Among the 32 teams that have qualified for the FIBA basketball World Cup, four teams have earned the right to make their debut at the biggest global event.
Two teams come from Europe, and two from Africa.
Let’s start with the debutants from the “old continent,” and these are two countries whose basketball players previously competed under the flag of the Soviet Union, and now they will have their debut as independent nations.
LATVIA
Even though this will be their first independent appearance at the World Cup, it should be noted that Latvia won the first ever European Championship in 1935, and four years later they earned a silver medal. This clearly highlights the long-standing tradition of basketball in this Baltic country.
Latvia missed the last European Championship, and evidently learning from the failure in those qualifiers, the Latvians took this qualification cycle very seriously, securing their spot mathematically already in the middle of the second phase.
In the end, they finished the qualifications with 11 victories and only one loss, which came against Serbia in Belgrade with a score of 101-100.
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Undoubtedly, the main star of the team is Kristaps Porzingis (Washington Wizards), and among others, there are Davis Bertans (Dallas Mavericks), Dairis Bertans and Anžejs Pasečniks (Betis), Rodion Kurucs (Strasbourg), Arturs Kurucs (Saski Baskonia), and Janis Strelnieks (AEK Athens).
GEORGIA
Georgia was on the edge until the final moments of the match against Iceland on their home court, a match that directly determined who would qualify for the World Cup. They lost by a margin of three points, having won by the same margin in Iceland. However, the higher number of total points scored secured Georgia’s ticket to the World Cup, while the team from the far north of Europe will have to wait for another opportunity.
Tornike Shengelia’s dedication to his national team is truly admirable. Shengelia didn’t hesitate to play matches day after day in the EuroLeague and in the qualifiers to help his team qualify. His commitment was huge and he will rightfully lead his team in their debut appearance.
Until 2011, Georgia competed in the B Division of the European Championship. Under the leadership of Serbian coach Igor Kokoskov, they gradually began to rise, and this qualification for the World Cup is certainly a crowning achievement.
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31-year-old Tornike Shengelia (Virtus Bologna), will lead the team. Alongside him, the team’s key players include Sando Mamukelashvili (Milwaukee Bucks), Goga Bitadze (Orlando Magic), Giorgi Shermadini (Tenerife), and naturalized American guard Thaddus McFadden (Murcia).
SOUTH SUDAN
This African team played its first match in 2011 and has been a member of FIBA for exactly ten years. In its anniversary year, they will make their debut at the World Cup.
The significance of this achievement for South Sudan is evident from the fact that they have participated in the FIBA Africa Championship only once before, in 2021, where they finished in seventh place.
South Sudan, with a relatively modest team, managed to secure qualification.
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The president of the South Sudanese basketball association is Luol Deng, a former Chicago Bulls player and a representative of Great Britain, who hails from there. Many players from South Sudan have opted to play for other national teams, such as Thon Maker and Duop Reath, who are part of Australia’s team.
CAPE VERDE
And finally, we come to perhaps the most intriguing debutant – the Cape Verde national team.
Leading this team is one of the top players in the EuroLeague, center Edy Tavares of Real Madrid, and Benfica player Ivan Almeida, who practically single-handedly eliminated German club Bamberg in the FIBA Champions League qualifiers and maintained an excellent form in the group stage. Almeida shouldered the responsibility in the late stages of the qualifiers in Tavares’ absence, guiding his team to a World Cup spot.
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Cape Verde is also a team that doesn’t regularly compete in the FIBA Africa Championship, but they have had success in the past. Specifically, they have won a bronze medal, and in 2021, they narrowly missed another bronze, finishing fourth. Edy Tavares was selected to the All-Tournament Team at that championship.
Cape Verde will set a record as the smallest country, with only 572,000 inhabitants, to qualify for the World Cup.
The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup will take place from August 25th to September 10th in the Philippines (Manila and Bocaue), Japan (Okinawa), and Indonesia (Jakarta). Spain is the defending world champion.
