After the finals of the FIBA continental championships on Sunday which saw France beat Lithuania 80-66 to take the Eurobasket Championship, 20 of the 24 teams who will play in the 2014 FIBA World Cup have been finalised.
The remaining 4 teams will be awarded wild card spots in November when the Geneva-based Global Governing body will decide the entries in Buenos Aires.
Teams already in include 5 American sides, 7 European sides, 3 Asian sides, 3 African sides and 2 Oceania sides with many contenders hoping to still strike it lucky with a Wild Card entry. Winning a Wild card entry at this stage would be tantamount to winning the jackpot at iPad Casino and there are plenty of viable candidates who will snap up the opportunity.
For FIBA, China is one of the teams that would make sense as a contender as there are about as many people playing basketball in China as there are citizens of the USA. China has also expressed their willingness to pay the €500,000 entry fee, making it an easy choice for FIBA to bring them to Spain. Canada has also been touted as a team that would be a strong contender as their focus on developing young talent makes them exceptionally competitive on the International scene and playing in the World Cup would be an important step for their future.
Brazil was unable to finish in the top 4 at the FIBA Americas Championship so they missed out on a chance for an automatic bid. However, as the host of the 2016 Olympics the World Cup experience would be invaluable, so they are hoping for a spot in the wild card 4.
Europe has a big selection of teams for FIBA to choose from, with Russia, Turkey, Italy and Greece all an option, but none of them feature exceptional players or outstanding track records. From Africa, Nigeria has expressed desire to play, however they finished a disappointing seventh at Eurobasket and in the 2012 London Olympics they finished 10th., with only one victory.
It’s debatable whether FIBA would even consider them as an option, and they may not have the funds available to cover the fee.
There is a lot of speculation about which teams will take the wild card spots, but until the November announcement it remains a guessing game.
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