After securing their spot in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China, the time has now come for Canada to find out who and where they'll be playing in the actual tournament.
The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Draw will take place Saturday, March 16 at 6:30 a.m. EST time at the Shenzhen Bay Arena.
Canada has been placed in Pot 6 after being moved from Pot 5. The change was made to avoid having two teams from the Americas in the same group.
That leaves Canada with the chance of drawing either Serbia, Lithuania or Greece from one Pot, Russia, Australia or Italy from another Pot, and finally Nigeria, Senegal, New Zealand or Angola from a final Pot.
Potential opponents for Canada 🇨🇦 in Group Phase at #FIBAWC:
— Canada Basketball (@CanBball) March 15, 2019
Pot 2 ➡️ Serbia 🇷🇸, Lithuania 🇱🇹 or Greece 🇬🇷
Pot 3 ➡️ Russia 🇷🇺, Australia 🇦🇺 or Italy 🇮🇹
Pot 7 ➡️ Nigeria 🇳🇬, Senegal 🇸🇳, New Zealand 🇳🇿 or Angola 🇦🇴
Draw goes Saturday, March 16 at 6:30 AM ET #WeAreTeamCanada
Despite their strong effort during the Americas Qualifiers, Canada will be placed with two strong opponents because of their world rank, which is 23rd heading into the World Cup.
All 32 eligible teams will be drawn into eight groups following the draw procedure. All eight groups have already been assigned to a host city in China.
Group A -> Beijing
Group B -> Wuhan
Group C -> Guangzhou
Group D -> Foshan
Group E -> Shanghai
Group F -> Nanjing
Group G -> Shenzhen
Group H -> Dongguan
For complete description of the process, watch this video:
The draw will be streamed live on FIBA's YouTube channel.
With the potential of fielding a roster featuring all NBA players, this may be Canada's strongest roster yet. It also may be Canada's best chance at a podium finish.
For the first time, seven teams will qualify for the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan through the FIBA Basketball World Cup. The top-ranked team from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the top two ranked teams from both the Americas and Europe regions will secure their spot at the Olympics.
The next best 16 teams from the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 will be given a place in one of four FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in 2020, giving them a shot at punching a ticket to the Summer Games in Tokyo.
The FIBA Basketball World Cup will tip off August 31 and run through September 15th, 2019 in eight different cities in China.
