Only ticket on offer: Which European team can qualify for the World Cup on Sunday?

MUNICH (Germany) - The Second Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers has only just begun, and one team is already in a position to book their spot to next year's major tournament.

The top three teams in each of the four groups will advance to Indonesia, Philippines and Japan for a total of 12 teams from Europe at the World Cup. Each team will play six games in the Second Round as they add to their First Round results, where applicable.

Despite some strong showings across the four groups, only one team can mathematically advance in the August window. And, of the 24 teams competing, it's perhaps a surprise name that's on the cusp of qualification as Finland could become the first European team through.

They suffered an opening 72-62 loss against Sweden at the start of their campaign in the First Round before reeling off five consecutive victories to claim top spot in Group C. Finland enjoyed a home-and-away double over Slovenia in the November window and welcomed Lauri Markkanen back earlier this summer as they defeated both Sweden and Croatia.

Finland hold the head-to-head records over both Slovenia and Sweden from the First Round and defeated Israel on Wednesday. Another victory takes them to a 7-1 record which would guarantee a top-three finish in Group J.

Group J

3/18 games played

		GAMES				GAME POINTS					POINTS
#	Team	P	W	L	%	For	Agt	+/-	FA	AA
1	Germany	7	6	1	85.7	541	475	66	77.3	67.9	13
2	Finland	7	6	1	85.7	553	519	34	79	74.1	13
3	Slovenia	7	5	2	71.4	610	565	45	87.1	80.7	12
4	Israel	7	3	4	42.9	549	531	18	78.4	75.9	10
5	Sweden	7	2	5	28.6	529	561	-32	75.6	80.1	9
6	Estonia	7	2	5	28.6	498	574	-76	71.1	82	9

Upcoming Games - August 28

15:00 CET - Germany v Slovenia
17:00 CET - Estonia v Finland
20:00 CET - Israel v Sweden

If the Susijengi are to lock up a second-ever appearance at the World Cup, then this is the scenario that needs to play out in Gameday 8 action on Sunday:

Finland beat Estonia AND Germany beat Slovenia AND Sweden beat Israel. [/unordered]

DISCLAIMER: The above analysis has been prepared solely for the purpose of improving the experience of fans. It is not to be understood as advice or as binding information on the European Qualifiers for competition purposes.

FIBA