MIES (Switzerland) - The Draw for the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2026 will be held on January 29, starting at 12:00 PM (GMT +3), at the Basketball Development Centre - Main Arena, in Istanbul, Türkiye.
Former turkish national team heroes Harun Erdenay and Semih Erden will be on stage deciding the path to the world trophy for the sixteen teams in contention.
The competition will be held from June 27 - July 5 in Istanbul, Türkiye.
Watch the Draw live
Viewers can tune into the live stream of the draw via the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup website or on the FIBA YouTube channel.
Draw principles
The participating teams of the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2026 have been distributed in four pots created to reflect the strength of the continents regarding the current FIBA World Ranking Boys, presented by Nike and the results of the previous FIBA U16 Men's Continental Cups 2025.
The pots are as follows:
POT 1: Türkiye, USA, Serbia, Lithuania
POT 2: Slovenia, Italy, Australia, Canada
POT 3: France, China, New Zealand, Venezuela
POT 4: Côte d’Ivoire, Japan, Cameroon, Puerto Rico
The teams from each pot will be distributed in four groups and assigned competition numbers.
There will be a maximum of 1 team from Africa, Americas and Asia/Oceania in the same group.
There will be a minimum of 1 and maximum of two teams from Europe in the same group.
USA and VEN cannot be drawn in the same side of the bracket.
Erdenay and Erden to perform the draw
Harun Erdenay will be performing the draw on stage. Erdenay has been a central figure in Turkish basketball for the past decades. He played for the national team from 1988 to 2003, participating in the 2002 FIBA World Cup and three EuroBaskets. The peak of his career with Türkiye was undoubtedly playing in the EuroBasket 2001 Final at home. He later became the manager of the national team and was elected President of the Turkish Basketball Federation in 2015. He is now Vice-President of the federation.
He will be assisted on stage by Semih Erden, another great figure of Turkish basketball. The center announced his retirement a year ago after a career marked by dedication to the national team. Erden played 13 summers for Türkiye between 2005 and 2021 and was part of the outstanding team that only bowed to the USA in the final of the 2010 FIBA Basketball World Cup, played in Istanbul.
Both former players know what it means to play a final in Istanbul with their national team, and they will make sure to pass on this experience and winning spirit to the new generation of talent.
FIBA