The Brazilian Basketball Confederation has announced its 17-player squad for the men's national basketball team ahead of the upcoming 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers against the Dominican Republic and Mexico.
Brazil will open their qualifying fixtures on Thursday, August 27, against the Dominican Republic at the Arena Nilson Nelson in Brasília, with tip-off scheduled for 8:10 pm Brasília time. The team will then travel to Zacatecas to face Mexico on Monday, August 31, at 11:10 pm.
Point guard Raulzinho Neto, who is currently without a club, highlights the squad selection as he returns to international action. He joins five experienced players who represented Brazil at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games: Yago Mateus, Bruno Caboclo, Léo Meindl, Didi Louzada, and George de Paula.
Forward Gui Santos was omitted from the squad to allow him to focus on preparations for the upcoming NBA season and undertake physical conditioning with the Golden State Warriors.
The confederation, known as the CBB, governs basketball across Brazil and manages the national team program. Brazil enters the upcoming qualification window following a historic comeback victory over the United States in the AmeriCup semi-finals.
Qualification format and Group E standings
Brazil enters this phase of the competition undefeated, having secured six victories out of six during the first stage of the tournament. Under FIBA qualifying rules, all results and points earned during the opening round carry over directly into the general standings for the second phase.
In the second phase, Brazil will play six additional matches, featuring home and away fixtures against the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the United States. The team that finishes at the top of Group E, which also features Colombia and Chile, will earn automatic qualification for the 2027 World Cup.
Full 17-player Brazil squad
The 17 players selected by the national team coaching staff include domestic league stars and international professionals based in Spain, the United States, Taiwan, Japan, Israel, and Mexico:
- Yago Mateus (Flamengo)
- Caio Pacheco (Basquet Coruña, Spain)
- Raulzinho Neto (Free agent)
- Alexey Borges (Flamengo)
- George de Paula (Mogi Basquete)
- Reynan Gabriel (SESI Franca)
- Daniel Von Haydin (Mogi Basquete)
- Gui Deodato (Soles de Mexicali, Mexico)
- Didi Louzada (Flamengo)
- Léo Meindl (Obradoiro, Spain)
- Léo Beath (UC San Diego, United States)
- Gabriel Jaú (Kaohsiung Aquas, Taiwan)
- Bruno Caboclo (Free agent)
- Tim Soares (Ibaraki Robots, Japan)
- Márcio Santos (Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel)
- Wini Braga (Minas Tênis Clube)
- Ruan Miranda (Flamengo)
