The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Draw will be held at the Araneta Coliseum in Manila this Saturday 29 April – 11.30pm NZT / 7.30pm local time.
32 teams – including New Zealand – have qualified for the 2023 edition of the FIBA World Cup, with the event being co-hosted by three nations in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. Prior to the draw, all 32 teams have been placed into 8 pots – each containing four nations. Philippines, as host of the Group and Final Phase, is placed in pot 1, while all other teams have been placed in their respective pot based on their FIBA World Ranking position.
These pots will feed eight Groups of four teams each, with Groups A, B, C & D playing in Manila in the Philippines, Groups E & F playing in Okinawa, Japan and Groups G & H playing in Jakarta in Indonesia. As the 26th world-ranked team, New Zealand has been placed into ‘Pot 5’ alongside Iran, Dominican Republic and Finland, with the Draw to determine which Group they will be placed into.
Watch an explainer video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrcqLKfEQKs&t=2s
Why is this Draw important?
This draw is important to New Zealand and the Tall Blacks for several reasons.
Firstly, it will determine which of the eight Groups the Tall Blacks will be placed in for the Group Phase / 1st round. This also determines which country the Tall Blacks will play their Group games in from 25-30 August; either Philippines (Groups A-D), Japan (Groups E-F) or Indonesia (Groups G-H).
Secondly, it will determine the other teams in the same Group, who the Tall Blacks will face off against in the all-important Group Phase. During this phase, every team plays against the three other teams in its Group – with the top two teams from each Group advancing to the 2nd round a.k.a. the Final 16. The bottom two teams from each Group play in the Classification Round for places 17-32.
The draw will also determine the order in which the Tall Blacks will face their Group opponents, with dates for each game to follow at a later date.
Watch the Live Draw
The draw 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.
Watch the live draw here on 29 April 2023 at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLcpVeDGnUI
FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Global Ambassador, Luis Scola will be on stage to assist with the draw. Scola is the second all-time top scorer in the competition, having appeared in five editions of the FIBA World Cup – his 41 appearances the joint-highest in history. He will line up alongside the iconic Dirk Nowitzki, who is now Chair of the FIBA Players’ Commission, with the draw also including performances from global hip-hop artist Saweetie.
About the FIBA World Cup
First held in 1950, the FIBA Basketball World Cup – formally known as the FIFA World Championship – is held every four years, making this the nineteenth edition of the FIBA World Cup in 2023.
This year’s tournament is being co-hosted by three nations in; the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia from 5 August to 10 September 2023. The tournament will also serve as qualification for the 2024 Summer Olympics, where the top two teams from each of the Americas and Europe, and the top team from each of Africa, Asia and Oceania, will qualify alongside the tournament’s host France.
32 teams will be competing for the Naismith Trophy, which is named in honour of basketball’s inventor, James Naismith. Spain enters the 2023 World Cup as defending the champions, while both the United States and Yugoslavia have the overall championship wins with five each.
Find out more at: www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023
This will be New Zealand’s seventh appearance at the FIBA World Cup, having finished 19th in the 2019 edition and 15th and 12th respectively in the 2014 and 2010 editions. The Tall Blacks achieved their best-ever result in 2002, finishing fourth-best in the tournament thanks to the stellar play of now-coach Pero Cameron – who was named to the tournament team for his efforts.
