2019 FIBA WC Round-Up: Quarter-Finals Pairings, Olympics Tickets For Nigeria, Iran

The first Quarter-Finals pairings were sealed after statement wins from Argentina and Spain in the penultimate day of the Second Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019.

Argentina is set to lock horns with Serbia while Spain will face off with Poland on the the other side of the bracket in the tantalizing Quarter-Finals stage of the most prestigious basketball event of the world.

Spain dominated their matchup with Serbia, orchestrating an impressive 81-69 victory to assert their dominance in Group J. Serbia struggled with the ejection of their star player Nikola Jokic to technical fouls in the third quarter and were dealt their first loss in the tournament.

Argentina retained its undefeated run against the also previously unbeaten Poland with a masterful 91-65 victory to claim the top spot in Group I.

Meanwhile, in the other Second Round Games, Russia took care of business against Venezuela with an 80-69 win while Italy needed to gut out a tough 94-89 overtime victory over Puerto Rico.

Russia and Italy are now guaranteed to finish between 9th and 13th places in the final standings, while Venezuela and Puerto Rico are ensured a spot in the 13-16 group.

In Classification Round 17-32, Nigeria and Iran booked their tickets to the 2020 Olympics with resounding wins over host China and the Philippines, respectively. Nigeria bulldozed its way to an 86-73 win to disappoint host China while Iran dominated Philippines, 95-75.

Sunday’s results ensured Nigeria and Iran would finish as the best teams from Africa and Asia, hence securing Olympic berths.

In other Classification matches, Tunisia escaped with a nail-biting 86-84 victory over African rival Angola while Korea nipped Cote d’Ivoire with an 80-71 victory to close out their respective campaigns with a victory and a spot in the 17-20 and 25-28 rankings in that order.

FIBA