The IAAF World Cup was an international track and field competition organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The event was proposed by IAAF former President Primo Nebiolo and was first held in 1977. It was initially held every two years, but following the establishment of the World Athletics Championships it moved to a quadrennial basis. 

The original format included separate men's and women's competitions consisting of 21 events each, with team points being awarded for the finishing position of each athlete. Eight teams, five continental and three national, entered an athlete in each event: if the stadium had a ninth lane, the host nation would also be permitted to enter.

The eight entrants included the United States, the top two nations in the preceding European Cup and continental teams comprising Africa, Asia, Oceania, the rest of the Americas (North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association and Confederación Sudamericana de Atletismo), and the rest of Europe.

From 2010, the event was rebranded to the IAAF Continental Cup, with the national teams being removed, and team scoring incorporated both the sexes. Two athletes per individual event were entered by four regional teams: Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe and the Americas.

A nation-based competition, the Athletics World Cup, was staged in 2018 by an independent promoter. The IAAF competition was briefly rebranded as the World Athletics Continental Cup in 2019, but the event was scrapped in March 2020.

IAAF World Cup

1977 Men: GDR 127 - USA 120 - FRG 112.  Women: EUR 109 - GDR 93 - URS 90.

1979 Men: USA 119 - EUR 112 - GDR 108.  Women: GDR 106 - URS 98 - EUR 88.

1981 Men: EUR 147 - GDR 130 - USA 127.  Women: GDR 120.5 - EUR 110 - URS 98.

1985 Men: USA 123 - URS 115 - GDR 114.  Women: GDR 121 - URS 105.5 - EUR 86.

1989 Men: USA 133 - EUR 127 - GBR 119.  Women: GDR 124 - URS 106 - AME 94.

1992 Men: AFR 115 - GBR 103 - EUR   99.  Women: EUN 102- EUR 94 - AME 79.

1994 Men: AFR 116 - GBR 111 - AME  95.  Women: EUR 111 - AME 98 - GER 79.

1998 Men: AFR 111 - EUR 110 - GER 103.  Women: USA 96 - EUR 94 - AFR 88.

2002 Men: AFR 139 - EUR 121 - AME 120.  Women: RUS 129 - EUR 126 - AME 111.

2006 Men: EUR 140 - USA 136 - AFR 116.  Women: RUS 137 - EUR 128 - AME 117.

IAAF Continental Cup

2010 AME 428.5 - EUR 379 - AFR 305

2014 EUR 440.5 - AME 392 - AFR 339

2018 AME 262 - EUR 233 - APA 188

Note: AFR (Africa), AME (Americas), APA (Asia/Pacific), EUN (Unified Team), EUR (Europe), GBR (Great Britain), GDR (German Democratic Republic), FRG (Federal Republic of Germany), RUS (Russia), URS (Soviet Union), USA (United States).

The Athletics World Cup was a team-based international competition held in London in July 2018. It featured eight national teams based on world rankings, with each team entering one athlete per event, and points gained on the basis of finishing position. AThe competition focused on an overall team prize, the Platinum Trophy and Platinum team medals, but individual gold, silver and bronze medals were also awarded in each individual event.

The event was staged by an independent promoter but the IAAF expressed support for the event notwithstanding the existence of its own IAAF Continental Cup event. However, with many top names not taking part, the event was not considered a success and was not repeated.

The Result was: 1 USA 219, 2 POL 162, 3 GBR 155, 4 JAM 153, 5 FRA 146, 6 GER 137, 7 RSA 135, 8 CHN 81.