History of the Netball World Cup

The Netball World Cup is the sport's flagship international tournament, held every four years since its founding was agreed in 1960.

Founding the tournament

In 1960, representatives met in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), to establish an international governing body for the sport — originally named the International Federation of Women's Basketball and Netball Associations, and known today as World Netball. As part of that founding meeting, it was agreed that a World Netball Tournament would be held every four years.

The first tournament: Eastbourne, 1963

The inaugural World Netball Tournament was held outdoors at Chelsea College of Physical Education in Eastbourne, England, from 2 to 14 August 1963. Eleven national teams took part — Australia, New Zealand, England, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, the West Indies, Scotland, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Wales and Northern Ireland — in a round-robin format, each playing ten matches. Australia won all ten, the closest a 37–36 win over New Zealand, and are recognised as the inaugural champions, with New Zealand second and hosts England third.

Growth since 1963

Held every four years since, the tournament has grown considerably in scale and competitiveness, expanding to more participating nations and professionalising alongside the sport more broadly. It has been known by several names over the decades, including the World Netball Championships, before settling on its current name, the Netball World Cup.

That four-year rhythm is about to change: World Netball announced in 2025 that, after the 2027 tournament in Sydney, the World Cup will be held every two years, with a men's Netball World Cup also being added. See Netball World Cup for every winner since 1963.

Australia and New Zealand's early dominance

The tournament's early decades were dominated by Australia and New Zealand, reflecting the strength of domestic competition structures in both countries — a rivalry that remains one of the most significant in international netball today.

Beyond the World Cup

Netball later expanded into other major multi-sport events, joining the Commonwealth Games programme for the first time at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games — see history of netball for the broader story of the sport's international growth.

Sources

All information on this page is given to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing (October 2026), after referring to the sources below. Where sources disagree, we say so on the page.