2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification (Europe)

International basketball competition

The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification for the FIBA Europe region, began in February 2020 and concluded in February 2023. The process determined the twelve teams that would qualify for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

On 9 December 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency initially handed Russia a four-year ban from all major sporting events, after RUSADA was found non-compliant for handing over manipulating lab data and lying to investigators. WADA prohibited the use of the Russian flag and anthem at major international sporting events.^[1] However, the Russia national team could still enter qualification, as the ban only applied to the final tournament to decide the world champions. Russia appealed the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS),^[2] which ruled in favour of WADA on 17 December 2020, but cut the ban from four to two years.^[3] Had Russia qualified, its players would have been able to use its name, flag and anthem at the World Cup, as a result of the nation's two-year ban expiring on 16 December 2022.^[3][4] However, Russia was later expelled from the tournament due to its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.^[5]

Format

FIBA Europe was allocated 12 berths at the World Cup. In total, 39 FIBA Europe teams took part in the qualification tournament. The qualification consisted of the following stages:

• Pre-Qualifiers
  • First round: Eight teams that did not advance to the EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers took part.
  • Second round: The four teams were joined by the eight teams that were eliminated from the EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers. Teams that advanced from the previous round were assigned to Pot 3, while teams eliminated from EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers were assigned to Pots 1 or 2, according to FIBA rankings. Austria withdrew before the round and was replaced by Luxembourg.
• Qualifiers
  • First round: 24 teams that qualified for EuroBasket 2022 and eight teams that advanced from Pre-Qualifiers were organized into eight groups of four. The top three teams of each group qualified for the second round.
  • Second round: The top 24 teams from the first round were organised into four groups of six, with results carried over from the first round. The top three teams of each group qualified for the World Cup.

Pre-qualifiers

Teams that did not advance to the EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers took part in the pre-qualifiers round.

First round

Group A

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
Notes:

1. Portugal 131–129 Belarus
2. Cyprus 152–137 Albania

Group B

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
Notes:

1. Luxembourg 179–173 Kosovo

Second round

Group C

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
(H) Hosts
Notes:

1. Sweden 156–139 Portugal
2. Luxembourg replaced Austria, who withdrew before the start of the round.^[6]

Group D

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
(H) Hosts

Group E

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
(H) Hosts

Group F

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
(H) Hosts

Qualifiers

First round

Group A

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.

Group B

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
Notes:

1. Belarus was expelled, after beating Turkey 84–70 and losing against Greece 77–67.^[7]

Group C

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.

Group D

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
Notes:

1. Estonia 143–141 Poland

Group E

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.

Group F

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
Notes:

1. Czech Republic 183–178 Bosnia and Herzegovina

Group G

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.

Group H

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
Notes:

1. Italy 200–194 Iceland
2. Russia was expelled, after beating Italy 92–78, Iceland 89–65 and Netherlands 80–69.^[8]

Second round

Group I

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
Notes:

1. Serbia 192–191 Greece
2. Turkey 2–0 Belgium

Group J

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
Notes:

1. Israel 2–0 Estonia

Group K

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
Notes:

1. Hungary 165–160 Bosnia and Herzegovina

Group L

Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
Notes:

1. Spain 156–156 Italy. Teams ranked on overall points difference.
2. Georgia 165–165 Iceland. Teams ranked on overall points difference.

Statistical leaders

As of 27 February 2023

References

1. "Russia banned for four years to include 2020 Olympics and 2022 World Cup". BBC. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
2. "WADA files official request with Court of Arbitration for Sport to resolve RUSADA dispute". World Anti-Doping Agency. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
3. "Russia banned from Tokyo Olympics and 2022 World Cup after Cas ruling". BBC. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
4. "Russia banned from using its name, flag at next two Olympics". ESPN. Associated Press. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
5. "Russian teams, officials are no longer allowed to participate in FIBA competitions until further notice".
6. "Luxembourg enter FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Pre-Qualifiers Second Round". fiba.basketball. 19 June 2021.
7. "FIBA decisions on Russia and Belarus for upcoming competitions". FIBA.basketball. 18 May 2022.
8. "FIBA decisions on Russia and Belarus for upcoming competitions". FIBA.basketball. 18 May 2022.

External links

• Official website
• Tournament summary