The 32 teams were seeded into eight pots of four for the draw. As hosts of the final phase, the Philippines were placed in Pot 1, alongside the FIBA World Rankings' three highest-ranked teams. The 28 other teams, including co-host Japan, were placed in Pots 2 to 8, also according to their world ranking. The draw sequence began with Pot 1 and ended with Pot 8. Teams from Pots 1, 3, 5, and 7 were drawn into Groups A, C, E and G, while teams from Pots 2, 4, 6 and 8 were drawn into Groups B, D, F and H. A competition number was drawn from each team to determine its position in the group and the order of games in each group.[2]
Despite being one of the three hosts, Indonesia was not able to qualify for the tournament as they neither advanced to the second round of the Asian Qualifiers nor met FIBA's condition of finishing as quarterfinalists at the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup, which they hosted, marking this the first World Cup where a host nation has not qualified.[3]
Personnel involved
The 32 nations participating in the 2023 World Cup were drawn into eight groups of four. The two qualified host teams, the Philippines and Japan, alongside the three preferred teams each host country selected to host, the United States chosen by the Philippines, Slovenia chosen by Japan, and Canada chosen by Indonesia,[4] were drawn to their respective groups first before drawing the other teams.[2] As such, the Philippines was allocated to Group A, while Japan was allocated to Group E. The United States, Slovenia, and Canada were assigned Group C, Group F, and Group H, respectively.[2]
The highest-ranked team not to qualify for the World Cup, and also the only team from the top 10 in the rankings not to qualify, was fourth-ranked Argentina, who won the silver medal at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China.[6]
The eight groups were formed randomly, selecting one team from each of the eight pots, and allocating them to an assigned group depending on which pot the team is located. Two teams from the same confederation cannot be placed into the same group, with the exception of teams from Europe, where a minimum of one team but no more than two teams could be in the same group. Groups A-D will play in the Philippines, with Groups A and B playing at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, while Groups C and D will play at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay. Groups E and F will be staged at the Okinawa Arena in Okinawa City, and the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta will host Groups G and H.[2]
