The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup is currently taking place in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia, and it’s already been a real festival of basketball. Hoops fans the world over have been taking a keen interest in the event, with several big stars gracing the tournament with their presence, not least Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic, who has been strutting his stuff for Slovenia.
As the World Cup inches towards a conclusion this weekend, basketball fans will be eagerly examining the FIBA World Cup 2023 betting market to try and pick out the team that will lift the trophy on September 10.
If you’re new around here, you might be unfamiliar with the Basketball World Cup. Here, we’ve put together some key information about the event, so that you can be in the know while cheering on the remaining nations this weekend.
History
The FIBA World Cup was first held in Argentina in 1950, with 10 teams converging on Buenos Aires to battle it out for the world title.
Having been conceived at a meeting of the FIBA World Congress during the 1948 Olympic Games, it was thought that a world championship held every four years would bring increased exposure for the sport, growing it around the world.
Hosts Argentina won that first edition of the World Cup, and since then the tournament has slowly grown in size and stature.
From 1990, the World Cup routinely featured 16 teams, before increasing permanently to 24 in 2006. The 2019 World Cup in China was the first to feature 32 teams.
The two teams who have won the most titles are Serbia and the United States, with five wins each, while the Soviet Union have won it on three occasions. Brazil and Spain have each won the tournament twice.
Related: 2024 FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifiers: Senegal Defeat Hosts Nigeria In Group A Opening Game
Current format
Since the change to a 32-team World Cup in 2019, the format has undergone a change in format. The 32 teams are split into four groups of eight, with each team playing each other in a round robin format.
The top two teams from each group progress to the second group stage, where they each play two more fixtures to add to their aggregate record.
Eight teams then progress to the quarter-finals and are seeded based on their group standings. Teams play off until a winner is crowned, with a third-place play-off match determining the bronze medal winners.
Meanwhile, the four teams who were eliminated in the second group phase play off to determine fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth positions.
The classification round also takes place, featuring teams eliminated in the first group phase who play-off to determine which teams finish 17th-32nd.
2023 edition
The 2023 edition of the World Cup has already featured plenty of talking points, most notably defending champions Spain’s exit from the tournament at the hands of Canada.
At the time of writing, the quarter-final line-up is as follows:
- Italy v United States
- Germany v Latvia
- Lithuania v Serbia
- Canada v Slovenia
It’s anyone’s guess who will triumph and get their hands on the trophy at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
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