The 1956 Wrestling World Cup was held on May 25–31 in Istanbul, Turkey, at the Mithatpaşa Stadium, under the auspices of FILA. The attendance of the event was around 20 thousand spectators at the stadium. Freestyle wrestling competition was held from May 25 to May 27, 61 wrestlers from 12 countries participated in the freestyle event. Greco-Roman wrestling competition was held from May 29 to May 31, 89 wrestlers from 16 countries participated in the Greco-Roman event. The team victory in the freestyle event was won by the Turkish National Team, which scored 44 points out of 48 possible, followed by the USSR National Team. The team victory in the Greco-Roman event was won by the USSR team, which scored 39 points. The overall team victory was won by the Soviet Union, therefore the USSR National Team won the World Cup.

The competition was attended by teams of the following states and independent territories: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Egypt, Finland, France, West Germany, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Saarland, Soviet Union, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Yemen, Yugoslavia. The United States didn't have a team in competition.^[1]

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Flyweight 52 kg	Hüseyin Akbaş  Turkey	Mirian Tsalkalamanidze  Soviet Union	Kazuo Dzida  Japan
Bantamweight 57 kg	Mustafa Dağıstanlı  Turkey	Bayram Giannini  Iran	Minoru Iizuka  Japan
Featherweight 62 kg	Shozo Sasahara  Japan	Linar Salimullin  Soviet Union	Bayram Şit  Turkey
Lightweight 67 kg	Alimbeg Bestayev  Soviet Union	Georgy Zaichev  Bulgaria	Hayrullah Şahin  Turkey
Welterweight 73 kg	İbrahim Zengin  Turkey	Said Murtazov  Bulgaria	Hans Sommer  Germany
Middleweight 79 kg	İsmet Atlı  Turkey	Nikola Stanchev  Bulgaria	Kazuo Katsuramoto  Japan
Light heavyweight 87 kg	Adil Atan  Turkey	Boris Kulayev  Soviet Union	Hossein Nuri  Iran
Heavyweight +87 kg	Hamit Kaplan  Turkey	Arsen Mekokishvili  Soviet Union	Husein Mehmedov  Bulgaria

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Flyweight 52 kg	Dursun Ali Erbaş  Turkey	Istvan Barani  Hungary	Simon  Saar
Bantamweight 57 kg	Yaşar Yılmaz  Turkey	Dinko Petrov  Bulgaria	Francisc Horvath  Romania
Featherweight 62 kg	Vladimir Stashkevich  Soviet Union	Osman Kambur  Turkey	Imre Polyák  Hungary
Lightweight 67 kg	Vladimir Rosin  Soviet Union	Kyösti Lehtonen  Finland	Rıza Doğan  Turkey
Welterweight 73 kg	Vladimir Maneev  Soviet Union	Mithat Bayrak  Turkey	Veikko Rantanen  Finland
Middleweight 79 kg	Givi Kartozia  Soviet Union	Branislav Simić  Yugoslavia	Horst Hess  West Germany
Light heavyweight 87 kg	Arkady Tkachev  Soviet Union	Petko Sirakov  Bulgaria	Gyula Kovács  Hungary
Heavyweight +87 kg	Johannes Kotkas  Soviet Union	Hamit Kaplan  Turkey	Husein Mehmedov  Bulgaria

• Alimbeg Bestayev (Soviet Union)

• Straits Times (May 28, 1956). "Turks dominate world wrestling tourney". The Straits Times: 11.
• Associated Press (June 2, 1956). "Russia Wins Mat Title". Pacific Stars and Stripes: 22.
• Sports Illustrated (November 19, 1956). "Mixed Bag of Medals: Wrestling". Sports Illustrated. 5 (21): 90.
• Associated Press (May 28, 1956). "Turkish Matmen Win: Istanbul, May 27". Wilmington Morning News: 26.
• Associated Press (May 28, 1956). "World Wrestling Test". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: 22.
• "Turkey Wins". Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky: 8. May 28, 1956.
• "Wrestling: World Cup Meeting in Istanbul (May 29-31)". Soviet Sports Handbook. London: Soviet News: 13, 15. 1957.
• "Sports—World & International: World Cup Wrestling Tournament". Current Affairs. Delhi: A. Mukherjee & Co., Private Ltd.: 229 1957.

• Rare Postcard: 25-31 May 1956 Istanbul World Cup Wrestling Championships