The majority of tickets for the 2020 FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup have already been punched and only a handful are remaining for what will be next year’s flagship FIBA youth event at the global level.

The #FIBAU17 will be held in Romania and unlike previous years, it won’t be during July, but will during mid to late August. It will be only the sixth edition of the competition, which was launched during 2010.

USA have won every title on offer with the exception of 2016 in Zaragoza when the Australian Sapphires made history by taking a first ever gold.

The 2020 version is likely to see the USA continue to dominate, with the likes of Australia also knocking on the door – if they take one of the last spots on offer. My recent feature was all about this next generation of Aussie players.

As things stand, 12 of the 16 tickets have been snapped up for Romania and the 4 which are left will be fought for at the FIBA U16 Asian Women’s Championship. The likely candidates will of course be China, Australia and Japan – plus either Chinese Taipei, Korea or New Zealand.

Although at this stage, the concern is that the event details for U16 Asia have still not been confirmed and there is even talk that with time running out rapidly, it may have to be bumped into the new calendar year, which would be an unprecedented move. Hopefully not and we will get confirmation soon, with Tokyo or Bengaluru having been previously mentioned as possibilities.

So, who has already confirmed their place and how is the 2020 field looking?

Americas – 4 spots

USA – The Four-time U17 champions blew everyone away to take gold in Aysen. Payton Verhulst was MVP and was joined in the All-Star Five by Lauren Betts and Sonia Cintron. They will be hardcore favorites to kill everyone in Romania.

Canada – Miles away from USA in the U16 Final, they will maintain their impressive ever-present record of #FIBAU17 attendance. They once finished with a bronze medal in 2012 although they did have a certain Kia Nurse on board. This time Isaline Alexander is a player they will lean on.

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Chile – They will make history by playing not only at #FIBAU17 for the first time, but also their first ever global youth tournament. That comes off the back of their historic and glorious bronze medal as U16 hosts – led by Fernanda Ovalle.

Puerto Rico – It’s a similar story for Puerto Rico who will also make their #FIBAU17 debut, although they have previously stepped out at #FIBAU19 before. Nina De Leon and Siliari Vazquez will be tasked with keeping the team’s head above water and it will be a major challenge in Romania.

Europe – 6 spots

Romania – As has happened previously at these Global Events (Thailand U19 this year, Belarus at U17 in 2018 etc) the hosts are going to potentially struggle. They were not even in Division A at U16 this year and were a lowly 15th in Division B. Perhaps the talented Blue Star 30 Europe camp baller Catalina Ion can help to save the day. This will be Romania’s first ever appearance at the event.

Russia – Unlike at #FIBAU19 which they famously won a few years ago against USA thanks to Maria Vadeeva and Raisa Musina, Russia have still not stood on a #FIBAU17 podium. They will arrive in Romania as the European champs and with a special player in MVP Anastasiia Olairy Kosu. She alone will be reason to watch this competition.

Lithuania – Another reason to lock into the tournament will be another very special player in Juste Jocyte. Also younger than most of the field like Kosu, the Lithuanian is awesome and it was interesting she was recently at Lyon as a guest of Tony Parker. Lithuania are yet another #FIBAU17 first-timer.

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Spain – They have reached the title game at #FIBAU17 twice previously and have an ever present attendance record at the event. They had to settle for bronze at U16 and will be spearheaded by Chiso Okafor, Marta Morales and Elena Buenavida Estevez – another Blue Star 30 Europe camper!

France – Having reached the Final at the last edition of #FIBAU17 in Minsk, this generation will do well to match those that went before them, but they certainly can improve on their very average 4th place finish at U16. Even just using the talented Maia Hirsch properly would help. She could do even more. Sara Roumy is also likely to bring the noise.

Italy – They took a top 5 finish at #FIBAU17 last time, but most memorably reached the Final in 2016 in Zaragoza. Having only just squeezed into the mix for the 2020 event with the last available European spot, it is tough to see how they will fare. Gutsy guard Matilde Villa is one to keep an eye on.

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Africa – 2 spots

Mali – The African U16 champions have had a love affair with #FIBAU17 and it is where most of their best moments at female youth level have come. They won 3 games in 2016 and 2 in 2018 – while also shocking Italy in 2014 and so they are no mugs. Mariam Coulibaly is terrific and was U16 MVP this year, while Maimouna Haidara and Djelika Tounkara must also be respected.

Egypt – their only previous #FIBAU17 appearance came in Klatovy and Pilsen (Czech Republic) in 2014. They took silver at U16 level and will need Malak Sadek, Aya Elfiky and Lojain Elfatairy to all perform big, since the crushing loss in the Final against Mali at African level showed where they are at.

Looking above, I am excited to see Chile and Puerto Rico play of course, although I continually ask myself why Americas gets 4 tickets and Africa only 2 Maybe Africa has now done enough to warrant 3 spots and take on away from Americas, so I should be here talking about looking forward to watching Angola instead of Puerto Rico.

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