The World Freshwater Angling Championships is a freshwater angling competition. Participating countries fish in teams of five with titles awarded to the team with the fewest points, the competition area is split into sections and the winner with the most weight will be awarded one point, two for second, three for third, at the end of the two days the team with the least points is the top team. Since its inception in 1954, the competition has been staged on rivers, canals and still waters from a selected host nation. Currently (to 2021), the world championships have not been held outside of Europe.

The 68th event was held in September 2022 at Bilje, in Osijek-Baranja County, Croatia. Held at Lake Biljsko Jezero which holds prussian carp, dwarf catfish, grass carp, catfish, asp, bighead, red perch, silver bream, ide and carassius.^[1] First-time world champions were Serbia, with Italy in second place and Czech Republic in third.^[2] and the individual new world champion was Mihael Pongrac of Croatia.^[3]

The 69th World Freshwater Coarse Angling Championships was held in Mequinenza-Fayón, Spain on 9-10th September 2023.^[4] and the team event won by Serbia, for a second consecutive year, with England in second place, and France in third.^[5] The individual world championship winner was Esteve Martinez , with James Dent and Sean Ashby of England in second and third place.^[6]

Brief history

The inaugural world championship was held in West Germany in 1954 and won by team England,^[7] with the first individual title going to Gino Vigarani of Italy.^[8] In 1992, Dave Wesson, an Australian, became the only non-European to win the title.^[9] The 2020 World Freshwater Angling Championships was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[10] but resumed in 2021.^[11] The host nation have been team champions on 15 occasions, with the strongest nation at home being Italy who have won on their own waters 6 times, the others were Belgium 2, France, Luxembourg, Romania, East Germany, West Germany, England, Spain.^[9] The host nation has produced a home grown individual world champion from just 9 events of the 67 fished (one in seven).^[12] For a video history of this major angling event, see External links at the bottom of this page.

World Championship Nations Team Results

Year	Venue and Host Country	World Champions	P/Pts	Runners-up	P/Pts	3rd Place Team	P/Pts	Reference
1954	Düsseldorf, West Germany	England	50	Belgium	70	Italy	71	[7][8]
1955	Reading, England	Luxembourg	69	Belgium	71	France	74	[7][8]
1956	Paris, France	France	39	Belgium	64	Luxembourg	71	[7][8]
1957	Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Italy	23	Luxembourg	52	France	54	[7][8]
1958	Huy, Belgium	Belgium	29	France	32	Luxembourg	86	[7][8]
1959	Neuchatel, Switzerland	France	71	Italy	103	Switzerland	104	[7][8]
1960	Gdańsk, Poland	Belgium	36	France	61	West Germany	87	[7][8]
1961	Merseburg, East Germany	East Germany	44	Belgium	66	England	70	[7][8]
1962	Lac de Garde, Italy	Italy	21	France	27	Belgium	95	[7]
1963	Wormeldange, Luxembourg	France	57	Italy	77	England	80	[7]
1964	Isola dei Pescatori, Italy	France	6	Italy	9	Austria	20	[7]
1965	Galati, Romania	Romania	22	Poland	27	France	32	[7]
1966	River Thurne, Martham Ferry, England	France	8	Belgium	15	Italy	24	[7][13]
1967	Dunaújváros, Hungary	Belgium	12	France	17	England	25	[7]
1968	Fermoy, Ireland	France	18	West Germany	24	Romania	25	[7]
1969	Bad Oldesloe, West Germany	Netherlands	17	Belgium	19	France	21	[7]
1970	Berg, Netherlands	Belgium	8	Netherlands	14	France	16	[7]
1971	Peschiera del Garda, Italy	Italy	6	Belgium	21	France	25	[7]
1972	Prague, Czechoslovakia	France	12	England	24	Italy	25	[7]
1973	Chalon-sur-Saône, France	Belgium	10	France	16	England	26	[7]
1974	Ghent, Belgium	France	18	Italy	18	Netherlands	23	[7]
1975	Bydgoszcz, Poland	France	23	England	26	Belgium	26	[7]
1976	Varna, Bulgaria	Italy	7	Bulgaria	20	Austria	27	[7]
1977	Ehnen, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	16	Belgium	18	France	19	[7]
1978	Vienna, Austria	France	14	Italy	19	Czechoslovakia	24	[7]
1979	Saragossa, Spain	France	14	Netherlands	16	Portugal	25	[7]
1980	Mannheim, West Germany	West Germany	7	England	23	Belgium	24	[7]
1981	Luddington, England	France	25	England	31	Wales	37	[7]
1982	Newry, Northern Ireland	Netherlands	20	France	25	England	26	[7]
1983	Amersfoort, Netherlands	Belgium	9	England	14	Netherlands	24	[7]
1984	Yverdon, Switzerland	Luxembourg	28	England	28	Belgium	40	[7]
1985	Florence, Italy	England	16	Italy	17	Belgium	25	[7]
1986	Strasbourg, France	Italy	27	West Germany	35	Austria	40	[7]
1987	Coimbra, Portugal	England	9	Italy	18	Austria	40	[7]
1988	Damme, Belgium	England	50	Italy	50	France	58	[7]
1989	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	Wales	48	Italy	68	England	83	[7]
1990	Maribor, Yugoslavia	France	60	England	89	Italy	89	[7]
1991	Szeged, Hungary	England	44	France	48	Italy	51	[7]
1992	Enniskillen, Northern Ireland	Italy	94	France	87	Channel islands	120	[7]
1993	Coruche, Portugal	Italy	49	France	68	Austria	76	[7]
1994	Nottingham, England	England	92	France	96	Italy	117	[7]
1995	Lappeenranta, Finland	France	23	Belgium	45	Italy	59	[7]
1996	Peschiera del Garda, Italy	Italy	36	England	63	Austria	72	[7]
1997	Velence, Hungary	Italy	56.5	England	70	France	72	[7]
1998	Zagreb, Croatia	England	61	France	84	Italy	89	[7]
1999	Toledo, Spain	Spain	34	Italy	40	England	52	[7]
2000	Firenze, Italy	Italy	37	England	59.5	Hungary	89.5	[7]
2001	Paris, France	England	68	France	72	Italy	87	[7]
2002	Coimbra, Portugal	Spain	52.5	Portugal	55.5	Belgium	74	[7]
2003	Madunice, Slovakia	Hungary	55	Poland	93.5	France	102.5	[7]
2004	Willebroek, Belgium	France	70	England	71	Hungary	79	[7]
2005	Lappeenranta, Finland	England	64	Belgium	76	Hungary	77	[7]
2006	Rio Mondego, Portugal	England	61	Italy	85	Hungary	101	[7]
2007	Lake Velence, Hungary	Italy	57	Belgium	78	Hungary	86.5	[7]
2008	Spinadesco Canal, Italy	England	74	San Marino	104	Italy	109	[7]
2009	Lage Vaart Canal, Netherlands	Slovakia	39	France	40	Belgium	41	[7]
2010	Ciudad Real, Spain?	England	40	Italy	42.5	Netherlands	51	[7]
2011	Ostellato Ferrara, Italy	Italy	21	Hungary	27	Belgium	33	[7]
2012	Morava River, Czech Republic	Poland	32	Czech Republic	44	France	47	[7][14]
2013	Żerański Canal, Warsaw, Poland	England	22	France	33	Poland	39	[7][15]
2014	Dubrava Canal, Croatia	Netherlands	38	Hungary	40.5	Serbia	45	[16]
2015	Sava River, Slovenia	Italy	37	Czech Republic	42	England	46.5	[9]
2016	Rowing Course, Plovdiv, Bulgaria	Hungary	34	Czech Republic	42	England	46	[9][17][18]
2017	Ronquières, Belgium	Belgium	18	England	21	France	24.5	[19][20]
2018	Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal	Germany	46	Hungary	52	Belgium	61	[9][21]
2019	Novi Sad, Serbia	France	20	Italy	26	Hungary	32	[22]
2020	cancelled – COVID-19 pandemic	–	–	–	–	–	–	[10]
2021	Peschiera del Garda, Italy	Italy	75	Czech Republic	86.5	England	89	[11][23]
2022	Bilje, Croatia	Serbia	31.5	Italy	42	Czech Republic	47	[2]
2023	Mequinenza-Fayón, Spain	Serbia	45	England	54	France	70	[5]

World Championship Individual results

Year	Venue and Host Country	Individual World Champion	Individual Runner-Up	Individual 3rd Place	Reference
1954	Düsseldorf, West Germany	Gino Vigarani	F Fugazza	H Andef	[9][8][12]
1955	Reading, England	M Mailly	Dufeys	Ducret	[9][8][12]
1956	Paris, France	F Cerfontaine	G Dubuc	Robert Tesse	[9][12]
1957	Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Giulio Mandelli	G De Angellis	F Fugazza	[9][8][12]
1958	Huy, Belgium	J Garroit	F Cerfontaine	A Negrignat	[9][12]
1959	Neuchatel, Switzerland	Robert Tesse	G De Angelli	S Knapen	[9][12]
1960	Gdańsk, Poland	Robert Tesse	F Cerfontaine	F Swinnen	[9][12]
1961	Merseburg, East Germany	R Le Gouge	F Schmidt	Robert Tesse	[9][12]
1962	Lac de Garde, Italy	R Tedesco	J Fontanet	M Vanelli	[9][12]
1963	Wormeldange, Luxembourg	Billy Lane	Robert Tesse	M Vanelli	[9][12]
1964	Isola dei Pescatori, Italy	J Fontanet	P Despres	Robert Tesse	[9][12]
1965	Galati, Romania	Robert Tesse	L Seppi	C Burch	[9][12]
1966	River Thurne, Martham Ferry, Norfolk	Henri Guiheneuf	P Baudot	C Roelandt	[13][12]
1967	Dunaújváros, Hungary	J Isenbaert	K Handt	G Detry	[9]
1968	Fermoy, Ireland	G Grebenstein	I Pana	V Sherwood	[9][12]
1969	Bad Oldesloe, West Germany	Robin Harris	J Leyrer	J Vermeulen	[9][12]
1970	Berg, Netherlands	M Van Den Eynde	P Michiels	P Paquet	[9][12]
1971	Peschiera del Garda, Italy	Dino Bassi	A Alfieri	E Zimmer	[9][12]
1972	Prague, Czechoslovakia	RJE Levels	A Thommas	Jacques Tesse	[9][12]
1973	Chalon-sur-Saône, France	P Michiels	M Van Den Eynde	G Herbert	[9][12]
1974	Ghent, Belgium	A Richter	Mendez Gomez	Jean Pierre Fougeat	[9][12]
1975	Bydgoszcz, Poland	Ian Heaps	Jacques Tesse	G De Bagi	[9][12][24]
1976	Varna, Bulgaria	Dino Bassi	Ivan Marks	F Pasinetti	[9][8][12]
1977	Ehnen, Luxembourg	J Mainil	Poth	J Quinet	[9][12]
1978	Vienna, Austria	Jean Pierre Fougeat	Roberto Trabucco	N Birnbaum	[9][8][12]
1979	Saragossa, Spain	G Heulard	T Eikhout	H Durozier	[9][12]
1980	Mannheim, West Germany	Rudgher Kremkus	O Wessel	Roberto Trabucco	[9][8][12]
1981	Luddington, England	David Thomas	V Santos	S Lecocq	[8][12]
1982	Newry, Northern Ireland	Kevin Ashurst	M Thill	F Bartolas	[9]
1983	Amersfoort, Netherlands	Rudgher Kremkus	J Kohn	P Van Gool	[9][12]
1984	Yverdon, Switzerland	Bobby Smithers	R Stevens	BJ Brouwer	[9][12]
1985	Florence, Italy	David Roper	Roberto Trabucco	P David	[8][12]
1986	Strasbourg, France	L Wever	Clive Branson	R Van Neer	[8][12]
1987	Coimbra, Portugal	Clive Branson	Kevin Ashurst	D White	[8][12]
1988	Damme, Belgium	Jean Pierre Fougeat	S Gardner	E Colombo	[9][12]
1989	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	Tom Pickering	F Casini	R Benton	[8][12]
1990	Maribor, Yugoslavia	Bob Nudd	Kevin Ashurst	R Koenig	[9][12]
1991	Szeged, Hungary	Bob Nudd	Kevin Ashurst	J Van Schendel	[9][12]
1992	Enniskillen, Northern Ireland	Dave Wesson	C Guicciardi	M Thill	[9][12]
1993	Coruche, Portugal	M Barros	J Savelhoul	B Bodineau	[9][12]
1994	Nottingham, England	Bob Nudd	R Stronck	JJ Chaumet	[9][12]
1995	Lappeenranta, Finland	P Jean	J Wilmart	J Desque	[9][12]
1996	Peschiera del Garda, Italy	Alan Scotthorne	C Guicciardi	E Colombo	[9][8][12]
1997	Velence, Hungary	Alan Scotthorne	Gianluigi Sorti	K Milson	[9][8][12]
1998	Zagreb, Croatia	Alan Scotthorne	P Carroyer	M Barros	[9][12]
1999	Toledo, Spain	Bob Nudd	J Rodriguez Blasco	R Xarez	[9][12]
2000	Firenze, Italy	Jacopo Falsini	Will Raison	Jean Pierre Fougeat	[8][12]
2001	Paris, France	Umberto Ballabeni	P Lorenc	D Da Silva	[8][12]
2002	Coimbra, Portugal	J Rodriguez Blasco	J Duran	S Conroy	[9][12]
2003	Madunice, Slovakia	Alan Scotthorne	K Schater	R Bednarski	[9][12]
2004	Willebroek, Belgium	Tamás Walter	E van der Hoogan	T Ambrus	[9][12]
2005	Finland	Guido Nullens	Stephane Pottelet	Will Raison	[9][12]
2006	Rio Mondego, Portugal	Tamás Walter	Ivan Biordi	Sean Ashby	[9][12]
2007	Lake Velence, Hungary	Alan Scotthorne	N. Gavrobiks	Lee Edwards	[9][12]
2008	Spinadesco Canal, Italy	Will Raison	W Wheeler	Steve Gardner	[8][12]
2009	Lage Vaart Canal, Netherlands	Igor Potapov	Will Raison	Simon Jensen	[8][12]
2010	Ciudad Real, Spain	Frank Meis	Cathal Hughes	Rumen Vitkov	[8][12]
2011	Ostellato Ferrara, Italy	Andrea Fini	Peter Milkovics	Ferruccio Gabba	[9][12]
2012	Morava River, Czech Republic	Sean Ashby	Sergey Fedorov	Stephane Pottelet	[14][9]
2013	Żerański Canal, Warsaw, Poland	Didier Delannoy	Steve Hemmingway	Alan Scotthorne	[15][9]
2014	Dubrava Canal, Croatia	Goran Radovic	Stefan Altena	Arjan Klop	[16][9]
2015	Sava River, Slovenia	Yuri Siptsov	Tamás Walter	Alan Scotthorne	[9][12]
2016	Rowing Course, Plovdiv, Bulgaria	Jernej Ambrozic	Josef Konopasek	Rastislav Dudr	[25]
2017	Ronquières, Belgium	Luc Thijs	Stephane Linder	Geoffrey Duquensne	[26][19]
2018	Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal	Johannes Böhm	Eric Di Venti	Ralf Herdlitschke	[27][12]
2019	Novi Sad, Serbia	Alan Perko	Alexandre Caudin	Maxime Duchesne	[22][12]
2020	cancelled COVID-19 pandemic	–	–	–	[10][9]
2021	Peschiera del Garda, Italy	Goran Radovic	Imre Szákovics	Petr Klásek	[11][23]
2022	Bilje, Croatia	Mihael Pongrac	Mitja Kmetec	Balázs Csöregl	[3]
2023	Mequinenza-Fayón, Spain	Esteve Martinez	James Dent	Sean Ashby	[6]

Roll of Honour

Team competition : France 16, Italy 14, England 13, Belgium 7, Netherlands 3, Luxemburg 3, Germany 3, Spain 2, Hungary 2, Serbia 2, Wales 1, Poland 1, Romania 1, Slovakia 1.

Individual multiple Champions : Alan Scotthorne 5, Bob Nudd 4, Robert Tesse 3, Jean Pierre Fougeat 2, Rudgher Kremkus 2, Dino Bassi 2, Tamás Walter 2, Goran Radovic 2

4-Time World Champion Bob Nudd (1990, 1991, 1994, 1999)

5-Time World Champion Alan Scotthorne (1996, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2007)

Team medal table

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Medals
France	016	014	013	043
Italy	014	014	010	037
England	013	013	010	036
Belgium	07	012	09	028
Netherlands	03	02	03	08
Luxembourg	03	01	02	06
Hungary	02	02	06	10
Germany	2	2	1	5
Serbia	02	00	01	03
Spain	02	00	00	02
Poland	01	02	01	04
Wales	01	00	01	02
Romania	01	00	01	02
East Germany	01	00	00	01
Slovakia	01	00	00	01
Czech Republic	00	04	2	6
Portugal	00	01	01	02
Bulgaria	00	01	00	01
San Marino	00	01	00	01
Austria	00	00	06	06
Switzerland	00	00	01	01
Channel Islands	00	00	01	01
Total	68	68	68	204

References

External links

• Video of 49th World coarse angling championships in N.Ireland 1992
• Video of 51st World coarse angling championships in Belgium 2004
• Video of 56th World coarse angling championships in Netherlands 2009
• Video of 57th World coarse angling championships in Spain 2010
• Video of 58th World coarse angling championships in Italy 2011
• Video of 59th World coarse angling championships in Czech 2012
• Video of 60th World coarse angling championships in Poland 2013
• Video of 61st World coarse angling championships in Croatia 2014
• Video of 62nd World coarse angling championships in Slovenia 2015
• Video of 63rd World coarse angling championships in Bulgaria 2016
• Video of 64th World coarse angling championships in Belgium 2017
• Video of 65th World coarse angling championships in Portugal 2018
• Video of 66th World coarse angling championships in Serbia 2019
• Video of 67th World coarse angling championships in Italy 2021