Spain get lucky in world championship draw

The countdown to the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey has begun with the draw for the first round taking place on Tuesday.

The 24 participating teams were drawn into four groups of 6 teams each.

Group A (Kayseri): Serbia, Argentina, Australia, Jordan, Germany, Angola
Group B (Istanbul): Croatia, Brazil, Tunisia, Slovenia, Iran, USA
Group C (Ankara): China, Turkey, Russia, Puerto Rico, Ivory Coast, Greece
Group D (Izmir): Lithuania, Lebanon, France, Spain, Canada, New Zealand

The four top placed teams from each group will advance to the Eighth Final Round, at which point the Championship continues in a standard knock-out format.

Defending championships Spain have a relatively easy passage into the last eight with France their toughest challengers. While the draw has also thrown up the intriguing tie of USA against Iran.

.