It’s going to be a tall order for the Philippines’ quest for a FIBA World Cup berth as the Filipinos will have to qualify there by getting past Oceania powerhouse squads Australia and New Zealand as well as Guam, teams which are all bunched in Group A in the first round of the Asian Qualifiers that will be played beginning November this year leading to sixth and final window in 2027 ahead of the most prestigious global basketball stage.
Gilas Pilipinas and Australia had a long history in FIBA Asia basketball.
Seven years ago, these two teams battled it out in a controversial match that was marred by a bench-clearing incident, which saw players and coaches getting suspended during one of the window matches of the World Cup qualifiers played at the Philippine Arena.
Gilas Pilipinas defeated New Zealand for the first time since 2016 when the Pinoy cagers stunned the Tall Blacks, 93-89, in the second window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers at the Mall of Asia Arena on November 21, 2024.
Interestingly, Gilas will also face a familiar foe once they square off against Guam, which will be backstopped by PBA veteran Jericho Cruz of the San Miguel Beermen, who played in the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
Gilas assistant coach and current Far Eastern University Tamaraws mentor Sean Chambers was sent by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to observe the drawing of lots as the Philippines resumes its quest for another potential World Cup berth. The Philippines has been playing in the world’s biggest basketball event for the past three stagings, beginning 2014 in Seville, Spain, when the country ended a 40-year drought of non-participation in the global stage.
Two years ago, the Philippines was able to bring the World Cup back to Manila for the first time since 1978 as it co-hosted the event along with Japan and Indonesia.
The FIBA World Cup serves as a qualifying event for the 2028 Olympics as it guarantees an automatic seat for the top Asian team, which was enjoyed by Japan when it emerged as the top Asian team. The top Asian team doesn’t include Oceania teams like Australia and New Zealand, which have their own classification.
In the Asian Qualifiers, these 16 teams divided into four groups, will play in a home and away format and facing teams belong to their groups in the first two windows. These windows will be in November 2025, February 2026 and July 2026.
The top three teams from each group will then advance to the second round. The teams that will advance in Groups A and C will form Group E while Groups B and D will form Group F. Qatar being the pre-qualified team as host will take one of these spots. All teams will carry over the results they incurred in the first round.
In the second round, there will be two games each per team playing in a home and away format against the other teams coming from the other group. The three windows scheduled in 2026 will be in August and November and the last window will be played in February 2027.
At the end of these two rounds, the top seven teams along with Qatar, will advance to the FIBA 2027 World Cup.
