USA Basketball announced today that The Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia, home to the WNBA Atlanta Dream and NBA G League College Park Skyhawks, will host a USA FIBA Men’s World Cup Qualifying game against Nicaragua at 7:00 p.m. ET on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. Tickets are now on sale at USAB.com/tickets with prices starting as low as $14 for general admission.
“USA Basketball is excited to begin the journey to the 2027 FIBA Men’s World Cup at The Gateway Arena,” said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball CEO. “World Cup Qualifying is a great opportunity for basketball fans and their families to support the USA Men’s National Team program. We are looking forward to playing in front of the College Park crowd as we host Nicaragua for the first time.”
The contest in College Park will be the second of a two-game window with USA Basketball first heading to Nicaragua for a tilt on Friday, Nov. 28. The USA Men, who are in Group A, will first host a training camp in Miami prior to the Nov. 28 game.
As previously announced, from November 2025 to March 2027, six World Cup Qualifying windows will feature 420 total games, as 80 national teams compete for one of 32 berths to the 2027 FIBA Men’s World Cup in Doha, Qatar.
Following the Window 1 home-and-home with Nicaragua, Window 2 features the USA playing a pair of home games (site TBA) against Dominican Republic on Feb. 26, and Mexico on March 1, 2026. Window 3 sees the USA play a pair of road contests in Dominican Republic on July 3 and Mexico on July 6, 2026.
The top three teams from each of the four four-team groups will advance to the second round. The teams will then be placed into new groups with all results carried forward. Each nation will once again compete on a home and away basis with the top three teams in each group, along with the best fourth team, earning their spots in the World Cup. For more information, click here.
In the FIBA Americas zone, 16 teams will play across six windows with seven advancing to the World Cup.
Players selected to represent the USA in the FIBA World Cup Qualifying games are expected to primarily be from the NBA G League. More information about the USA roster, coaching staff and training camp will be announced at a later date.
Under the current format, which dates back to the 2019 FIBA Men’s World Cup, USA Basketball has compiled a 19-5 record and has finished atop their respective group in both 2019 and 2023.
The USA are five-time defending Olympic champions (2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024) and winner of two of the last four FIBA World Cups (2010, 2014).
For more information on the 2027 FIBA Men’s World Cup, click here.