SAN JUAN (PUERTO RICO) - The FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2021 official draw in host site San Juan, Puerto Rico, announced which teams would play in Groups A and B during the tournament happening from 11-19 of June.

The 10 qualified teams were divided into pairs in accordance to the FIBA Nike World Rankings, with USA and Canada in Pot 1, Brazil and Puerto Rico in Pot 2, Argentina and Colombia in Pot 3, Dominican Republic and Virgin Islands in Pot 4, and Venezuela and El Salvador in Pot 5.

Seeding was also picked at random from a pot containing five numbers which were chosen after the teams were picked at random out of their pot to determine where each team would be seeded in their respective groups.

Per the draw, Group A consists of 1. Canada, 2. Brazil, 3. Colombia, 4. Virgin Islands and 5. El Salvador. Group B consists of 1. USA, 2. Puerto Rico, 3. Argentina, 4. Dominican Republic and 5. Venezuela.

The event included an address from Yum Ramos, president of the Puerto Rico National Federation as they host the event for the second time in two years following the 2019 event, followed by opening remarks from Carol Callan, FIBA in the Americas president and Carlos Alves, executive director of FIBA in the Americas.

“The AmeriCup is the first step in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Australia, but at the same time, FIBA has identified pillars that are of emphasis during this four-year period of time, and one of those very important pillars is women in basketball,” said Carol Callan.

The draw was also accompanied by a performance from rising star artist Mariah Angeliq where she performed her hits “Perreito” and “El Makinón”.

Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela qualified for the FIBA Women's AmeriCup 2021, as they were the best ranked teams in the sub-zone according to the FIBA Women's World Rankings by NIKE. Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, and El Salvador qualified from the Centrobasket Women's Championship in March. With the United States and Canada also joining the competition representing North America.

In 2019, the United States took home the gold medal in the FIBA Women's AmeriCup, with Canada taking home silver and Brazil claiming bronze. Host nation Puerto Rico finished fourth in the 2019 edition of the competition.

“The 16th edition of this AmeriCup will bring the top athletes to San Juan where the top 10 teams will battle for gold,” said Carlos Alves.

“Enabling women in basketball on and off the court are two key priorities for FIBA, and no better place to bring those priorities together than the AmeriCup.”
The top four finishing teams will advance to compete in one of four FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 Qualifying Tournaments which are scheduled to take place in February 2022.

FIBA