Australia will kick off their 2019 FIBA World Cup campaign on Sunday at 5.30pm (AEST) as they take on Canada.
We will be bringing you a brief preview and betting tips for all of the Australian games in the World Cup, starting with their tournament opener against Canada below.
FIBA World Cup Betting Tips
Australia vs Canada (Sunday, 5.30pm AEST)
Australia and Canada split a two game warm up series in Perth earlier in the month so the two teams will be quite familiar with each other heading into their opening game of the tournament.
Australia
Australia bounced back from a 20 point loss in the first of the warm up games against Canada to win the second by eight points in Perth. Following that, the Boomers went on to split a pair of warm up games against the United States in Melbourne. Their first win in history against the United States should give them plenty of confidence going into the tournament.
Australia enter the tournament as the 11th ranked team in the world but will be without a few of their key players for the duration of the World Cup. Ben Simmons, Dante Exum and Thon Maker, who all have valuable NBA experience will be missing from the Aussie line-up, making them much more vulnerable against lower ranked teams.
A lot of the Australian fortunes will rely on the aging veteran Andrew Bogut, who was a catalyst on both offence and defence in Australia’s win over the United States. Alongside Bogut will be NBA seasoned players in Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Matthew Dellavedova and Aron Baynes.
Canada
The Canadians are currently ranked No.23 on the FIBA World Rankings but will also be without a bunch of their key players for this tournament. In fact, Canada boast 11 players on their national roster who are currently have an NBA contract, but only two of them will be competing at the FIBA World Cup.
Khem Birch from the Orlando Magic and Cory Joseph from the Sacramento Kings will suit up for Canada. On the sidelines will be the likes of Andrew Wiggins, Tristan Thompson, Dwight Powell, Dillon Brooks, Kelly Olynyk, Justin Jackson, Trey Lyles and rookie star RJ Barrett.
After their two game series against the Aussies in Perth, Canada faced team USA and were comfortably handled by the No.1 ranked team in the world, losing by 16 points in Sydney
Prediction
The Aussies start as favourites for the clash and most signs point to a Boomers win here. They have are the higher ranked team in the world and have more of their first choice players suiting up for this World Cup.
We think the second matchup in Perth, in which Australia won by 8 points, is a pretty accurate representation of the difference between these two teams, and another win between 1-10 for the Aussies is great value.
