Hosts Spain will face a tough group stage after being drawn against European champions France, double World Championship winners Serbia, Asian champions Iran, Egypt and wildcard Brazil in group A, while group D, with Lithuania as the favourite, has Slovenia, African champion Angola, Korea, Mexico and Australia.

Group B will pit Argentina against Greece, Croatia, Senegal, Philippines and Puerto Rico.

The preliminary round, which is due to start on August 30, will be played in four cities, Bilbao, Gran Canaria, Granada and Seville, before the tournament moves to Barcelona and Madrid for the final round.

The top four teams in each group at the end of the preliminary round will advance to the 16-team knockout round.

Legendary players José Piculin Ortiz (right) and Dino Radja (left) lent a helping hand during the draw procedure ©FIBA



The draw, which took place at the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona, saw many distinguished figures in the world of basketball in attendance including.

They included the Mayor of the City of Barcelona, Xavier Trias; the President of the High Council of Sport of Spain, Miguel Cardenal; the President of FIBA, Yvan Mainini; the President of the Spanish Basketball Federation, José Luis Saez; the secretary general Emeritus of FIBA, Borislav Stankovic and the secretary general of FIBA, Patrick Baumann.

Lending a helping hand in the draw procedure were international legends Juan San Epifanio of Spain, Croatia's Dino Radja, Puerto Rico's José 'Piculin' Ortiz and FIBA Hall of Fame inductee Jean Jacques Conceicao of Angola.

Having been drawn from the same pot, defending champions America cannot face their biggest rivals Spain, who they have beat in the final of the past two Olympic Games, until the final match on September 14.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
February 2014: Brazil, Finland, Greece and Turkey given wildcards for 2014 FIBA World Cup
January 2014: Official ball for 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup revealed
November 2013: We need to change attitudes to make World Cup top prize in basketball, says FIBA official
October 2013: "Follow Your Team" pass for FIBA World Cup final rounds go on sale
August 2013: FIBA launches Game Centre app to celebrate one year countdown to World Cup