Photo Couresy of:

Canada basketball

Canada Opens FIBA Basketball World Cup Sunday Against Australia

<iframe frameborder="0" width="100%" height="263px" src="https://www.fiba.basketball/fibacarousel/index.html?event=9472&amp;lng=en" scrolling="no" border="0"></iframe>

Canada (0-0) vs. Australia (0-0)

When: Sunday, Sept. 1, 3:30 A.M. ET

Where: Dongguan Basketball Center - Dongguan, China

Watch: DAZN

FIBA World Cup kick-off:

  • Team Canada is in China for the 2019 FIBA World Cup. This year’s event will be held in eight cities across China — Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan and Dongguan, and it will run from Aug. 31 - Sept. 15. It will be the largest World Cup tournament to date with 32 teams playing a total of 92 games. This will be Canada's first World Cup appearance since 2010.
  • Roster unveiled: The Canadian Senior Men’s National team has announced its roster for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 . “Playing for your country is one of the greatest honours in sport and the players are fully committed to giving everything they have for Canada,” head coach Nick Nurse said. “I'm proud of the group of players we’ve selected to represent Canada at the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup.” The 12-man roster includes Khem Birch, Melvin Ejim, Brady Heslip, Cory Joseph, Kaza Kajami-Keane, Owen Klassen, Conor Morgan, Andrew Nembhard, Kevin Pangos, Phil Scrubb, Thomas Scrubb and Kyle Wiltjer. Canada is in China following a seven-game exhibition schedule with two games played in Canada and five played in Australia. The team went 4-3 in those exhibition games.

Things to know heading into Game 1 against Australia:

  • Tournament format: The World Cup will feature 32 teams broken into eight groups of four. Canada is in Group H, along with Australia, Lithuania and Senegal. The First Round of the tournament (Aug. 31 - Sept. 5) will see the four teams in each group play one another once. The top two teams in each group will advance onto the second round. From there, teams will form new four-team groups and play the two new teams within their newly formed group with the top two teams again moving on into an eight-team knockout phase through the championship game on Sept. 15. A complete explanation of the tournament format can be found here.
  • Canada’s first-round schedule: Team Canada will kick off their FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 campaign with a game against Australia on Sept. 1 at 3:30 A.M. ET. Their second game of the first round will be against Lithuania on Sept. 3, at 7:30 A.M. ET, and their third and final game of the first round will be against Senegal on Sept. 5 at 3:30 A.M. ET.
  • Familiar faces: This will be Canada’s third time facing Australia after playing the Boomers twice during their five-game exhibition tour in Australia prior to heading to China. After winning their first matchup 90-70, the Canadians dropped an 81-73 decision to Australia in the rematch. NBA fans will recognize a handful of NBA players on Australia’s roster, led by San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova, Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles, Phoenix Suns big man Aron Baynes and NBA veteran Andrew Bogut.
  • Roster complete: Cory Joseph and Conor Morgan have joined the team in China in advance of the tournament tip-off. Though Joseph, a point guard for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, and a Senior Men’s National Team veteran, was not with the team during their five-game Australian exhibition tour, he played two exhibition games with Canada against Nigeria in Toronto, and was present for the team's training camp. Morgan was added to the lineup after Oshae Brissett returned to Canada following the Australian tour with a knee injury.