GILAS Pilipinas has been drawn with Oceania giants Australia and New Zealand in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.
The Philippines, bidding to make the World Cup for the fourth straight time, had the tough luck of playing the world No. 7-ranked Boomers and the No. 22-ranked Tall Blacks in the group stage which will begin in the November 2025 window.
Joining the three nations in Group A following the draw ceremony staged by 2027 host Qatar in Doha is world No. 88 Guam, which has San Miguel guard Jericho Cruz as one of its mainstays.
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A daunting task now awaits world No. 34 Gilas in the first round of the qualifiers, where it needs to finish in the Top 3 of the group in a double round-robin, home-and-away tournament across six windows to move on to the next round.
That makes the two match-ups against Guam essentially must-win games for Gilas, which, before that, will also contend with the Tall Blacks in the early stages of the Fiba Asia Cup 2025 hosted by Saudi Arabia in Jeddah in August.
The top three teams in Group A will then join the three qualifiers from Group C, made up of Iran, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan, which could be led by naturalized player and resident TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, in a new Group D in the second round.
The top three teams in each of the two groups in the second round, together with host Qatar and the best fourth placer among the two groups will qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027.
Group B is composed of world No. 21 Japan, China, Korea, and Chinese Taipei, while Group D has Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, India, and World Cup host Qatar. The top three teams in these two groups will move to Group E for the second round.
The win-loss records in the first round will be carried over into the next stage, making all the matches crucial to Gilas’ bid to return to the World Cup, but this time on its own merit.
In the last World Cup, the Philippines had an automatic berth being one of the host countries. It finished 24th among 32 countries.
Gilas also played in the 2014 World Cup in Seville, Spain with a team coached by Chot Reyes and in the 2018 showcase in Beijing under Yeng Guiao.
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