Basketball World Cup Qualifying Slots Set

FILE - Nnamdi Vincent (L) and Ikeanna Iroegbu of Nigeria play in the Basketball World Cup Group B game between South Korea and Nigeria in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Sept. 4, 2019.

Serbia booked the final qualifying spot for the basketball World Cup by beating Great Britain 101-83 in their final qualifying game on Monday.

The Serbs, traditionally one of Europe's strongest basketball nations, stumbled on their way to qualification by losing two games to Belgium in the first round and missed a chance to clinch their ticket by losing 97-92 to already-qualified Greece on Friday.

But they made no mistake against Great Britain with Aleksa Avramovic top-scoring with 20 points in Belgrade in the absence of reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jovic of the Denver Nuggets.

Basketball powerhouse Argentina will miss the tournament for the first time since 1982 after they lost 79-75 to the Dominican Republic on Sunday.

The African nations that made the qualifying cut are: Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Angola, South Sudan, and Egypt.

European teams going to the playoffs are: Finland, Lithuania, Germany, Greece, Slovenia, France, Latvia, Spain, Italy, Georgia, Montenegro, and Serbia.

The USA, Canada, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela represent the Western Hemisphere.

Asia's slots go to: Asia: Philippines*, Japan*, Iran, New Zealand, Australia, Lebanon, Jordan, and China

The FIBA Basketball World Cup will take place between Friday, August 25 and Sunday, September 10, 2023.