[JAPAN SPORTS NOTEBOOK] 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Draw Unveiled

Reigning champion Spain, the world's top-ranked men's national team, has been assigned to Group G, which will play games at Jakarta's Indonesia Arena. (See below for information on Group H, also to be played in Jakarta.)

The rest of Group G includes Brazil (ranked 13th in the world), Iran (22) and Ivory Coast (42).Okinawa Arena is set to host Group E and Group F.

The 36th-ranked Japan men's national team, guided by head coach Tom Hovasse, is in Group E. Akatsuki Japan, whose tournament roster is expected to include NBA players Yuta Watanabe and Rui Hachimura, will face Australia (3), Germany (11) and Finland (24) in the first round.

Here's the order of those matchups: Japan-Germany, Japan-Finland and Japan Australia, on August 25, 27 and 29, respectively.

For Group F, Slovenia (7), Venezuela (17), Georgia (32) and Cape Verde (64) are the four teams. Cape Verde, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, will compete in the FIBA World Cup for the first time.

FIBA President Hamane Niang and FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis were among the dignitaries at the festivities at Araneta Coliseum.

First-Round FIBA Basketball World Cup Matches in Manila

Manila will host Groups A, B, C and D, with the first two at Araneta Coliseum and the other two at Mall of Asia Arena (MoA Arena).

Here's a look at Manila's four groups:

• Group A: Italy (10), the Dominican Republic (23), the Philippines (40) and Angola (41). Italy placed fourth in 1970 and '78.
• Group B: Serbia (6), Puerto Rico (20), China (27) and South Sudan (62, also a first-time participant). Serbia was the World Cup runner-up in 2014.
• Group C: United States (2), Greece (9), New Zealand (26) and Jordan (33). Team USA won World Cup titles in 2010 and 2014, then slipped to seventh in 2019.
• Group D: Lithuania (8), Montenegro (18), Mexico (31) and Egypt (55). Lithuania placed ninth at the 2019 tourney.

As noted above, Group H will also be held in Jakarta. The teams: France (5), Canada (15), Latvia (29) and Lebanon (43).

Japan's FIBA Hosting History

Before the tourney was renamed the FIBA Basketball World Cup and expanded to its present size, it was known as the FIBA World Championship. In 2006, Japan hosted the 24-nation tournament. The opening round was held in four cities (Hamamatsu, Hiroshima, Sapporo and Sendai). And then the remainder of the competition was staged at Saitama Super Arena.

Spain captured its first world title in 2006, defeating Greece in the final.

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