MIAMI (United States) – The first two days of the second window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Americas Qualifiers featured a wide array of outstanding performances. From Canada securing their spot to the next round to Uruguay putting on a defensive masterclass and Cuba just short of making history, several countries left their mark and are poised to continue their impressive runs. These are five great things from Thursday and Friday’s action:
CANADA & BRAZIL ADVANCE TO THE SECOND ROUND
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC RULE ON THE ROAD
Dominican Republic notched a strong victory over the United States in Oceanside, California, on Thursday night to extend their record-setting road winning streak to four games. Despite several key absences like Jean Montero, Andrés Feliz and Chris Duarte, head coach Nestor García built the perfect game plan around center Ángel Delgado to pull off the upset.
The Caribbeans (2-1 in Group A) won in Mexico last November and closed the FIBA World Cup Americas Qualifiers in 2023 with road victories in Panama and Argentina, proving that no matter who’s available, they aren’t intimidated by anyone’s home-court advantage.
URUGUAY’S DEFENSE SHUTS DOWN ARGENTINA
The final score of Uruguay’s road win in Argentina on Friday surely caused countless double takes. The team not only defeated a continental powerhouse away from home, but also held them to a light 44 points— Argentina’s lowest output in the competition by a 14-point margin (after scoring just 58 against Venezuela back in 2022). Uruguay’s previous best defensive mark was 49 points allowed, achieved twice against Paraguay.
Gerardo Jauri’s guys limited Argentina to a frigid 26.8 percent from the field, including a 4-for-29 mark from beyond the arc, to start 3-0 for just the second time in Americas Qualifiers history. Their offense wasn’t much prettier, but guards Joaquín Rodríguez (20 points and 6 assists) and Bruno Fitipaldo (10 points and 5 dimes) did just enough to win comfortably on a night where they forced 14 turnovers and allowed a single point in transition.
CLOSE, BUT NO CUBAN CIGAR
The Cuban national team fought valiantly but fell just short of what would’ve been a historic first win in the Americas Qualifiers. Despite being unable to play on home soil and missing most of their starting lineup (Jasiel Rivero, Karel Guzmán, Anthony Rodríguez, Yoanki Mensia), the islanders had a chance to tie the game in the final minute. With better accuracy at the free-throw line, where they missed nine attempts, the outcome might have been different. “We’re playing with 70 percent of the second unit of our national team,” coach Onel Planas said. A couple of remarkable performances kept the game close. On defense, point guard Reynaldo García had 7 steals to tie the highest mark in Americas history of the competition.
On offense, Marcos Chacón scored 30 points on 5-for-8 from beyond the arc before running out of steam down the stretch, as Cuba essentially played a 6-man rotation.
COLOMBIA STAYS UNDEFEATED
Colombia is off to their best start in the Americas Qualifiers after shocking Chile on the road in Valdivia. The team’s 2-0 start after beating Colombia by a bucket in November puts them in a great position to advance to the next round. The squad coached by Tomás Díaz grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and won the paint battle 36-26 behind Jaime Echenique, who had a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Guards Hansel Atencia (19 points) and Romario Roque (16) combined to shoot 8-for-15 from long distance to seal the win. It was the second time they scored more than 81 points on the road in the history of the competition.
FIBA