MANILA – A total of 16 teams advance to the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup after the final day of first round action Wednesday night.
Moving on to the next phase are Brazil, Georgia, Greece, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Slovenia, Australia, Canada, Dominican Republic, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Spain and the United States.
Here are the groups for the second round:
Group I: Serbia, Dominican Republic, Italy and Puerto Rico
Group J: USA, Lithuania, Greece and Montenegro
Group K: Slovenia, Germany, Australia and Georgia
Group L: Canada, Spain, Brazil and Latvia
Teams carry their first round records into the second round where they will compete for quarterfinals berths. Two top teams of the four groups qualify for the final phase.
No team from Asia or Africa regions made it to the next phase but they still have chances to book a ticket to the Paris Olympics.
The 16 teams that did not make it past the first round will continue their campaigns in the Classification Round 17-32, with direct qualification for the Olympics and the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments on the line.
Race to Paris 2024
The World Cup directly qualifies seven teams for the Olympic Games, with host France receiving an automatic qualification.
The seven spots include two teams from the Americas, two teams from Europe, one team from Africa, one team from Asia and one team from Oceania.
The teams that advanced to the second round are already assured of an Olympic Qualifying Tournament spot but these are also well within reach for the teams in the lower half of the standings.
Eight teams are set to earn qualification through the classification round 17-32.
This includes the highest-placed team from each region of Africa, Americas and Asia/Oceania, after those directly qualified for the Olympics, regardless of the final position.
For Asia, Japan (1-2) has a slight edge over the other five Asian teams after winning against Finland.
However, their place is far from assured, despite all other teams being winless so far.
The Philippines and China will play each other in the newly-formed Group M, while Iran and Lebanon cross paths in Group P.
Jordan, who got close to beating New Zealand in the first round before falling in overtime, is bunched under Group N.
The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 will conclude on Sept. 10 with the champions being crowned at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. (PNA/FIBA)
