Puerto Rico will open the search for their qualification to the FIBA World Cup 2023 against the same three teams they faced in 2017.
The national men’s basketball squad is in Group D of the first qualifying round – which will start in November – along with the United States, Mexico and Cuba.
The FIBA World Cup will be held jointly in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia from August 25 to September 10, 2023.
“Exactly the same draw in 2017,” the president of the Puerto Rico Basketball Federation (Fbpur), Yum Ramos, said at the outset. THE SPOKESMAN.
Back then, Cuba was the only team eliminated in the first round, closing 0-6. Puerto Rico finished in second place with a 4-2 record. The US quintet finished first at 5-1 and Mexico had a 3-3 record for third place.
The Puerto Ricans advanced to the second round and ended up qualifying for the 2019 China World Cup with a 65-61 victory over Uruguay, at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, in San Juan, on February 25 of the same year.
This time, Group A was made up of Argentina, Venezuela, Panama and Paraguay. Meanwhile, Group B has Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia and Chile.
In Group C are Canada, the Dominican Republic, the Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.
“FIBA has not announced the home games for us yet. I understand that there is one in November and either two in February or two in June, ”explained Ramos.
Puerto Rico will open the first round playing two games in a row against Mexico, on November 26 and 29. The games against the United States will be on February 24 and July 1.
The squad will face Cuba on February 25 and July 4.
The first stage will be played with qualifying windows in November of this year and in February and July 2022. Each team will have to play one match at home and another as a visitor against each of the countries in the group.
The top three teams in each group advance to the second round.
The second stage will be played in turn with qualifying windows in August and November 2022 and a final one in February 2023. There will only be two groups of six teams each. Each team will play two games – one home and one away – against each country from the same group that they did not meet during the first qualifying round.
Each quintet will maintain the results of the first round when advancing to the second.
The top three teams from the two second round groups will get their ticket to the FIBA World Cup 2023. The team with the fourth best record between the two groups will get the last berth on the continent for the event.
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