What is the FIBA AmeriCup?
The FIBA AmeriCup is the men’s national-team basketball championship of FIBA’s Americas Zone. FIBA describes it as “formerly known as the FIBA Americas Championship” and as featuring “national teams from across the Western Hemisphere”.[1] The 2025 edition brought twelve teams to a single host city: they were drawn into three groups of four, in which “each team will play one game against every other team in its group”, and the top two in each group plus the two best third-placed teams went on to the quarter-finals.[3] The women’s equivalent, the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup, is a separate championship held every two years.[1]
Who organizes the FIBA AmeriCup?
The tournament belongs to FIBA and is run in the region by FIBA Americas. Under FIBA’s General Statutes (edition of 16 May 2025), the Zones are “divisions of FIBA with delegated authority to take decisions in their geographic regions”, which “shall not be organised as legal entities and shall act only through the Regional Offices”; the Americas is one of the five Zones the statutes name.[7] FIBA’s Americas organisation page lists among the office’s tasks “promoting, supervising and directing international competition at the club and national team levels”.[8] In FIBA’s report on the Americas mid-term assemblies held in Mexico City in October 2025, Fabian Borro is named as FIBA Americas President and Carlos Alves as Executive Director Americas.[9]
When and where is it held?
FIBA states that the AmeriCup “will now be held every four years starting with the 2025 edition”.[3] Before that, FIBA’s editions page shows intervals of between one and five years: editions in 1988 and 1989, in 1992 and 1993, every two years from 1993 to 2017, and then 2022.[2] Hosts have rotated around the Zone. The 2025 edition, the 20th, was played in Managua, Nicaragua, from 22 to 31 August 2025 at the Polideportivo Alexis Argüello, the first time Nicaragua had hosted it; the 2017 edition was shared between Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay.[3][2] FIBA’s Americas region page lists the next AmeriCup for 24 August to 2 September 2029; no host is named there.[6]
| Season | Pool / Format | Host cities |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Brazil | Managua, Nicaragua, 22–31 August 2025 |
| 2022 | Argentina | Brazil, 2–11 September 2022 |
| 2017 | USA | Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay |
| 2015 | Venezuela | Mexico |
| 2013 | Mexico | Venezuela |
| 2011 | Argentina | Argentina |
| 2009 | Brazil | Puerto Rico |
| 2007 | USA | USA |
| 2005 | Brazil | Dominican Republic |
| 2003 | USA | Puerto Rico |
Winning team, from FIBA’s AmeriCup editions page, which prints teams by code; host countries as FIBA lists them, with city and dates where a cited FIBA or Panam Sports document gives them.[5]
Since when does it exist?
FIBA states that the tournament “was first held in 1980 in Puerto Rico”, and its editions page lists Puerto Rico as both host and winner of that edition.[3][2] The championship was played as the FIBA Americas Championship before taking its present name; FIBA’s pages retrieved give the former name but not the year of the change.[1] The 2025 tournament was, by FIBA’s count, the 20th edition.[3] The editions page lists the first four hosts as Puerto Rico (1980), Brazil (1984), Uruguay (1988) and Mexico (1989), and shows the United States first winning in 1992, the year it hosted.[2]
How do teams qualify?
Entry is through the FIBA AmeriCup Qualifiers, which FIBA describes as “an 18-month journey to secure a spot in the FIBA AmeriCup”: the format is “16 teams divided into four groups”, with “the top three from each group advance to the AmeriCup”.[1] For 2025, FIBA records that “Sixteen national teams competed, divided into four groups of four” across windows in February 2024, November 2024 and February 2025, that the top three in each group advanced, and that “Nicaragua qualified automatically as the host nation.”[3] The regulations for the 2029 qualifiers could not be retrieved from FIBA.
Why does it matter?
Its value in the Pan American Games route is set by Panam Sports’ published qualification systems. For Santiago 2023, the Panam Sports qualification manual gave the men’s basketball places to the “7 mejores equipos masculinos” of the FIBA AmeriCup 2022 in Brazil (2–11 September 2022), with Chile qualifying as host.[5] The qualification system for the Lima 2027 Pan American Games (23 July–8 August 2027) could not be retrieved, so the 2025 AmeriCup’s role in it is not stated. In measurable terms, the 2025 final tournament drew 12 teams from a qualifying field of 16 that played over three windows.[3]
Who competes?
The national men’s teams of FIBA Americas’ member federations, which FIBA puts at “currently 42 members”.[8] The twelve teams at the 2025 edition were Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, the United States and Venezuela.[3] In the final, Brazil beat Argentina 55-47, and the United States took third place by beating Canada 90-85.[4] USA Basketball enters the United States team.
References
- FIBA — Americas: National Team Competitions (FIBA AmeriCup, Qualifiers, Women’s AmeriCup). Accessed 2026-10-01.
- FIBA — FIBA AmeriCup: Editions. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- FIBA Americas — “Everything you need to know about the FIBA AmeriCup 2025”. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- FIBA — FIBA AmeriCup 2025 event page (results). Accessed 2026-10-01.
- Panam Sports — Manual de Sistemas de Clasificación, Santiago 2023 (basketball). Accessed 2026-10-01.
- FIBA — Americas region page (upcoming competitions). Accessed 2026-10-01.
- FIBA — General Statutes, edition 16 May 2025 (Articles 17–19). Accessed 2026-10-01.
- FIBA — Americas: Structure — Organization. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- FIBA — “FIBA holds Americas Mid-term Assemblies and Board in Mexico City” (October 2025). Accessed 2026-10-01.