FIBA adds four countries to Basketball World Cup

July 12, 2012; Las Vegas, NV, USA; General view of FIBA basketball during a stoppage in play as the United States play against the Dominican Republic in the second half at the Thomas and Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /

On Friday morning, FIBA added the final four teams that will compete in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, which will take place in Barcelona, Spain from August 30-September 14.

The four wildcard teams that FIBA has added are Brazil, Finland, Greece and Turkey.

None of the squads are much of a surprise with the possible exception of Finland. Finland is ranked 39th in the current FIBA rankings (The United State is #1 followed by Spain, Argentina and Lithuania).

Greece is ranked fifth, Turkey seventh and Brazil 10th, so they were obvious choices.

The field will consist of 24 countries and those national teams are: Angola, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Greece, Iran, Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Senegal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States.

FIBA also announced that they will allow Senegal to participate.

"Considering the fact that the officials in charge of the Senegalese Basketball Federation have complied with past disciplinary sanctions imposed by FIBA and have agreed to a clear road map for the complete re-organisation of the national federation, FIBA’s Central Board has accepted to lift the ban imposed on the Senegalese national team and allow it to take part the FIBA Basketball World Cup."

FIBA announced their decision at a meeting held in Barcelona.

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