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FIBA's World Cup is the next most important global basketball tournament in the world after the Olympics. Designed as a stopgap between the latter, FIBA basketball offers another chance for national teams to bring home prestigious trophies and bragging rights. Starting August 25, 16 teams will participate in a bracket that will play out across three countries in the Asia-Pacific region for the first time. To ensure you catch all the action, we'll show you how to watch FIBA World Cup live streams for free, plus premium options that'll get you an all-access ticket to see every game.
Teams from the United States, Germany, Canada, Spain, France, China, Greece, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, and more are set to make the trip. Highlighting the diversity of talent across the NBA, almost all teams are expected to have representatives from the world's biggest basketball league. You can tune in to watch all-pro caliber superstars such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Dončić, Rudy Gobert, Bogdan Bogdanović, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
The 2023 tournament is the most accessible in history. You have premium and free FIBA live streams to tap into in nearly every country. To access free live streams (links below) from outside those countries, you must use a VPN (virtual private network) to bypass geo-restrictions. These handy apps let your devices mimic various international locations of your choosing so you can watch the World Cup online for free. We'll show you how further down this page if you don't have one already, along with extra details about various streaming options around the globe.
You can catch some of the FIBA World Cup action using free live streams in countries such as New Zealand (TVNZ), Spain (RTVE), and France (France.tv). The latter two may only show games involving their respective national teams, but TVNZ's schedule has a little more variety. Whichever route you decide to go, remember you'll require a VPN to access them if you don't live in those countries.
A VPN allows you to trick apps and websites into thinking you're connecting from servers within nearly any region worldwide. Once turned on and connected, visit the website like normal; it should punch your ticket to any available live stream. You can also use VPNs to sign up for cheap streaming services such as ESPN+ or Sling TV, great alternatives that are still relatively affordable if the free streams don't broadcast the matches or teams you like.
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ESPN is set to stream all FIBA World Cup in the US across its various platforms. Six games are expected to air exclusively on ESPN2, namely those featuring Team USA, and most likely some games from late rounds and the final on September 10. ESPN+ is set to show all 86 other matchups, which requires a $10 monthly subscription.
If you're a cord-cutter and want to access ESPN2 temporarily, you could opt for a service such as Sling Orange or Fubo TV. Sling is usually $40 a month, but your first month is currently cut to $20, and you can cancel anytime. Fubo TV is much more expensive at $75 a month, but you can get a 7-day free trial before moving on to a rolling one-month deal.
Or, if you have a VPN, you can watch certain FIBA World Cup matches for free using the broadcasts as described above.
You have quite a few options for watching FIBA World Cup games in Australia. ESPN is the official broadcast partner in the country and is set to offer all of the action across ESPN, ESPN2, and the ESPN app. Foxtel, Fetch TV, and Sky NZ subscribers can enter their credentials at ESPN Australia to tune in at no extra cost.
Try Kayo if you're not interested in cable subscriptions. Kayo carries ESPN and is set to show all the FIBA World Cup games live in Australia. It's easy to access and starts at just 25 Australian dollars monthly, but you can also tune into several games free by signing up for an account, including all of Australia's and USA's matches, plus semi-finals, third-place, and final matches.
You can watch Kayo on the web or with apps on several devices, including Android and Apple smartphones and tablets; Samsung, LG, and Hisense smart TVs; Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Chromecast; and PlayStation gaming consoles.
One of the primary sources for FIBA action for those outside the USA is Courtside 1891. The NBA officially endorses this streaming service as the primary destination to watch all the FIBA World Cup games that'll air over the next few weeks. You can watch at the NBA's website or on any device the NBA app is on, including Android and iOS, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon tablets, Chromecast, Roku, PlayStation, Xbox, and select Hisense TVs.
You'll require a Max subscription to access the FIBA World Cup Pass (about $42 monthly), available only in 20 countries. Those include Angola, Argentina, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Greece, Indonesia, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
Viewers in France, Germany, and Taiwan can expect to run into local blackouts for some games, so you'll need a VPN to access those.
SportsNet is the only destination to watch the FIBA World Cup in Canada, and you'll only be able to watch the national team's games live. This channel comes standard as part of most cable packages, and you can tune in directly on your set-top box or via the web and mobile apps by signing in with your provider's credentials.
You can also separately subscribe to SN Now, the stand-alone streaming component. Packages with FIBA content start at 20 Canadian dollars monthly.
TVNZ Plus is set to air all games featuring the New Zealand Tall Blacks for free, plus other hot matchups such as USA vs. Greece and Australia vs. Finland. If you're not in the country, you can connect to a server within the country using a VPN. You may need to sign up with a local postal code.
RTVE is a free live TV streaming service that is set to show all the games that the Spanish national team plays in. This is a nice way to catch a few games against some of your favorites if you don't want to pay for full access. Note: you'll need a VPN to watch RTVE if you don't live in the country.
Viewers in France can watch all games featuring the French national team for free through the local streaming service France TV. Just log in with a VPN and keep a France postal code handy to sign in with.
Below is a full schedule of FIBA World Cup games that will run through the September 10 final. All times below are in US Eastern.
Friday, August 25
Saturday, August 26
Sunday, August 27
Monday, August 28
Tuesday, August 29
Wednesday, August 30
Thursday, August 31 to Sunday, September 3 – Group Phase 2nd Round and Classification Round
Tuesday, September 5 to Sunday, September 10 – Final Phase
Note: The use of VPNs is illegal in certain countries, and using VPNs to access region-locked streaming content might constitute a breach of the terms of use for certain services. Insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of VPNs.
