The FIBA Basketball World Cup is one of the most exciting events in the world of sports. The year of 2019 will mark the 18th tournament of the World Cup, starting on 31 August. On 15 September, the world will have a new FIBA champion.
While waiting for the tournament to finally start, check out a few exciting facts about FIBA 2019.
1. China Will Host the Basketball World Cup
The bidding for the host selection started in April 2014. About a year later, China and the Philippines were the final bidders. Several months later, China won the bid, so it will be the host of the tournament this year.
2. The New Competition System and Calendar Arrive
The New Competition System and Calendar are more player-friendly. The workload with the players’ national team will decrease, and one free summer every four years will enable international stars to play in the tournament. The new system also ensures that more NBA players will be able to participate.
The Windows of the Qualifiers are now longer, accommodating every national team’s windows.
The new system will also improve the commercial appeal of the tournament. It will enable year-round visibility of the national teams.
This is the first time the FIBA Basketball World Cup and the FIFA World Cup aren’t occurring in the same year. That was the case since 1967, until now. The new calendar puts the FIBA in odd-numbered years, which means that it will always take place a year after the FIFA.
3. 80 Teams Played in the Qualifiers
The Qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup started in 2017, and the final draw took place on 16 March 2019. A total of 80 national teams fought hard to get a chance to play in the tournament.
4. 32 Teams Will Participate in the FIBA 2019
Of the 80 national teams that tried to qualify for the FIBA 2019, only 32 will participate in the World Cup. Apart from China, there will be 7 teams from Asia, 5 from Africa, 7 from the Americas, and 12 from Europe.
There will be eight groups with four teams each, and they’ll play a total of 92 games over the course of 16 days.
5. Top 7 Teams Will Directly Qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics
Since Japan will host the 2020 Summer Olympics, it’s automatically qualified. However, the 7 best national teams in the FIBA 2019 will also directly qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
6. New Contestants Are Coming
Montenegro and the Czech Republic will participate in the FIBA Basketball World Cup for the first time as independent countries.
Montenegro played as a part of Yugoslavia, and later Serbia and Montenegro, but never independently. The Czech Republic played as a part of the old Czechoslovakia.
Poland is also coming back to the World Cup, after 52 years. The last time it participated was 1967.
7. Brazil and the US will Continue Their Streaks
Every FIBA tournament sees some teams missing out, and then returning for the next World Cup. However, Brazil and the USA are the only countries that never missed this tournament. This year, they will continue their streaks.
Will You Be Streaming the FIBA 2019?
There are many ways to watch FIBA 2019. One of them, of course, is streaming it on your computer, tablet, or phone. If you plan on doing this, you should think about getting a mobile VPN. It will make your streaming experience significantly better.
Besides many other benefits, a mobile VPN can guarantee better internet speed. A lot of ISPs tend to throttle their users’ bandwidth, especially during peak times. They do this to keep the network stable during traffic surges.
And you certainly don’t want a slow connection when you’re watching the FIBA. A proper VPN will prevent bandwidth throttling, as it will hide your online activity from your ISP.
It will hide your real IP address from everyone, to be exact. This means that you’ll be safe from potential hackers. No one will be able to send you phishing scams or use any other method for infecting your system with malware.
This is especially important if you’re streaming via public WiFi, as it’s not encrypted.
There’s still much time left till FIBA 2019, but you can start preparing for it now.
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