FIBA has revealed the procedure for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup Draw, which will take place on Saturday, March 16, at Shenzhen Bay Arena.
Thirty-two (32) teams have qualified to the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup and have been distributed to eight (8) pots of four (4) teams each, based on the FIBA World Ranking.
As tournament hosts, China will be placed in Pot 1 and will be joined by the top three teams in the world (Team USA, Spain, France).
The 32 teams will be drawn across eight (8) groups (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H) consisting of four (4) teams each.
In order to ensure the quality of the groups, in the first and second group stage, the following will apply:
-Pots 1, 4, 5 and 8 will feed Groups A, C, E and G;
-Pots 2, 3, 6 and 7 will feed Groups B, D, F and H;
-Group A will cross with Group B, C with D, E with F and finally Group G with Group H;
-Teams will be drawn and placed in the first available group as per the groups’ alphabetical order;
-Finally, after each team is drawn into a group, its position into the group will also be drawn, defining the order of games in the respective group in the group stage.
-Pot 1 – The four teams (China, USA, Spain, France) will be assigned to Groups A, C, E and G.
As agreed with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), the Host China will be placed into Group A in Beijing and reigning world champions USA will be allocated to Group E in Shanghai;
-Pot 2 – The four teams (Serbia, Argentina, Lithuania, Greece) will feed into Groups B, D, F and H with a straight draw;
-Pot 3 – The four teams (Russia, Australia, Brazil, Italy) will also feed into Groups B, D, F and H. Brazil cannot be drawn in the same group as Argentina;
-Pot 4 – The four teams (Puerto Rico, Turkey, Dominican Republic, Venezuela) are drawn into Groups A, C, E and G. The three American teams – Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Venezuela – cannot be drawn in the same group as the USA;
-Pot 5 – The four teams (Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Iran) will be distributed into Groups A, C, E and G; Iran cannot be drawn in the same group as China;
-Pot 6 – The four teams (Canada, Montenegro, Philippines, Korea) will feed into Groups B, D, F and H.
Canada cannot be drawn in the same group as either Argentina or Brazil, while the Philippines and Korea cannot be placed in the group with Australia;
-Pot 7 – The four teams (Nigeria, Senegal, New Zealand, Angola) feed into Groups B, D, F and H. New Zealand cannot be drawn in a group with other Asian teams;
-Pot 8 – This will conclude the draw with the distribution of the last four teams (Japan, Jordan, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire) into the remaining groups. In this pot, Japan and Jordan cannot be drawn in the same group as either China or Iran.
