Three Spots Remain for the 2019 FIBA World Cup

And then there were three… Only three spots are left for the 2019 FIBA World Cup which is set to tip off on August 31 in China. Two of the remaining spots will be filled from the Americas and a last one will be coming from Europe. All other regions have completed their slots in a flurry of games over the weekend.

On Sunday, Russia, Japan, Iran, Jordan, the Philippines, Serbia and Cote d’Ivoire all punched their tickets to the biggest basketball event of the year.

Russia successfully completed a comeback victory over Finland 91-76 thanks to some impressive sharpshooting from beyond the 3-point arc. They return to the competition after missing out on it in 2014.

The Japanese squad smashed Qatar 96-48 to put an emphatic stamp on their passport to China in August.

A loss by Lebanon to Korea 84-72 opened up the gates for both Jordan and the Philippines to make it through the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers. Jordan managed to upset New Zealand 86-80, while the Philippines blew out Kazakhstan 93-75 to progress into the main event.

Cote d’Ivoire held off Mali 69-49 to finish third in the African Qualifiers.

Finally, Serbia dug deep and put up an impressive showing as they dealt with Israel and came away victorious, 97-76.