By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The updated FIBA World Rankings presented by NIKE were revealed on Thursday to decide the eight remaining national teams of the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The top two national teams from each continental zone not already set for the Olympics nor the qualifiers got the nod.
Angola and Senegal from Africa, Mexico and Uruguay from Americas, China and South Korea from Asia-Oceania, and Croatia and Slovenia from Europe rounded up the field. Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, New Zealand, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey and Venezuela were already in based on their 2019 FIBA World Cup showing.
The bidding process to host the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments will begin soon. Greece, Lithuania and Serbia are expected to be among the countries to take part in the proceedings.
As for the countries that qualified directly to the 2020 Olympic Games, USA remained on top of the Rankings, but second-placed Spain closed in after capturing gold at China. Australia improved by eight spots to rise to third place, Argentina went to fourth and France dropped to fifth. Iran is 22nd, Nigeria 23rd and Japan 38th.
The top-ranked national teams without a spot in the qualifying tournament nor the Olympics are Montenegro (26th), Latvia (28th), Ukraine (29th), the Philippines (31st), Finland (34th), Georgia (36th) and Jordan (37th).