Basketball powerhouse Argentina will miss this year’s FIBA World Cup for the first time since 1982, following a 79-75 loss to the Dominican Republic in qualifying on Sunday. The Dominican Republic managed to secure victory despite trailing by 17 points with just 12 minutes remaining in the game, which took place in the Argentinian city of Mar del Plata. Argentina, which included star players from European leagues, such as Real Madrid forward Gabriel Deck, finished fourth in their group behind the Dominican Republic, Canada, and Venezuela. This marks a significant setback for a nation that was the runner-up to Spain in the last World Cup four years ago and has qualified for the previous nine editions.
Argentina’s captain, Facundo Campazzo, expressed disappointment in the team’s performance, stating, “We didn’t play well. We were off-target in attack, we had too many holes in defence, and we didn’t shut down their key players. We really screwed up.”
In other qualifying news, Cape Verde, a small nation, secured their spot in the finals by defeating Ivory Coast 79-64, aided by their 7-foot 3-inch center, Walter Tavares, who plays for Real Madrid. In Europe, Georgia qualified for the World Cup for the first time, despite losing 80-77 at home to Iceland. Meanwhile, Belgium and Serbia are currently competing for the 32nd and final qualifying place.
The FIBA World Cup finals will be held in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia from August 25 to September 10. While the Philippines and Japan have automatically qualified as host nations, Indonesia will not participate in the finals due to failing to meet FIBA’s criteria of reaching the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup.
Countries that have qualified include:
**Africa:** Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Angola, South Sudan, Egypt
**Asia:** Philippines*, Japan*, Iran, New Zealand, Australia, Lebanon, Jordan, China
**Americas:** USA, Canada, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela
**Europe:** Finland, Lithuania, Germany, Greece, Slovenia, France, Latvia, Spain, Italy, Georgia, Montenegro
(*Philippines and Japan automatically qualified as host nations)
Comments are closed for this story.