The FIBA Basketball World Cup is upon us. While most basketball fans in the US are waiting for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, often you will see the best athletes from all over the world fiercely competing for their countries in the FIBA World Cup. Since 1950, this tournament has had a fair share of memorable games over the course of 17 events. This year, the US Men’s Basketball Team has the chance to win their 6th gold medal, leaving Yugoslavia behind for good.
Below you will find the best options to stream World Basketball Championship live online in the US and elsewhere. You don’t need a cable subscription to see all the games of the tournament. Our guide will show you how to enjoy FIBA World Cup live streaming from anywhere in the world.
When does FIBA World Cup 2019 start?
FIBA World Cup 2019 starts on 31 August and finishes on 15 September. In the US it will be broadcasted by ESPN.
The Group phase will consist of three games that end on 4 September. Two best teams from each group will move on to the second round, where they will play three more games in their respective groups. The second round ends on 7 September.
The Final phase of knockout games will start on 10 September and finish with the medal-games on 15 September. Qualification for the 5th–8th spot will take place on 12 and 14 September.
How to watch FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 online in the US?
You don’t need a cable subscription to watch FIBA World Cup 2019 live. There are plenty of ways to get the ESPN channel online. Also, there is an official streaming service endorsed by FIBA itself.
Below you will also find the best options to stream the Basketball World Cup in the US.
LiveBasketball.TV
The official streaming app for FIBA World Cup 2019 offers the live streaming of all games with English commentary. By choosing the FIBA Basketball World Cup Early Bird Pass, you will get all games for $9.99. Payment options include credit cards (except AMEX) or PayPal.
However, some games are subject to geo-restrictions, which means you will have to change your IP address using a VPN to have the World Basketball Championship unblocked. At the moment it’s too early to tell which games will be subject to geo-blocking, but we’ll keep updating this article to serve the latest info. The schedule will be updated a week before the tournament, as per LiveBasketball.TV customer support.
The sad part is that it’s unclear whether the Early Bird Pass will still be available when more info about geo-restrictions comes in. Starting 31 August, you’ll have to pay another $9.99 for the games.
ESPN
You can watch ESPN from anywhere in the world, provided you are using a VPN to connect through a server in the US. Otherwise, geo-blocking will prevent you from streaming anything, including the World Basketball Championship 2019. Unfortunately, the ESPN app doesn’t offer live events unless you’re registered with one of the channel’s partners.
The prices of streaming services that include ESPN range from $15 to $50, so choosing the right one depends on your budget, their supported devices and other channels you’d like to get as part of the package.
Below are the five best options we recommend using to stream the Basketball World Cup online.
1. DirecTV Now
- Price: $50/month ($35/month for two months with promo code 15OFF2)
- Money-back guarantee: 7 days
- Devices: Chrome, Safari, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Roku, Google Chromecast
- Channels: 45+
- Simultaneous connections: 2, adding 3rd is $5/month
- DVR: 20 hours, stored for 30 days, works on selected devices
The best option if you manage to steal that two-month discount.
2. Sling TV
- Price: $15/month first month, then $25/month
- Money-back guarantee: 7 days
- Devices: Windows 10, macOS, Chrome, Edge, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, AirTV Player, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire tablets, Roku Players and TVs, Samsung Smart TVs, LG TVs, Chromebooks, Google Chromecast, Oculus Go, Xbox One, Xfinity X1
- Channels: 30+
- Simultaneous connections: 1, $40/month Orange + Blue plan for 4 streams
- DVR: 50 hours for $5/month (doesn’t work with ESPN)
The cheapest option but includes only 30+ channels and no DVR for ESPN and Disney channels.
3. YouTube TV
- Price: $49.99/month
- Money-back guarantee: 7 days
- Devices: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku Players and TVs, Samsung Smart TVs, LG Smart TVs, Vizio SmartCast TV, Hisense Smart TVs, Sharp Smart TVs, Chromebooks, Google Chromecast, Xbox One
- Channels: 70+
- Simultaneous connections: 3
- DVR: unlimited
Best if you’ll be watching lots of other TV channels and want a DVR with no limits. There’s one thing, though: no Amazon devices in Google’s backyard!
4. Hulu + Live TV
- Price: $44.99/month
- Money-back guarantee: 7 days
- Devices: Windows 10, macOS X 10.9 or later, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire tablets, Samsung Smart TV, LG TV, Vizio SmartCast TVs, Roku, Google Chromecast, Echo Show, Playstation 3&4 (no live programming), Xbox 360&One, Nintendo Switch
- Channels: 60+
- Simultaneous connections: 2, unlimited is $9.99/month
- DVR: 50 hours
Works on any device. Do you happen to be an Edge browser fan, who has a Vizio SmartCast TV, but would also like to stream some games on Nintendo Switch while your Amazon Fire tablet is charging? Hulu’s got you covered.
5. PlayStation Vue
- Price: $49.99/month
- Money-back guarantee: 5 days
- Devices: Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire HD6 and above tablets, Roku Players and TVs, Google Chromecast, Playstation 3&4
- Channels: 50+
- Simultaneous connections: 3 plus two after you set up your home device
- DVR: unlimited, saved for 28 days
Might be your only option if you want to stream FIBA World Cup on a PlayStation console. Will be your best option if you crave for unlimited DVR.
How to watch FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 outside the US
Most countries will have a designated broadcaster for the World Basketball Championship. However, that’s not always a good option if you’re staying in that country for a short period of time and don’t want to invest in a month’s worth of subscription. Or perhaps you would like English commentary.
In these situations, the best thing to do is to watch via ESPN on Sling TV or one of the other streaming services listed above. ESPN is unavailable outside the US, which means you will have to use a VPN to watch it.
Why use a VPN for FIBA World Cup 2019?
If you connect to a VPN server in the US, it will spoof your IP address, making it look like you’re connecting from the US. This way, you won’t have to buy more than one streaming service subscription to watch the World Basketball Championship.
Below is the table of the official broadcasters and the best VPNs suited for that particular location.
Official broadcasters of FIBA World Cup 2019
| Country | Broadcaster | Unblock with |
| Australia | Fox Sports | VPNs for Australia |
| Canada | DAZN | VPNs for Canada |
| China | CCTV | VPNs for China |
| France | Canal+ | VPNs for France |
| Georgia | GPB | NordVPN |
| Greece | ERT Sports | VPNs for Greece |
| Iran | IRIB Varzesh | VPNs for Iran |
| Israel | Sport 5 | VPNs for Israel |
| Italy | Sky Sport | VPNs for Italy |
| New Zealand | Māori Television | VPNs for New Zealand |
| Philippines | ESPN 5 | VPNs for the Philippines |
| Poland | TVP Sport | VPNs for Poland |
| Russia | Match TV | VPNs for Russia |
| Serbia | RTS | ExpressVPN |
| Turkey | NTV | VPNs for Turkey |
| United States | ESPN | VPNs for the US |
How to unblock FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 with a VPN
Unblocking FIBA World Cup live streaming is simple. You just need to follow these three steps:
- Pick your VPN service and install it
- Connect to a server in the country where you can use your ESPN subscription (or where there’s another channel that broadcasts the World Cup)
- Watch FIBA World Cup 2019 like you’re at home!
3 Best VPNs for streaming FIBA World Cup 2019 live online
The notion of the best VPN strongly depends on your location, connection bandwidth, and the features you need. But if you don’t want to waste your time choosing from our lists, we have hand-picked these three VPN services that should do the trick regardless of where you are.
1. ExpressVPN
- Watertight security
- Massive server list
- Great for streaming
- Very good for torrenting
- Very fast
- 24/7 customer support
2. NordVPN
- Excellent security
- Largest server list on the market
- Awesome for Netflix
- Good for torrenting
- Very easy to use
- Affordable prices
3. Surfshark
- Strong encryption
- Almost zero logs
- Unblocks Netflix
- Torrenting allowed
- Very affordable
- Unlimited simultaneous connections
Team USA roster for FIBA World Cup 2019
The final Team USA roster will be known before the flight to China. But we can already tell there won’t be as many stars as there were in the 2016 Olympics. Anthony Davis, James Harden, Damian Lillard, and DeMar DeRozan have all withdrawn in July. Nevertheless, Team USA is still considered a heavy favorite to win it all in China.
| Name | Position | Height | Age | Club |
| Kyle Lowry | Guard | 6’1 (185 cm) | 33 | Toronto Raptors |
| Donovan Mitchell | Guard | 6’3 (191 cm) | 22 | Utah Jazz |
| Kemba Walker | Guard | 6’1 (185 cm) | 29 | Boston Celtics |
| Harrison Barnes | Forward | 6’8 (203 cm) | 27 | Sacramento Kings |
| Kyle Kuzma | Forward | 6’9 (206 cm) | 24 | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Kevin Love | Forward | 6’10 (208 cm) | 30 | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| Khris Middleton | Forward | 6’8 (203 cm) | 28 | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Paul Millsap | Forward | 6’8 (203 cm) | 34 | Denver Nuggets |
| Jayson Tatum | Forward | 6’8 (203 cm) | 21 | Boston Celtics |
| P. J. Tucker | Forward | 6’6 (198 cm) | 34 | Houston Rockets |
| Andre Drummond | Center | 6’11 (211 cm) | 26 | Detroit Pistons |
| Brook Lopez | Center | 7’0 (213 cm) | 31 | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Myles Turner | Center | 6’11 (211 cm) | 23 | Indiana Pacers |
Team USA schedule for FIBA World Cup 2019
Favorite or not favorite, Team USA will still have to move from the group stage to the second phase first. Below you will find the schedule for their five preparation and three group stage games.
Team USA preparation games schedule
Before the tournament, Team USA will play five friendly games. Tickets are already available. All times are ET.
9 August, 10 pm: USA White vs USA Blue (T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada)
16 August 16, 10 pm: USA vs Spain (Honda Center, Anaheim, California)
22 August, 5:30 am: USA vs Australia (Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, Australia)
24 August, 12 am: USA vs Australia (Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, Australia)
26 August, 5:30 am: USA vs Canada (Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, Australia)
FIBA World Cup 2019 schedule
Here are the first three games with opponents and dates already set, along with the rest of the schedule for each tournament phase. All times are ET.
1 September, 8:30 am: USA vs Czech Republic (Shanghai, China)
3 September, 8:30 am: USA vs Turkey (Shanghai, China)
5 September, 5, 8:30 am: USA vs Japan (Shanghai, China)
6-9 September: Second round (Foshan, Nanjing, Shenzhen and Wuhan, China)
10-11 September: Quarterfinals (Dongguan and Shanghai, China)
13 September: Semifinals (Beijing, China)
15 September: Finals (Beijing, China)
