The World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) is the international umbrella organization encompassing the major cue sports (billiards-type games), including carom billiards, pool games of several varieties, and snooker.

The confederation was formed in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, on January 25, 1992. Its headquarters were previously located in Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium. Jean-Claude Dupont, of Belgium, served as WCBS' president from 2010 to 2015, followed by England's Jason Elliott Ferguson for 2015–2017. Australia's Ian Anderson became the confederation's ninth president in 2017.

The World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) has 135 member national federations, as well as continental bodies for Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. WCBS, in turn, is affiliated with many international sports organizations, such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), International World Games Association (IWGA) and Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). Its statutes, practices and activities all conform to the Olympic Charter.

The primary aim of WCBS is to establish billiard-type sports as medal events in as many multiple-sports competitions as possible, on both regional and world levels. The ultimate goal of WCBS is to have billiard sports included in the Olympic Games.

The WCBS serves as platform for its associated groups: The Union Mondiale de Billard (UMB); the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA); and the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF). These groups work closely together, but the independence of each organization is maintained and respected. As a result, unlike other international sports organizations, the WCBS does not set the rules of the sports nor organize any international competition itself. Instead, these functions are carried out by the associated organizations.

Before the establishment of WCBS in 1992, there was no single organization representing all cue sports, which was necessary to meet the requirements of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Moreover, cue sports did not meet the official definition of a sport. These were the main obstacles to gaining approval for the inclusion of cue sports in the Olympic Games, despite many attempts to achieve Olympic recognition that have been made since the 1950s.

In 1985, André Gagnaux, of Switzerland, became the new president of the UMB, the world governing body for carom billiards. In an attempt to achieve Olympic recognition, he contacted the WPBSA, the governing body of professional snooker, to discuss the possibility of forming a governing body for all cue sports. There was no world governing body for pool at that time. Nonetheless, his first attempt failed as he could not convince the WPBSA why it would be important for them to achieve IOC recognition, and what possible cooperation with the UMB could do to further their goals.

Following the founding of the WPA as the international governing body for pool and their successful organization of the first WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 1990, Gagnaux contacted the WPBSA again. This time he was more successful. In order to fulfill the conditions set by the IOC, the representatives of the governing bodies of the three main cue sports convened on August 30, 1990, at a meeting in Bristol, UK, with the WPBSA as the host. This was the first time representatives of the three divisions gathered around one table. As a result, it was decided to form the World Confederation of Billiard Sports (WCBS), an umbrella organization encompassing all billiards sports, and a three-man committee (consisting of Gagnaux for carom, Jorgen Sandman for pool and Mark Wildman for snooker) was appointed to write the first constitution for the new organization. Eighteen months were spent devising a way to enable the various disciplines to work closely together, while maintaining their independence. The inaugural General Assembly of the WCBS was held in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland on January 25, 1992. A board consisting of nine delegates was elected with three representatives from each founding member: the UMB, the WPA and the new World Snooker Federation (WSF), formed by cooperation between the WPBSA and the IBSF. The office of president rotated, so that all three divisions take a turn at heading the organization.