Who to Watch for the 2023 Basketball World Cup:

The top teams going into the 2023 Basketball World Cup at this stage of qualification would have to be this list in order:

1. USA: The USA is too good. They have won the Olympic Gold Medal the last 4 times, and they won the 2 of the last 3 World Cups. If Greg Popovich is coaching, he will seek to cement his legacy in the International Game by winning a World Cup. The thing about Head Coach Popovich is that with him the USA may not be perfect, but will do well, such as with their 2021 campaign going 7-3 across all games, but winning the Gold Medal!
2. France: France has some really good talent coming up, and by the time 2023 rolls around, they should be able to use it. One such talent is Victor Wembanyama, a 7’2″ 17 year old, who is a top NBA draft prospect. Plus, their oldest player from this year’s Silver medal team is going to be 36 years old, which means that France will have most of their lineup back, playing at top level. And, this 36 year old is Nando de Colo, whose game is largely suited for an older person anyway, so it probably will not affect him as much.
3. Serbia: Serbia did not qualify for the last Olympics, but ironically, this may have been one of their better seasons, with them having the NBA MVP, Nikola Jokić. Serbia has many top players and will be difficult to beat for any team.
4. Slovenia will be back looking to win the World Cup with Luka Dončić. There is a question as to whether Zoran Dragić will be back, and if he is, maybe he can try to convince his brother, Goran, to come back to the national team.
5. Australia: Australia now have a medal at the Olympics, and they will look to do the same in the World Cup. Australia did not have all their top players at the Olympics either, so it will be interesting to see how good they can be in 2023. Plus, Australia now is a FIBA Asia member since 2017, as all of FIBA Oceania is part of FIBA Asia, and this means that Australia will be from the host continent, so will be the best Asian team there.
6. Greece: Greece will hopefully have the Antetokounmpo brothers, as well as their other stacked lineup. Greece failed to qualify for the Olympics, but they still will be one of the favorites to win the World Cup 2023.
7. Italy: Italy looked really good in the Olympics, with a well balanced lineup. They have many good scorers from the Italian League itself, which shows how good Italian basketball is from top to bottom.
8. Turkey: Turkey has a good team coming up and their oldest player from their current team will be 36. This means that Turkey’s successes now should come in 2023 too.
9. Spain: Spain may continue to be one of the best teams in the world, or they may not continue to be one due to the Gasols retiring from the national team and due to other players getting older. Either way, they should still be good if Ricky Rubio is playing.
10. Lithuania: Lithuania is consistently a top basketball nation, and nothing should change in 2023.
11. Germany: Germany has been doing very well as of late, and their Quarter-final run in the Olympics without a lot of their best players suggests this nation could go further in the World Cup.
12. Nigeria: Nigeria should have a lot of upside going forward with many American-born Nigerians playing for the D’Tigers and with Nigeria developing their basketball even more domestically in the country.
13. Canada: Canada has the potential to be really good, but never seems to be. So, we will see if they can perform well.
14. Latvia: If Latvia can get to the World Cup, they have a lot of talent that can dominate the competition. Also, congrats Latvia on winning the 2020 Olympic Gold Medal for Men’s 3×3 basketball.
15. Croatia: Croatia is consistently very underperforming in basketball, as they tend to be in association football (soccer), but maybe they can use their talent to make a run in the World Cup like they used to do in basketball, and like they did in 2018 for the FIFA World Cup.
16. Russia: Russia is still really good at basketball. They can make a run in the World Cup. But, I may have been unfair not to put someone else in the top 16. For example, Mexico beat Russia in Olympic qualifiers, and Mexico has some really good players coming up, a lot of them American-born Mexicans like Jaime Jaquez Jr., a star play on the UCLA Bruins Men’s Basketball team who are 2021-2022 preseason #1. And, The Bahamas has a stacked lineup if they can get their team out, featuring Deandre Ayton and Buddy Hield. There are so many more nations that are looking very good, and Argentina and Brazil could prove to be really good for 2023 like they usually are.

There is so much talent in the world, and of course, some of these nations may not even qualify or do well, while others may do very well at the World Cup that are not listed on here. Below is a list of continents and the high performers right now in each continent, plus some of the interesting nations that could be surprises:

FIBA Americas (includes North America and South America): Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, The Bahamas (if all players play), Dominican Republic, Mexico, Uruguay and Puerto Rico could all do very well next World Cup if they qualify. There are of course more teams that can do well, like Chile, Panama, US Virgin Islands, Cuba, and Colombia. Qualifying out of the Americas is sort of a sign that you can compete in the World Cup by itself. In fact, Jamaica and Nicaragua both have been playing well, and Belize is a traditional basketball nation, and all three of these nations have already been knocked out. One team that does not look as impressive, but is still left in qualifiers is Paraguay, and Bolivia, El Salvador, and Costa Rica are three nations that improved tremendously over the qualifiers, but will not make it to the 2023 World Cup. Ecuador and Guyana were two other nations that also put up good battles in the qualifications, but failed to make it.

FIBA Africa: Senegal, DR Congo (if all their players play), Cameroon (if all their players played), Tunisia, Angola, Morocco, and Egypt all have teams that could do well. There are other interesting nations too, like Uganda, Mali, the Central African Republic, Rwanda, South Sudan, and the Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire). Mali has been really good at the youth levels, like they are in association football (soccer). The Central African Republic is a traditional basketball power of Africa and has been improving as of late. Uganda did well in last Afrobasket, but lost all 3 games very closely in a tough group. Rwanda is a big basketball nation, and their economy is booming. They have invested a lot into basketball. Ivory Coast has traditionally been good at basketball, but they never do anything in international competitions outside of Africa. However, this does mean they are likely to qualify from Africa. South Sudan is home to many good basketball players and if all their eligible players played for them, they would be similar to Nigeria, very good and able to compete with most nations.

FIBA Asia (includes Asia and Oceania): New Zealand, PR China, Lebanon, IR Iran, South Korea, co-host Japan, and co-host Philippines (with Jordan Clarkson) could all do well. Guam may be an interesting nation to do well with their American influence, while Chinese Taipei (Republic of China) could have a good team if Jeremy Lin decided to play for them. Indonesia is a co-host and they should not do well, but they would be interesting to see in the competition. Qatar is a former 3×3 World Championship nation, so they have good talent if they come together, but somehow have already been knocked out of 2023 World Cup qualifying. West Asia tends to be very strong with Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan all doing well, in addition to Israel and Turkey, but Israel and Turkey both play in Europe. Kazakhstan is always one of the more interesting nations in Asia, as they play in Europe for some sports, and they have a club team that competes in the Russian/Regional VTB United League so they have players that play at a high level. And, India, like Indonesia, is a country that FIBA Asia wants to do well, while Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are still left from the Gulf nations, and these nations usually have at least one really good player through naturalization.

FIBA Europe: All of Europe is good for the most part and most of the nations here could have been mentioned, if they have not been already. Any nation that qualifies from Europe would be considered a good team at the World Cup, simply by virtue of making it through Europe. Some top nations not included were Finland, Czech Republic, Great Britain (they have good players, just never put it together), Poland, Ukraine, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Estonia, Belgium, Sweden, Iceland, Netherlands, Switzerland (if Clint Capela plays for them), Israel, Hungary, Denmark, and Portugal. Armenia and Austria were both good candidates to qualify for a World Cup, but did not enter/left the qualifications, so will not be at the 2023 World Cup.

Nations Left with a Chance to Qualify:

FIBA Asia (5 or 6 nations will qualify from the qualifiers, while 2 or 3 nation will automatically qualify for a total of 8 nations qualifying from Asia):

Lebanon, Bahrain, Indonesia, IR Iran, Kazakhstan, Jordan, PR China, Syria, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Guam, Chinese Taipei (Republic of China/Taiwan), Guam, India, Saudi Arabia, and Palestine. Japan and the Philippines have already qualified. Indonesia could automatically qualify if they finish in the top eight of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup (held in 2022 due to COVID-19 delays). Chinese Taipei and Guam play each other, with only one being able to stay in the competition, while Saudi Arabia, India, and Palestine will be playing for a place to continue in qualifications with two spots going to two of these three nations.

FIBA Americas (7 nations will qualify from the Americas):

Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, USA, US Virgin Islands, Cuba, Colombia, Paraguay, Chile, The Bahamas, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Panama, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Canada.

FIBA Africa (5 nations will qualify from Africa):

Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire), Cape Verde, Egypt, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Tunisia, and Uganda.

FIBA Europe (12 nations will qualify from Europe):

Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine, Turkey, Sweden, Luxembourg, Belarus, Portugal, Latvia, Romania, Montenegro, Denmark, Iceland, North Macedonia, Switzerland, and Slovakia. Currently, two out of three teams will continue in their qualifiers from the Sweden, Luxembourg, and Portugal group, the Latvia, Belarus, and Romania group, the Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland group, and the North Macedonia, Switzerland, and Slovakia group. The other teams are already in the next round of qualifiers.

Keep up to date with the Qualifiers because by the time you read this, some of these nations may have already been eliminated. You can find this information on Wikipedia, although you can also find it elsewhere too, if you do not trust Wikipedia (FYI, Wikipedia is usually really good for Men’s FIBA and FIFA World Cup Qualification information and updates).

For the latest tournament recap, check out: https://kindertruthandhonesty.com/2021/08/09/basketball-5×5-roundup-at-the-olympics/