FIBA Americas: Team USA to Face Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico in World Cup Qualifying

After winning the gold medal in the Olympics, Team USA would be facing Cuba, Mexico, and Puerto Rico in the first round of qualifying to represent FIBA Americas for the 2023 Basketball World Cup.

Teams in the group stages were determined via "Draw Ceremony," which was live-streamed on FIBA-The Basketball Channel on Youtube.

Team USA's First Step in FIBA World Cup Redemption

According to NBA.com, after the recent Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, Team USA was on the quest of claiming the FIBA crown. Despite winning their fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal, Team USA only finished seventh at the most recent Basketball World Cup two years ago.

Team USA found out their qualifying round opponents Tuesday when the draw was held at FIBA headquarters in Mies, Switzerland, and live-streamed on a popular online video sharing and social media platform.

The qualifying round would be the first major tournament for USA Basketball, with Grant Hill as the managing director. The former NBA player succeeded Jerry Colangelo in that role. Colangelo oversaw each of the last four Olympics for the U.S. and helped assemble teams for the American team that won gold medals each time.

Team USA has won the FIBA World Cup five times. Their most recent triumph was in 2014 that was hosted by their rival, Spain.

In the qualifying rounds, there would be 80 teams that would be under a double round-robin, which means that all teams in the various groups for the first round will play the other three teams in their group twice.

First-round games will be played during three different windows, which were scheduled on Nov. 20-30, Feb. 21-March 1, and June 27-July 5, depending on the different FIBA regions.

Meanwhile, the second round of the games would start in August 2022 and run through February 2023. The next World Cup would be hosted by the three countries, Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia, which would take place from August 25 through September 10, 2023.

On the other hand, the defending World Cup champion Spain is also trying to become one of the 12 European qualifiers for the tournament. Team Spain would be opening their qualifying with games against Georgia, North Macedonia, and Ukraine in the opening round.

As hosts, the Philippines and Japan were already on the 32-team World Cup field. The other 30 spots will be decided through qualifying. Only Indonesia does not get an automatic spot as a host country.

FIBA Qualifying Rounds

AMERICAS REGION

Group A: Argentina, Venezuela, Panama and Paraguay

Group B: Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, and Chile.

Group C: Canada, the Dominican Republic, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas

Group D: U.S., Puerto Rico, Mexico and Cuba.

EUROPE REGION

Group A: Serbia, Latvia, Belgium, and Slovakia

Group B: Greece, Turkey, Britain, and Belarus

Group C: Slovenia, Croatia, Finland, Sweden

Group D: Germany, Poland, Israel, and Estonia

Group E: France, Montenegro, Hungary, and Portugal

Group F: Lithuania, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Group G: Spain, Georgia , North Macedonia, and Ukraine

Group H: Italy, Russia, the Netherlands, and Iceland

AFRICA REGION

Group A: Nigeria, Mali, Uganda, and Cape Verde.

Group B: Tunisia, Cameroon, South Sudan, and Rwanda

Group C: Angola, Ivory Coast, Central African Republic, and Guinea

Group D: Senegal, Egypt, Congo, and Kenya.

ASIA REGION

Group A: New Zealand, South Korea, the Philippines, and India

Group B: Australia, China, Japan, and Taiwan

Group C: Jordan, Lebanon, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia

Group D: Iran, Kazakhstan, Syria, and Bahrain.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Jess Smith

WATCH: Draw Ceremony | FIBA World Cup 2023 Qualifiers - FIBA - From The Basketball Channel