Tomorrow is day one of the 2014 FIBA World Cup and we can expect interesting matchups from day one. USA and Spain, the top two favorites to win the tournament, will not have a big challenge on this day and they will use these games as a warm up for the next phase.

The Philippines Smart Gilas team is playing against a young Croatian team led by Bojan Bogdanovic and Dario Saric, which will be an interesting game to see because the Phillippines have big support from their fan base back home.

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Other interesting matchups on the FIBA World Cup schedule include New Zealand vs. Turkey, Australia vs. Slovenia, Puerto Rico vs. Argentina and France vs. Brazil. Other matchups include teams that are huge favorites and opponents from Asia or Africa. Team USA will have a practice match against Finland in which they can combine for their best starting five and finally decide who will start at PG, Kyrie Irving or Derrick Rose.

New Zealand vs. Turkey

New Zealand always give everything in each game on official tournaments and it will not be a big surprise if they win against a Turkish squad that is rebuilding. Omer Asik, the best Turkish player at the moment, is not playing at this World Cup, so a New Zealand team consisted of players that compete in the Australian league and in the NCAA have big chances for a win in their opening match.

Australia vs. Slovenia

Everybody is expecting a lot from Dante Exum on this World Cup and it is actually the first match in which we will see how good is the Aussie for real. Slovenia is led by the Dragic brothers in the backcourt and have experienced Euroleague pro Erazem Lorbek on the PF position.

Puerto Rico vs. Argentina

Argentina is in the middle of generation change and the fact that Manu Ginobili will not play on the tournament makes their situation even worse. Puerto Rico is a team full of spirit and their backcourt combo of JJ Barea and Carlos Arroyo can make things interesting in this Latin American matchup.

France vs. Brazil

Brazil are listed as favorites in this game and that is probably fair because they have a strong squad consisted of Nene, Splitter, Barbosa and Marcelinho Huertas; but France still has a strong generation of players even without Tony Parker.

Meanwhile enjoy this cool video created by Sube la copa for the 2014 FIBA World Cup that features players from the Spanish team and check out the full FIBA Basketball World Cup Schedule 2014 at this link.