With Serbia and the USA, two semi-finalists have already been determined, and the German team will try to secure another ticket on Wednesday. Should they succeed, then the DBB giants should be rooting for Canada against Slovenia
The World Cup is not only about World Cup medals, but also about seven Olympic starting places. Even before the tournament began, it was clear that France would be the host of the 2024 Summer Games – two tickets for the two best American teams have already gone to the USA and Canada, South Sudan will be the best African team in Paris, while Japan has secured the Asian and Australia the Oceanic ticket.
That leaves Europe: with Serbia, Slovenia, Latvia and Germany, four teams are still in the draw. As is well known, Germany will meet the Latvians on Wednesday and could follow the Serbs (87:68 against Lithuania) into the semi-finals with a win. Then only Slovenia with top star Luka Doncic could spoil the game. So if the Slovenians lose their quarter-final against Canada (Wednesday, 14.30 CEST), Germany and Serbia will be the last two Europeans left in the tournament and can look forward to a trip to Paris next year.
Four tickets at four qualifying tournaments
However, if they fail to qualify directly in Manila, their chances of qualifying for the Olympic Games basketball tournament (27 July to 10 August 2024) would not be completely gone. The last four tickets will be played out in four qualifying tournaments with six teams each. A total of 24 nations are still hoping to qualify, but only the respective tournament winners will travel to Paris.
The participants for this are almost complete. They are Egypt, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, Greece, Montenegro, Finland, the Philippines, Lebanon, Angola, Mexico, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Poland and Croatia. The two remaining open places will go to the two European teams that failed to grab one of the two direct tickets in Manila.
