Both Greece and Australia will be fighting for their maiden FIBA World Cup title in this year’s competition, with the Australians especially hoping to make a good run as they enter as one of the world’s highest ranked nations.
The FIBA World Cup commences this week, running from August 25-September 10, and is taking place in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia as 32 countries battle it out for the trophy.
Australia will be confident in their abilities heading into the tournament as they aim to at least record a podium finish for the first time, coming in as the third ranked nation in the world and as the reigning FIBA Asia Cup champions (winning it just last year).
Greece, currently ranked ninth and having made the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIBA EuroBasket championships, also looms as a threat as they look to earn a top three finish for the first time since 2006 (coincidentally also in Japan) where they won the silver medal.
The Greek team will be without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo at the tournament due to not being cleared by his medical team to play.
Both nations have tough groups lined up in the first round, with the Greeks being slightly harder as they prepare to compete with basketball powerhouse of USA, as well as New Zealand and Jordan.
Australia, likewise, will be wary of their group as they are set to face one of the tournament hosts in Japan, Germany (currently 11th in the world rankings) and Finland.
The two best and two worst performing nations in each group will split off into two separate sides in the second round, the worst competing in the 17th-32nd bracket and the best advancing to the 1-16th.
This round involves another group stage wherein the two best performing nations in each group qualify for the knockout phase, going from the quarter-finals and working its way down towards the final to decide the World Cup winners.
The tournament follows a strict placement structure, meaning that teams will consistently play matches to decide the exact ranking of the nations at the competition.
In addition to the World Cup, each team is also playing for entry in next year’s summer Olympics, with the top two teams from each of the Americas and Europe, and the top team from each of Africa, Asia and Oceania successfully qualifying alongside tournament hosts France.
First Round Schedule (AEST)
Group C:
Greece-Jordan: 18.45, Sat 26 Aug
Greece-USA: 22.40, Mon 28 Aug
Greece-New Zealand: 22.40, Wed 30 Aug
Group E:
Australia-Finland: 18.00, Fri Aug 25
Australia-Germany: 18.30, Sun Aug 27
Australia-Japan: 21.10, Tue Aug 29
