TORONTO (April 28, 2023) -- The FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023 Draw presented by Wanda will take place tomorrow, Saturday, April 29, in Manila, Philippines.

Fans in Canada can watch the draw live at 7:00 a.m. ET (4:00 a.m. PT) from the Araneta Coliseum in Manila, Philippines to find out Canada’s opponents for the Group Phase of this summer’s FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023. 

The FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023, set to take place from August 25 to September 10, will feature the best 32 men’s teams in the world chasing glory.  The Group Phase will take place in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia with the Final Phase to follow in the Philippines capital city of Manila.

DRAW EXPLAINED

All 32 teams who have qualified for FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023 have been placed into eight pots, each containing four nations.

The teams were assigned their respective pot based on their position in the FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike:

Ranked 15^th in the world, Canada is in Pot #4 and as a result will not face any other teams (Venezuela, Montenegro or Puerto Rico) from that pot in the Group Phase.

The following video explains the complete FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Draw Principles:

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POTENTIAL OPPONENTS

Canada’s Group Phase - Round 1 opponents will come from Pot 2, Pot 6 and Pot 8:

Pot 2: France or Serbia or Lithuania (Slovenia has already been assigned to Group F in Japan)

Pot 6: China* or Latvia or Georgia

Pot 8: Lebanon* or Egypt or South Sudan or Cape Verde

 * Group can include only one of China or Lebanon

WHERE TO WATCH 

The FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023 Draw presented by Wanda will be available live and in full on the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 website, on the FIBA YouTube channel, and official streaming service Courtside 1891.

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Additionally, fans in Canada can also watch the draw streaming on Sportsnet.ca and SN NOW or on Canada Basketball’s Facebook page.

INDONESIA BOUND

In November, the three hosts of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 each selected a preferred team. Indonesia selected Canada to play their Group Phase games in Jakarta and as a result, Canada has been pre-assigned to Group H.

COMPETITION SYSTEM

Canada will play against the three other teams in its group, with the top two teams from Group H merging with the top two teams in Group F to form Group L for the 2nd Round.

The results of the three games from the 1st Round will carry over to the 2nd Round with the teams playing against the other two teams in their group that they did not face in the 1st Round.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.  The four winners will advance to the semifinals and the medal round.

‍TOP TEAM IN THE AMERICAS QUALIFIERS

The team booked their spot in this summer’s event with a 11-1 record, the top mark in the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers and tied for the best globally.

Canada rattled off ten consecutive wins to open the Qualifiers before falling to Argentina and splitting the final window on the road.

An offensive juggernaut throughout the Qualifiers, Canada led the Americas in points (97.7) and assists (21.2) and finished second in rebounds (43.3).

PATH TO PARIS

With a top two finish amongst teams from the Americas region (United States, Brazil, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Mexico) at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, Canada would qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

CANADA AT THE FIBA MEN’S BASKETBALL WORLD CUP

This will be Canada’s 15th appearance at the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023 and the first time with back-to-back appearances since a run of nine consecutive showings from 1974 to 2002.

Canada will be looking to surpass the country’s best result in the tournament which came in 1978 and 1982 with a pair of sixth place finishes.