ST. CATHARINES, Ont. (Feb 23, 2024) - The Senior Men’s National Team will begin the first window of qualification for the FIBA Men’s Basketball AmeriCup 2025.

What: FIBA AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers

When: Feb. 23, 2024, 7:10 p.m. ET / 4:10 p.m. PT

Where: Meridian Centre, St. Catharines, Ontario

Kicking off Qualifiers: Canada will face Nicaragua on home soil, playing in front of Canadian fans in St. Catherines, Ontario. The team had a training camp session at Ridley College in St. Catherines from Feb. 19-22. After Friday’s game, the two teams will travel to Nicaragua, where they will play again on Monday, Feb. 26, at 8:10 p.m. ET/5:10 p.m. PT at Polideportivo Alexis Arguella in Managua, Nicaragua. 

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Entering on a high: Canada enters the AmeriCup Qualifiers after winning the bronze medal at the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023 this past summer in Manila behind the stellar play of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was named to the five-player All-Tournament team. After defeating Team USA in the third-place game, Canada begins the first window in the AmeriCup Qualifiers ranked sixth in the world in the FIBA World Ranking, presented by NIKE. Team Nicaragua enters Friday's contest ranked 73rd.

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Suiting up: Canada unveiled their roster for the first window on Thursday. In the team's last appearance at the AmeriCup, Canada fell to the United States 84-80 in the bronze medal game in 2022. Canada has five players from that roster returning to represent Canada in this window, including Trae Bell-Haynes, Kadre Gray, Thomas Kennedy, Lloyd Pandi and Kalif Young. Team Canada associate head coach Nate Bjorkgren will be manning the sideline for the AmeriCup Qualifiers after being named associate head coach during the November and February windows of the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers. On the other side of the court, Canada will be facing a team that should look a little familiar to Canadian hoops fans. Much of the roster for Team Nicaragua is made up of players from Real Estelí. Fans of the CEBL will recognize Team Nicaragua as the same players that the Brampton Honey Badgers faced when they represented Canada in the Basketball Champions League Americas Tournament that took place last year.

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Tournament format: The FIBA Men’s AmeriCup 2025 will be played in Nicaragua for the first time in August of next year. Canada is in Group C along with the Dominican Republic (currently ranked 18th), Mexico (25th) and host team Nicaragua. The FIBA Men’s AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers begins a new cycle of qualifying tournaments for the 12 teams that will be participating in the AmeriCup. After February’s window, the remaining windows will be in November ‘24 and February ‘25, with each team playing each of the other teams in their group twice in a “home and away” contest over the three windows. Canada’s first home game will be against Nicaragua on Friday before the teams shift to Nicaragua to finish out their “home and away” series in this first window on Monday. Nicaragua is competing at the highest continental level for the first time. As tournament host, they already have their tournament berth secured, meaning that the best two teams between Canada, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, will earn the remaining two spots for the FIBA Men’s AmeriCup 2025 from Group C. The other teams who will make the AmeriCup will be the top three teams from Group A, Group B and Group D.

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Where to watch: Fans in Canada can catch all of the action live on Sportsnet Plus as well as streaming on Courtside 1891 for fans outside of Canada.