Procedure for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Draw

SHENZHEN (China) - FIBA has issued the procedure for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Draw, presented by Wanda, which will take place on Saturday, March 16, at Shenzhen Bay Arena at 18:30 local time (GMT +8).

Thirty-two (32) teams have qualified to play in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019. They have been distributed into eight (8) pots of four (4) teams each, based on the NIKE FIBA World Ranking Men.

As tournament hosts, China have the right to be placed in Pot 1. They are joined there by number 1 team in the world, USA, #2 Spain and #3 France.

The 28 remaining teams owe their places in pots 2 through to 8 to their position in the Ranking, with one exception.

A change has been made to avoid having two (2) teams from the Americas in the same group. As already four (4) of them - Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, USA and Venezuela - will be drawn in Groups A, C, E and G, Canada have been moved from Pot 5 to Pot 6, switching places with Iran, the best ranked team from that pot.

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 balance the quality of the groups - not only in the First Round but also in the Second Round of the Group Phase - 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 Phase.  [/unordered] Pot 1 - The 4 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 4 teams (Serbia, Argentina, Lithuania, Greece) will feed into Groups B, D, F and H, with a straight draw; Pot 3 - The 4 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 4 teams (Puerto Rico, Turkey, Dominican Republic, Venezuela) are drawn into Groups A, C, E and G. The 3 American teams - Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Venezuela - cannot be drawn in the same group as the USA; Pot 5 - The 4 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 4 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 4 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 4 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. [/unordered]

The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Draw will be complete once all 32 teams have been drawn into the eight (8) groups and following the determination of their group number as well as the order of games for the Group Phase.

All eight groups have already been assigned to their specific host city:

Group A -> Beijing Group B -> Wuhan Group C -> Guangzhou Group D -> Foshan Group E -> Shanghai Group F -> Nanjing Group G -> Shenzhen Group H -> Dongguan [/unordered]

Click here for more information on the competition system of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019.

The draw will be streamed live on FIBA's YouTube channel.

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About FIBA
FIBA (fiba.basketball) - the world governing body for basketball - is an independent association formed by 213 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognised as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

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