The United States tied Mexico, Cuba and Puerto Rico in the World Cup qualifiers

USA Basketball will face Puerto Rico, Mexico and Cuba in the first round of the 2023 Basketball World Cup qualifiers.

The Americans, who won the Olympic gold for the fourth time in a row in Tokyo but finished only seventh in the last Basketball World Cup finals two years ago, found out their qualifying opponents on Tuesday when the draw was held at the International Basketball Federation headquarters in Miss. Switzerland.

It will also be the first major NBA tournament with Grant Hill as CEO. Hill succeeds Jerry Colangelo in this role; Colangelo has overseen each of the last four US Olympics, and helped build teams that won gold medals every time.

The United States has won the World Cup five times, most recently in 2014.

There are 80 teams in the qualifying rounds. It starts with a double circular brew; All teams from different groups in the first round will face the other three teams in their group twice. The first round matches will be played in three different windows: November 20-30, February 21 – March 1, and June 27 – July 5.

The second round matches will start in August 2022 and continue until February 2023. The next World Cup matches, which will be hosted by the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, will take place from August 25 to September 10, 2023.

Spain, the World Cup champion, who is seeking to become one of 12 European qualifiers for the tournament, begins with matches against Ukraine, Georgia and North Macedonia in the first round.

As the host country, the Philippines and Japan are already participating in the 32-team World Cup. The other 30 places will be determined by rating. Indonesia does not automatically get a place in the host country.

America area

The region features 16 qualified teams, in four first-round groups from four different teams, with 12 of these nations advancing to the second round. From there the stadium will be linked to the seven ranked competitions of the World Cup. The first, second and third seed from both groups will enter the World Cup from the second round, along with the best fourth seed.

In Group A, Argentina, who undoubtedly dispensed with Luis Scola in a major international tournament for the first time in more than two decades, will face Venezuela, Panama and Paraguay in the first round.

Group B includes Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, and Chile, while Group C includes Canada, the Dominican Republic, the US Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas. In Group D, the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Cuba.

Europe region

The same qualification rules apply in Europe, where groups of four meet in the first round. But the stadium is twice the size of the other areas, with 32 teams playing over what will become the 12 World Cup venues.

As in the rest of the regions, the top three teams from each group in the first round will advance to the second round, which in the case of Europe will reduce the number of 32 teams to 24. These 24 nations will be placed in one of the four second teams. In six groups, the top three winners in each group will reach the World Cup.

In Group A, Serbia, Latvia, Belgium and Slovakia play. Group B includes Greece, Turkey, Great Britain and Belarus. Group C qualified for the Olympic semi-finals from Slovenia along with Croatia, Finland and Sweden. Group D will be Germany, Poland, Israel and Estonia.

Leading the fifth group is France, the silver medalist in the Olympics, who will face Montenegro, Hungary and Portugal. Group F includes Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Group G is Spain, Ukraine, Georgia and North Macedonia, while Group H will see Italy, Russia, the Netherlands and Iceland compete with each other.

Africa region

There are 16 teams competing for what will be five places in the World Cup. They are divided into four groups of four for the first round, and the top three winners from those groups will advance to the second round.

Group A includes Nigeria, Mali, Uganda and Cape Verde. In Group B are Tunisia, Cameroon, South Sudan and Rwanda. The third group includes Angola, Ivory Coast, Central Africa and Guinea. In Group D, Senegal, Egypt, Congo and Kenya.

Asia region

Sixteen other teams are still vying for eight places in the World Cup, with the Philippines and Japan, as host nations, and it has already secured two of these teams, but it will still participate in the playoffs. The third World Cup host country, Indonesia, has yet to qualify for the World Cup and has not received automatic entry.

The top three teams in each group advance from the first round to the second round. Once there, the top three teams will go to the World Cup, with the Philippines and Japan excluded from that number.

The first group will include New Zealand, South Korea, the Philippines and India. Constructed as one of the most competitive first-round groups in the entire qualifying tournament, Group B includes bronze Olympic medalists from Australia, China, Japan and Taiwan. Group C includes Jordan, Lebanon, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. The fourth group includes Iran, Kazakhstan, Syria and Bahrain.

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