Watch French Basketball Legend Antoine Rigaudeau Unveil U19 World Cup 2025 Draw!

The FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025 draw is happening in Mies, Switzerland, on January 31 at 12:00 PM (GMT +1). The event will take place at the beautiful Auditorium Salle Samaranch in the Lausanne Olympic Museum.

Antoine Rigaudeau, a FIBA Hall of Fame member, will conduct the draw. He’ll help determine how the sixteen competing teams will navigate the tournament. The World Cup is set for June 28 to July 6, 2025, in Lausanne.

If you want to catch the draw live, you can watch it on the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup website.

Teams have been divided into four pots based on their strength, reflecting the latest FIBA World Rankings and their performances in recent U18 continental competitions.

The breakdown of the teams is as follows:

• POT 1: Switzerland, USA, Germany, Serbia
• POT 2: Australia, Slovenia, Argentina, Israel
• POT 3: France, New Zealand, Canada, Dominican Republic
• POT 4: Mali, China, Cameroon, Jordan

During the draw, teams from each pot will fill four groups. Notably:

• Each group can have a maximum of one team from Africa, the Americas, and Asia/Oceania.
• Each group must include at least one and up to two teams from Europe.

Antoine Rigaudeau brings a wealth of experience to this event. He played a crucial role for the French national team, winning silver at the 2000 Olympics and earning a bronze at EuroBasket 2005. Over his career, he represented France in five EuroBasket tournaments.

Rigaudeau, who played for clubs like Virtus Bologna and Pau-Orthez, amassed 128 caps for France. He won significant titles in European competitions and two Italian leagues.

Joining him on stage are Sarah Atcho-Jaquier and Jonathan Kazadi. Sarah is a talented Swiss sprinter. She has competed in prominent events like the 2016 Olympics and has been a solid performer in international relays.

Jonathan Kazadi is a key player in Swiss basketball, representing Fribourg Olympic in the Swiss Basketball League. He has been an important member of the national team for over a decade and had a standout performance in the 2017 EuroBasket Pre-Qualifiers.