How does the FIBA World Cup affect Olympic qualifying?

Most of the 2023 FIBA World Cup analysis has been about who can win the tournament and the medals.

This should be the primary conversation about the tournament. After all, the gold and silver medalists, and likely the bronze medalists, will have done enough to qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

But that's not the only way teams can qualify for the Olympics this summer. There are seven Olympic qualifying spots up for grabs at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, and they are allocated based on performance by region.

How can the FIBA world Cup help a country qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics?

The FIBA America's region which consists of Team USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico will have their top two teams from the FIBA World Cup qualify for next summer's Olympics.

FIBA Europe which is represented by Serbia, Germany, France, Spain, Latvia, Slovenia, Georgia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Greece, Italy, and Finland at the 2023 FIBA World Cup will also have their top two teams at the FIBA World Cup qualify for next summer's Olympics.

FIBA Africa which is represented by Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Egypt, South Sudan, and Angola will have their top-performing team at the FIBA World Cup qualify for next summer's Olympics.

FIBA Asia which is represented by China, Japan, the Philippines, Iran, Jordan, and Lebanon will have their top-performing team at the FIBA World Cup qualify for next summer's Olympics.

FIBA Oceania which is represented by Australia and New Zealand will have their top-performing team qualify for next summer's Olympics.

Some of these regions will have been eliminated from the next phase of play entirely after the opening phase of play. This is why the FIBA World Cup breaks off to inverse loser brackets after each phase of play.

These loser bracket games can be very decisive, and lead to a team qualifying for next summer's Olympics. It's also why Japan's win over Finland was more than just a fun upset, it could be enough to help them qualify for Paris in 2024.

Also, in our tournament preview, we picked Canada to face Germany in the gold medal game and Team USA to face the Dominican Republic in the bronze medal game.

Canada and Germany will have already done enough to qualify for the Olympics, but the winner of the bronze medal game would also guarantee their spot at the 2024 Olympics and the loser would have to play in the Pre-Olympic qualifying tournament next summer instead.

Medals are one thing, but for many countries qualifying for the Olympics next summer and competing on international basketball's biggest stage is the ultimate prize. Keep an eye on some loser bracket games, they could be just as intense as the gold medal depending on what's on the line.