FIBA Women's AmeriCup 2023 groups defined

MIAMI (United States) – The draw for the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2023 tournament has been set, as the most prestigious competition for senior women’s basketball in the Americas will take place from July 1st to July 9th with games to be played at the legendary Domo de la Feria in León, Mexico.

Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the host nation Mexico are the four teams who qualified through the Centrobasket Women’s Championships. The top four teams who qualified from the South American Women’s Championship are Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. Canada and USA will complete the 10 teams and be part of the field for this event.

“Mexico is home for FIBA, we’ve taken 8 of 10 events to Mexico in the last two years. From a playing field standpoint, this is as good as it gets,” said Carlos Alves, executive director of FIBA in the Americas.

“We were able to really take women’s basketball in the Americas to a different level, last year we had in the World Cup Puerto Rico, USA and Canada who were all top eight in the World Cup, and USA and Canada in the semi-finals… tremendous platform, amazing athletes, and as I said before it doesn’t get any better than this for us in the Americas, elite competition.”

The teams were drawn out of five pots, with Pot 1 consisting of USA and Canada, Pot 2 containing Brazil and Puerto Rico, Pot 3 made up of Argentina and Colombia, Pot 4 containing Dominican Republic and Cuba, and finally Pot 4 holding Mexico and Venezuela.

Picking the names to appear in two groups, they were also drawn their position in each group from two pots with five spots ranging from 1-5 labelled for Groups A and B.

Hosted Tony Duffy and co-hosted by Moises Linares, the draw opened with remarks from FIBA regional office president Carol Callan as the tournament returns to Mexico after a 10-year absence. This is the second time Mexico will be hosting this elite event, the first was in Xalapa, Veracruz in 2013.

“One of FIBA”s strategic pillars is women in basketball, and the AmeriCup is the perfect arena to show the growth of women as athletes, coaches, administrators and referees,” said Callan. “We look forward to the games which highlight that talent within the Americas.”

Brazilian women’s basketball legend Juneth Arcain and USA women’s basketball icon Swin Cash joined the hosts as special guests to speak on the growth of women’s basketball as the AmeriCup grows, and the opportunities that the sport has provided them.

“My first love was basketball, and to not only represent my country but also my family meant everything, and to also play alongside and against some of the GOATs, you think about the women who paved the way for you, I’m so humbled to be here and to have an opportunity and that’s because of playing basketball,” said Cash.

Out of Pot 1 USA landed in the fourth position in Group A, and Canada landed in the first position in Group B. Pot 2’s Brazil landed in Group A in second, and Puerto Rico landed in Group B’s second position.

Argentina was seeded first in Group A from Pot 3, and Colombia was selected for the fifth spot in Group B. From Pot 4, Cuba landed in Group A’s fifth spot, and Dominican Republic landed in Group B’s third spot.

Rounding out the pots, Venezuela was selected third in Group A, and Mexico was slotted fourth in Group B.

The final groups, in order of position as selected at random, are Group A consisting of Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, USA and Cuba, and Group B consisting of Canada, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Colombia.

FIBA