MIES (Switzerland) - The second day of action in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Qualifiers Second Round will continue the narrative of the world's biggest stars representing their nation.
That's because Nikola Jokic is included in Serbia's lineup against Iceland, trying to create a two-game gap between the two teams, as Serbia are at 4-2, while Iceland enter the matchup at 3-3.
In that same Group J, Türkiye are still perfect at 6-0, facing a 3-3 Lithuanian team, while Simone Fontecchio and 5-1 Italy have a big game on the road in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-4).
In Group I, Spain are at 5-1 ahead of the neighborhood dispute with Portugal (3-3). Georgia could tie Montenegro at 4-3 with a win, while Ukraine (4-2) could go two wins clear of Greece (3-3) in case of a win in their encounter.
Only the top three from each group will book their flights to Qatar next summer.
Who do you think will have a successful start to Window 4 on Friday? Cast your vote below and let us know!
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Spain have won 18 of their last 21 games in the World Cup Qualifiers.
Portugal have grabbed 45+ rebounds in each of their last two games in the World Cup Qualifiers after never reaching that total in their previous 10 games. Spain have allowed their opponents to grab 45+ rebounds only once in 30 games in the competition (47 by Ukraine in July 2022).
Greece have lost their last two games in the World Cup Qualifiers, their first losing run in the competition; before this current campaign, four of their five defeats happened in the second round.
Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk has scored 28+ points in each of his two appearances with Ukraine in the World Cup 2027 Qualifiers, however, only one player in Europe has had more games with more than 25 points in a single Qualifying campaign (Martin Hermannsson, 3 in World Cup 2019 Qualifiers).
Montenegro have won their three away games in the World Cup 2027 Qualifiers, their best winning run away from home in the competition; their last five away games ended with a single-digit margin.
Tornike Shengelia has scored a total of 367 points for Georgia in the World Cup Qualifiers, the most by any player in Europe in the new format; Toko is averaging 21.3 points per game in this campaign, the most of any player to have appeared in all six games in the European region.
Türkiye have won their last seven games in the World Cup Qualifiers, the best current winning run in Europe; their last defeat was, however, at home in the second round, 74-83 against a Baltic country, Latvia, in February 2023.
Lithuania have lost three of their six games in the World Cup 2027 Qualifiers, but they have never lost more games during a single campaign of Qualifiers.
Cedi Osman has dropped 15 or more points in nine of his 10 games in the World Cup Qualifiers, with Türkiye being victorious in eight of the 10 games Osman played in; he has had three double-doubles in the competition, the most among all Turkish players.
Serbia have won their six home games played in the second round of the World Cup Qualifiers, scoring more than 90 points in four of those games. Serbia have dished out 30 or more assists in each of their last two games at the World Cup Qualifiers and might become the first European team to do it in three straight fixtures in the history of the competition.
Nikola Jokic has scored at least 20 points in each of his four games played with Serbia in the World Cup Qualifiers; he had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in his most recent game played in the competition (vs. BIH in July), being the only European player with a 20-point triple-double in the Qualifiers history.
Italy have won their last five games in the World Cup Qualifiers, their best winning run in the competition; they scored more than 80 points in each of those five games.
Simone Fontecchio (Italy) has scored 20+ points in each of his last three appearances in the World Cup Qualifiers, averaging 3.3 made 3-pointers per game in that span.
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