There were sixteen men's and twelve women's teams. The pools were:[3]
The 2014 Goalball World Championships was held inEspoo,Finland, from 30 June to 5 July 2014.[5] Awebcam was also used to broadcast the games at the tournament.
The pools were:[3]
The 2018 Goalball World Championships were held atMalmö,Sweden, for Sunday 3 to Friday 8 June 2018, with 16 men's teams and 12 women's teams. The international subcommittee has determined the 2014–2017 Rules about the world championships will apply in 2018. The 2018–2021 Rules states there will be 16 men's and 16 women's teams, which may be the format for the 2022 championships.
Held at the Baltiska Hallen sports and entertainment centre, Hall 2 was at the Baltiska träningshallen. The warm-up court was across the road from the main halls.[6] The pools are:
Final standings were (starting with first place):[7]
The 2022 Goalball World Championships were scheduled to be held inHangzhou,China, to commence Monday, 5 June 2022,[8] although originally set for Sunday 3 to Friday 15 July 2022.[9] Some precursor regional championships were moved due to the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic: IBSA America moved from 6 to 13 November 2021 to 18 to 22 February 2022,[9][10] and IBSA Asia moved from November 2021 to commence 21 March 2022.[11]
By June 2022, the IBSA Asia Regional Championships were moved from South Korea to theISA Sport City at Bahrain for July 2022,[12] and the Centro de Desportos e Congressos deMatosinhos, Portugal, to be the location for the World Championships from 7 to 16 December 2022.[13]
Final standings were (starting with first place):[14]
The 2026 Goalball World Championships are to be held atHangzhou, China, for Saturday 6 to Tuesday 16 June 2026, with 16 men's teams and 16 women's teams.[15] Men's teams may include the host nation of China, and 2024 Paris Paralympic Gamesmedalists Japan, Ukraine, and Brazil. Women's teams may include the host nation of China, and 2024 Paris Paralympic Games medalists Turkey, Israel, and China.
| Year | Host (final location) | Gold medal game | Bronze medal game | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Score | Silver | Bronze | Score | Fourth place | ||||
| 1978 |  (Voecklamarkt) |  Germany | Austria |  Denmark |  Italy | ||||
| 1982 |  (Indianapolis) | United States |  Netherlands |  Egypt |  Canada | ||||
| 1986 | (Roermond) |  Yugoslavia |  Israel |  Egypt | United States | ||||
| 1990 | (Calgary) | Germany | Italy | Yugoslavia | Israel | ||||
| 1994 | (Colorado Springs) |  Finland | Italy |  Slovenia |  Spain | ||||
| 1998 | (Madrid) | Slovenia | Spain |  Lithuania | Denmark | ||||
| 2002 |  (Rio de Janeiro) |  Sweden | Lithuania | Slovenia | Denmark | ||||
| 2006 | (Spartanburg) |  Lithuania | Sweden | United States | Slovenia | ||||
| 2010 |  (Sheffield) | Lithuania |  China |  Iran | United States | ||||
| 2014 | (Espoo) | Brazil | 9–1 | Finland | United States | 4–2 | Lithuania | ||
| 2018 | (Malmö) | Brazil | 8–3 | Germany |  Belgium | 9–2 | Lithuania | ||
| 2022 |  (Matosinhos) | Brazil | 6–5 | China |  Ukraine | 6–2 | Lithuania | ||
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil (BRA) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Lithuania (LTU) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | Germany (GER) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Finland (FIN) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Sweden (SWE) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 6 | Slovenia (SLO) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
 United States (USA) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| 8 | Yugoslavia (YUG) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | China (CHN) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Italy (ITA) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 11 | Austria (AUT) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Israel (ISR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Netherlands (NED) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Spain (ESP) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 15 | Egypt (EGY) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 16 | Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Denmark (DEN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Iran (IRI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Ukraine (UKR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (19 entries) | 12 | 12 | 12 | 36 | |
| Year | Host (final location) | Gold medal game | Bronze medal game | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Score | Silver | Bronze | Score | Fourth place | ||||
| 1982 | (Indianapolis) | United States | Denmark | Canada | Netherlands | ||||
| 1986 | (Roermond) | United States | Denmark | Netherlands | Finland | ||||
| 1990 | (Calgary) | Denmark | United States | Finland | Germany | ||||
| 1994 | (Colorado Springs) | Finland | Germany | Sweden | Denmark | ||||
| 1998 | (Madrid) | Finland | Sweden | United States | Great Britain | ||||
| 2002 | (Rio de Janeiro) | United States | Canada | Netherlands | Germany | ||||
| 2006 | (Spartanburg) | Canada | China | United States | Denmark | ||||
| 2010 | (Sheffield) | China | United States | Sweden | Canada | ||||
| 2014 | (Espoo) | United States | 3–0 |  Russia |  Turkey | 3–0 |  Japan | ||
| 2018 | (Malmö) | Russia | 4–3 | Turkey | Brazil | 7–2 | Canada | ||
| 2022 | (Matosinhos) | Turkey | 10–4 |  South Korea | Israel | 4–2 | Canada | ||
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States (USA) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 2 | Finland (FIN) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Denmark (DEN) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Canada (CAN) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Turkey (TUR) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| 6 | China (CHN) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Russia (RUS) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 8 | Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 | Germany (GER) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| South Korea (KOR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 11 | Netherlands (NED) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | Brazil (BRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Israel (ISR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (13 entries) | 11 | 11 | 11 | 33 | |
The 2005 Junior World Championships were held inColorado Springs,Colorado, United States of America. There were boys teams (including Canada, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, United States of America), and three national girls teams (Great Britain, South Africa, United States of America).
On 14 July 2007, the IBSA World Youth and Student Games 2007 were held.[1] Eight countries attended, eight boys teams (Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Russia, Thailand, United States of America) and four girls teams (Canada, Germany, Russia, United States of America).
From 16 to 19 July 2009, the IBSA World Youth and Student Championships, in conjunction with the 2009IBSA Pan American Games, were held inColorado Springs,Colorado, United States of America.[16]
Six countries attended, six boys teams (Bolivia, Canada, Germany, Kuwait, Russia, United States of America), and four girls teams (Canada,Germany,Russia,United States of America).
From 14 July 2011, the IBSA World Youth and Student Championships andPan Am Games, also known as the 2011 IBSA World Youth Championships, were held at Colorado College's El Pomar Gymnasium,Colorado Springs,Colorado, United States of America.[17]
Athletes were to be at least twelve years old on 13 July 2011 and not older than nineteen years old on 18 July 2011, and have avisual impairment classification ofB1,B2, orB3.[18]
From 13 July 2013, the IBSA Goalball World Youth Championships were held inColorado Springs,Colorado, United States of America.[1] Ten countries attended, nine boys teams (Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, United States of America) and seven girls teams (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, South Korea, United States of America).[19]
From 26 July 2015 to 1 August 2015, the 2015 IBSA World Youth Games Goalball Championships were held inColorado Springs,Colorado, United States of America.[1][20] Seven countries attended, six boys teams (Canada, Germany, Hungary, South Korea, Sweden, United States of America) and five girls teams (Canada, China, Germany, South Korea, United States of America).
From 30 June 2017 to 9 July 2017, the IBSA Goalball World Youth Championships were held inBudaörs,Hungary.[22] Organised by the Hungarian Paralympic Committee together with the Hungarian Handball Federation, athletes were to be no older than 19 as of 31 December 2017, and avisual impairment classification ofB1,B2, orB3. Eleven countries attended, ten boys teams (Brazil, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, United States of America), and nine girls teams (Australia, Brazil, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Russia, South Korea, Spain, United States of America).[23]
From Monday 5 August 2019 to Friday 9 August 2019 as competition days, the eighth IBSA Goalball World Youth Championships were held inPenrith,Sydney,Australia.[25] Organised by the New South Wales Goalball Association together with Goalball Australia and Blind Sports Australia, eight countries are expected to attend, six boys teams (Australia, Brazil, South Korea, Poland, Sweden, Thailand), and six girls teams (Australia, Brazil, Germany, Great Britain, South Korea, Thailand).[26]
The 2021 IBSA Goalball Youth World Championships were scheduled to be held inSão Paulo,Brazil, for Tuesday 27 to Saturday 31 July 2021.[28][29] Due to a busy 2021 competition year with rescheduled events due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, it was announced the tournament is to be held on Tuesday 15 to Sunday 20 March 2022.[30] Due to the ongoing global pandemic, the date was moved again to 9 to 16 July 2023.[31]
History of Goalball Results up to 2006 - Paralympics, World Championships & European Championships
