South Korean National Basketball Team Begins Training for FIBA World Cup Qualifiers Round 2

The South Korean national basketball team has begun training in preparation for the second round of the 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.

The national team, led by Latvian head coach Nikolajs Mazurs, gathered at the Jincheon National Training Center today.

Sixteen of Korea's top basketball players, who compete both domestically and internationally, began their intensive training today to prepare for the second round of the World Cup qualifiers, where they will face top Asian competitors.

The team will then travel to Tokyo, Japan, on August 15 and 16 for two away exhibition matches against Japan.

The first match of the second round of qualifiers will be an away game against Lebanon on August 27, followed by a home game on August 31.

Lee Hyun-jung, the team's ace who is currently participating in the NBA Summer League, is scheduled to join the national team on July 25.

Due to his participation in the Summer League, he was unable to play in the final two matches of the first round of qualifiers.

A total of 16 players, including Lee Hyun-jung, Yeo Jun-seok, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Woo-suk, Choi Jun-yong, Lee Seung-hyun, An Young-jun, and Song Kyo-chang, will wear the national team jersey as they strive to secure a ticket to the World Cup finals.

With seven tickets to the finals allocated to Asia, the second round of qualifiers features 12 countries divided into two groups.

South Korea has been placed in Group F alongside Qatar, Japan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and China, while Group E consists of Australia, Iran, Jordan, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Syria.

Qatar has already qualified for the finals automatically as the host nation.

If Qatar does not finish within the top four in Group F, the team with the better record between the fourth-placed teams of Group E and Group F will advance to the finals.

The rankings for the second round of qualifiers are determined by combining the results from the first round.

South Korea is currently ranked 5th in Group F.

South Korea previously recorded 3 wins and 3 losses in the first round of the group stage, advancing to the second round as the second-place team in Group B, behind Japan.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.