MIES, Switzerland (August 31, 2021) -- The much-awaited Draw Ceremony for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 took place under high-luminosity television studio lights inside the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball on Tuesday afternoon.

Canada is in Group C for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers and will face Dominican Republic, US Virgin Islands and Bahamas.

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The qualifiers draw ceremony marks the tip-off for men’s national teams trying to successfully play their way to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. Set to take place in two years in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, the FIBA Basketball World Cup’s 2023 edition marks the first time multiple countries will host this showpiece event.

Continuing with the success of the FIBA Competition System implemented in 2017 for team qualification to the 2019 World Cup, the process of qualifying for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 will include six windows over 15 months across the four regions of Africa, Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe.

Two-time World Cup winner Rudy Fernandez took part in the proceedings from the FIBA Headquarters after FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis provided the opening remarks to the Draw Ceremony.

A host of sporting luminaries joined the captain from Spain’s golden basketball generation virtually from a Manila-based broadcast studio. These included FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Board Member Manuel V. Pangilinan and weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, the Philippine’s first Olympic gold medalist.

Spanish Basketball President Jorge Garbajosa provided a moment of levity by delivering the Naismith Trophy to the stage.

Eighty national teams were drawn across four different draws, one for each region - Africa, Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe.

Starting in November, the 80 national sides will play home and away games across six qualifying windows to secure their place among the 30 teams who will join hosts Japan and the Philippines in the 32-team edition of FIBA's flagship event.

The two co-host nations of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, Japan and the Philippines, who both played in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019, received direct qualification. Indonesia will get a chance to make history through the FIBA Asia Cup 2021, rescheduled to be played in 2022. The men's national team needs to be ranked among the top eight teams at the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 in order to receive direct qualification.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, set to take place from August 25 to September 10, 2023, will see the Group Phase take place in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. The Final Phase will follow in the Philippines capital city of Manila.

For more information about how to qualify, click here.