The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification began in earnest at the 2011 Caribbean Championships, a qualifier to the 2012 Centrobasket, which was in itself a qualifier to the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship. The winners of the 2012 Olympic basketball tournament, the United States, qualified outright. The USA joined the host nation Spain, which was earlier elected to host the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in July 2009.
Qualification would be via each of FIBA's zones, with each zone allocated at least two berths, with additional berths given according to the strengths of the teams within each zone. In this setup, FIBA Europe got six berths, FIBA Americas had 4, FIBA Africa and FIBA Asia, 3 teams each, and FIBA Oceania, 2 berths.
The continental championships in each FIBA zone doubled as a qualifying tournament. The top teams in each tournament qualified to the Basketball World Cup.
In addition, after the continental championships were done, four more wild cards berths were awarded by FIBA to complete the 24-team tournament.
This was the final set of qualification tournaments under this method. FIBA announced that the next edition of the World Cup would be held in 2019, the number of participating teams raised from 24 to 32, FIBA Asia and FIBA Oceania combined into one region for purposes of qualifying for the World Cup, and that qualifying will be done in a home and away format.
Method
Each FIBA zone has a default number of berths, generally following the strengths of the national teams there. These berths, plus four wild cards and the host total in 24. However, a berth is subtracted from the FIBA zone of the Olympic champion; in this case, the United States' gold medal in 2012 reduced FIBA Americas' number of berths from five to four, with the United States qualifying as a result of their 2012 Olympic gold medal. FIBA zone Qualifying tournaments World Cup berthsAutomaticTeams enteredTotal berthsAutomaticAfter the 2012 OlympicsBerth as the host nationTotal berths2012 Olympic gold medalist 12 0 +1 0 1 FIBA Africa 4 23 16 3 0 0 3FIBA Americas 6 9 10 5 −1 0 4FIBA Asia 2 25 15 3 0 0 3FIBA Europe 8 31 24 6 0 1 7FIBA Oceania 2 2 2 0 0 2Wild card 15 4 0 0 4Total 22 88 23 0 1 24 A total of 117 national teams participated in qualifying. This number included teams that participated but were later suspended (Lebanon and Panama), and excluded hosts Spain, which still participated in qualifying matches, and the United States, which qualified automatically and no longer participated in qualifying matches.
While the different FIBA zones employed any method in qualifying, all conducted their continental championships as qualifying tournaments. Therefore, these continental championships, along with the qualifying for these championships, serve as qualifying matches. In total, 606 qualifying matches were played to determine the qualified teams; excluding the Olympics, 568 matches were played.
List These were listed by order of qualification. TeamQualificationAppearanceBest performanceFIBA World RankingAsDateLastTotalStreak Host 23 May 2009 2010 11 9 Champions (2006) / Final 2 Gold medalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics 12 August 2012 2010 17 17 Champions (1954, 1986, 1994, 2010) / Final round (1954), Final (1986, 1994, 2010) 1 Top 3 at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship 10 August 2013 2010 2 2 19th place (2010) / Classification round 20 10 August 2013 1978 5 1 3rd place (1954) / Final round 34 11 August 2013 1998 7 1 11th place (1970) / Preliminary round 31 Top 2 at the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship 18 August 2013 2010 11 3 5th place (1982, 1994) / Final round (1982), Second round (1994) 9 18 August 2013 2010 5 4 4th place (2002) / Third place playoff 19 Top 3 at the 2013 FIBA Africa Championship 30 August 2013 2010 7 4 9th place (2006) / Round of 16 15 30 August 2013 1994 6 1 5th place (1950) / Final round 46 31 August 2013 2006 4 1 14th place (1978) / Preliminary round 41 Top 4 at the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship 7 September 2013 2010 12 8 4th place (1990) / Third place playoff 17 8 September 2013 1978 2 1 12th place (1978) / Preliminary round 26 8 September 2013 2010 13 8 Champions (1950) / Final round 3 8 September 2013 1974 5 1 8th place (1967) / Preliminary round 24 Top 6 (excluding Spain) at the EuroBasket 2013 18 September 2013 2010 6 3 4th place (1954) / Final round 8* 19 September 2013 2010 3 3 8th place (2010) / Quarterfinals 13* 19 September 2013 2010 3 2 3rd place (1994) / Third place playoff 16** 19 September 2013 2010 4 3 3rd place (2010) / Third place playoff 4** 20 September 2013 1 1 Debut 45 21 September 2013 2010 2 2 4th (2010) 11 Wild card selection 1 February 2014 2010 17 17 Champions (1959, 1953) / Final round 10 1 February 2014 1 1 Debut 39 1 February 2014 2010 6 3 2nd place (2006) / Final 5 1 February 2014 2010 4 4 2nd place (2010) / Final 7*Previously a part of Yugoslavia that had 11 appearances, and won in 1970, 1978 and 1990.**Previously a part of the Soviet Union that had 9 appearances, and won in 1967, 1974 and 1982.
Automatic qualifiers Advanced to the World Cup outright Already in the World Cup, but still participated in qualification Advanced to the World Cup as a wild card Advanced to the continental championship outright Already in the continental championship, but still participated in qualification Advanced to the continental championship as a wild card Advanced to next round of qualifying Disqualified and suspended by FIBA +Automatic qualifiers TeamHost2012 Olympics gold medalists
2012 Summer Olympics
The United States defeated Spain in a rematch of the 2008 gold medal game. The United States qualified automatically to the World Cup, taking one of FIBA Americas' five berths. Rank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th
FIBA Africa The 2013 FIBA Africa Championship in the Ivory Coast served as the qualifying tournament. With three outright berths, the top three teams qualified. This meant the finalists and the winner of the third-place playoff progressed.
FIBA Africa Championship qualifying
+Automatic qualifiers TeamHostTop 3 in 2011 FIBA Africa Championship
+Zone 1Rank Team1st2nd +Zone 2Rank Team1st2nd3rd4th +Zone 3Rank Team1st2nd
+Zone 4Rank Team1st2nd3rd4th +Zone 5Rank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th6th +Zone 6Rank Team1st2nd3rd4th
FIBA Africa Championship
Egypt, which qualified after making their last appearance in 1994, and perennial qualifiers Angola got the first two berths for FIBA Africa after advancing to the final of the 2013 FIBA Africa Championship. Senegal defeated host team Ivory Coast on the third-place playoff via a last-second four-point play to take Africa's last outright berth. Rank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th15th16th
FIBA Americas The 2013 FIBA Americas Championship in Venezuela served as the qualifying tournament. With four outright berths, the top four teams qualified. This meant the semifinalists progressed.
FIBA Americas Championship qualifying
+Automatic qualifiers TeamHostNorth American Zone +CaribbeanRank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th
+Central America & CaribbeanRank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th +South AmericaRank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th
FIBA Americas Championship
On 7 September 2013, Puerto Rico secured their classification to the World Cup after defeating hosts Venezuela 86–85 after extra time in the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship. The next day, the Dominican Republic eliminated Uruguay to qualify; this is the first appearance of the Dominicans in the World Cup since 1978. In the next game, Argentina's victory over Canada ensured that they and Mexico, the 2013 FIBA Americas Champions, qualify, thereby eliminating the Canadians and host Venezuela; the Mexicans returned to the World Cup after their last appearance in 1974. Brazil was chosen as a wild card for the World Cup after having previously lost all three games against Canada, Puerto Rico and Jamaica.
Rank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th
FIBA Asia The 2013 FIBA Asia Championship in the Philippines served as the qualifying tournament. With three outright berths, the top three teams qualified. This meant the finalists and the winner of the third-place playoff progressed.
FIBA Asia Championship qualifying
+Automatic qualifiers TeamHost2012 FIBA Asia Cup champion +2012 FIBA Asia CupRank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th
+Central AsiaRank Team1st2nd +East AsiaRank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th +GulfRank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th
+South AsiaRank Team1st2nd3rd +Southeast AsiaRank Team1st2nd3rd4th +West AsiaRank Team1st2nd3rd4th
FIBA Asia Championship
Iran and the Philippines became the first teams to qualify via the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship in Manila by advancing to the final. Iran made their second consecutive appearance while the Philippines qualified for the World Cup after 35 years of missing the tournament, their last appearance being in 1978 when they hosted the event. Korea, whose last appearance was in 1998, took the third and last automatic Asian berth after winning third place in the said tournament. Rank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th15th
FIBA Europe The EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia served as the qualifying tournament. With six outright berths, the top six teams qualified. This meant the semifinalists and the participants in the fifth-place playoff progressed. Spain, which has qualified already, participated, finishing within the top six. With this, the seventh-placed team took its place.
FIBA EuroBasket qualifying
+Automatic qualifiers TeamHost2012 Olympics participants2012 Olympic qualifying tournament participants
+Group ARank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th6th +Group BRank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th +Group CRank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th
+Group DRank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th +Group ERank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th +Group FRank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th
FIBA EuroBasket
On 18 September 2013, France secured their third consecutive qualification to the World Cup after beating hosts Slovenia in the EuroBasket 2013 quarterfinals. On the next day, Slovenia qualified after beating Serbia in the 5th–8th Semifinals, while Croatia defeated Ukraine, and Lithuania defeated Italy to both grab tickets to the final tournament. On 20 September 2013, Ukraine qualified for the first time ever after defeating Italy. On the next day, Serbia bounced back from two consecutive losses to win against Italy that led them to the FIBA World Cup after snatching the last outright remaining berth at the EuroBasket 2013. Finland, Greece and Turkey were selected as wild cards for the World Cup berth on 1 February, with Finland, along with newcomers Ukraine, marking their FIBA World Cup debut. Rank Team1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th11th13th17th21st
FIBA Oceania
The 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship was a two-legged tie between Australia and New Zealand. Since FIBA Oceania had two outright berths, this meant both teams were already qualified in the 2014 Basketball World Cup provided a team didn't forfeit a match.
Rank Team1st2nd
Wild card FIBA selected four wild cards after all of the continental championships were done. FIBA was prohibited from selecting more than three teams from the same continental zone and from selecting teams that did not participate in qualifying either through choice or FIBA-mandated suspension.
On 31 October, FIBA announced that fifteen teams submitted wild card applications. These were: Africa: Americas: , and Asia: and Europe: , , , , , , , and