La Jornada – Mexico will face Egypt, Lithuania and Montenegro in the FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup

Mexico City. The waiting time is over. The Mexican national basketball team met its rivals, on Saturday, in the World Cup, which will be held for the first time in three countries, the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan.

Mexico is located in Group D and will face Egypt, Montenegro and Lithuania, in the confrontation of the tournament, which will be held from August 25 to September 10.

Those led by Omar Quintero will enter the fray against Montenegro on the same day the World Cup begins. Two days later, on the 27th, they will face the Lithuanian national team and close the first stage, on August 29, against the Egyptians.

The three matches for the 12 Warriors will take place at the Mall of Asia Arena, in Manila, Philippines, the city where today’s draw for the 32 teams that will participate was held.

The building where the tricolor will play has a capacity of 15,000 fans.

The most difficult tests that Tricolor will face will be against European teams. Lithuania is ranked 8th in the world rankings and currently has two NBA stars: Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento King) and Jonas Valančiūnas (New Orleans Pelicans). Montenegro, for its part, is in 18th place and its benchmark is Nikola Vucevic of the Chicago Bulls. The Egyptian national team, which will play the World Cup for the second time in its history, ranks 55th in the world, and all its elements play in the local league.

And Mexico qualified for its sixth edition of the most important basketball tournament, the second in 50 years, after falling behind the United States and Puerto Rico in the Americas qualifiers.

The 12 Warriors, with Paco Cruz as reference, will seek to surpass the best historical participation of a Mexican team dating back to 1967, when they finished sixth.

The United States, the most successful team in this tournament with five tournaments, will face Jordan, Greece and New Zealand. Defending champions Spain will face Iran, Ivory Coast and Brazil.

The top two nations from each of the eight sectors qualify for the round of 16, similar to the formula used by FIFA for the World Cup.