PARIS (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019) - The draw for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers has left France, Russia and Belgium in one of the most intriguing of pools, Group E.

If FIBA EuroBasket 2013 winners France are a team trying to stay at the top and FIBA EuroBasket 2007 champions Russia are a side attempting to return to the top, the Belgians are looking to make it to the top for the first time. The fourth team in the group will come out of the World Cup Pre-Qualifiers.

"Russia is a team in reconstruction but it is above all a basketball nation," said Vincent Collet, France's coach since 2009.

"Belgium, who are our neighbor, has in recent times caused us problems and its configuration should be fairly close to its best team possible. Of course, we will have to wait for the name of the fourth team.

"It will clearly be difficult, but three teams out of four will qualify for the Second Round so we must keep our heads high." 

Andrei Kirilenko led Russia past France in their FIBA EuroBasket 2007 Quarter-Final

France and Russia have played in some big games over the years. They met in the Quarter-Finals of FIBA EuroBasket 2007 and Russia pulled off a late comeback to win, 75-71.

The French rebounded from that disappointment. They have consistently competed for a spot on the podium since FIBA EuroBasket 2011, when they finished runners-up to Spain.

Les Bleus finished first at the FIBA EuroBasket two years later before winning Bronze Medal Games at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and at FIBA EuroBasket 2015.

Collet will rely exclusively on European-based players for the November 2017 and February 2018 windows since his NBA players will be in season and not taking a break. France should be able to cope because they are not short of star talent in Europe.

Nando de Colo, Thomas Heurtel, Antoine Diot, Charles Kahudi, Kim Tillie and Adrien Moerman were players that represented the national side last summer at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Manila and/or the Rio de Janeiro Games and currently compete professionally on the old continent, so Collet does have a core group of players to lean on.

In the third window, Collet should be able to call on some, if not all, of France's NBA players for the June 29 game against the team that has yet to be confirmed, and for the last contest of the First Round at Russia on July 2.

Meanwhile, Russian Basketball Federation president Andrei Kirilenko, the FIBA EuroBasket 2007 MVP and the leading force in the side that finished third at FIBA EuroBasket 2011 and at the 2012 Olympics, liked the draw.

We'll have a chance to get acquainted with the Belgians at FIBA EuroBasket 2017, as they are in the same group with our team

Kirilenko

"With regard to our opponents, I'm satisfied," he said. "The French national team is one of the leading international sides in the world.

"It's great that Russia will be able to see the best French players live in an official game."

The two countries squared off as recently as 2015 in Montpellier in a terrific FIBA EuroBasket game that France won, 74-67.

Russia will not take Belgium lightly. They beat the Lions at FIBA EuroBasket 2011, 79-58, yet the Belgians have improved steadily since then. They advanced from the opening phase at both of the following FIBA EuroBaskets while Russia did not.

Belgium are capable of beating any of Europe's top sides, something they did two years ago when knocking off Lithuania at the buzzer in Riga.

There will not be any secrets when the teams meet in their first World Cup qualifying clash in Russia on November 27 because the two are to square off before that at FIBA EuroBasket 2017 on September 4 in Istanbul.

"We'll have a chance to get acquainted with the Belgians at FIBA EuroBasket 2017, as they are in the same group with our team," Kirilenko said.

"We'll find out one more opponent later on the basis of qualification results, but in any case the Russian team should advance to the next round as one of the best three teams from each group."

Twelve European countries will qualify for the 32-team World Cup in China.

FIBA