The FIBA Basketball World Cup is less than one day away from taking place in eight cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shenzhen and Foshan – in China. CGTN has prepared an easy-to-read schedule for the tournament so you can better follow and enjoy the games.

August 31 to September 5: First-round group stage

All 32 teams will play in eight groups – three games for each – to decide the top two ranking teams of each group. For Group A, B, C and D, all games will happen on August 31, September 2 and September 4. For Group E, F, G and H, all games will happen on September 1, September 3 and September 5.

September 6 to 9: Second-round group stage and Classification Round 17-32

From this point, the World Cup will be divided into two parts, one about who win the championship and the other about rankings, or who can make the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

All 16 top two ranking teams of each group from the first round will be again divided into four groups: A1, A2, B1 and B2 go to Group I; C1, C2, D1 and D2 go to Group J; E1, E2, F1 and F2 go to Group K; G1, G2, H1 and H2 go to Group L. Teams will not play against the opponent from the same group in the first stage, which means each will only play two games. The top two teams of the four groups will make it to the quarterfinals.

Teams that are already knocked out in the first round will also be divided into four new groups: A3, A4, B3 and B4 go to Group M; C3, C4, D3 and D4 go to Group N; E3, E4, F3 and F4 go to Group O; G3, G4, H3 and H4 go to Group P. Teams will not play against the opponent from the same group in the first stage, which means each will only play two games. The final 17-32 rankings will be decided based on their records including wins and point differential.

September 10-15: Elimination stage and Classification Round 5-8, 3-4

The eight games of the quarterfinals will happen on September 10 and 11. Here is the matchup: I1 vs. J2, K1vs. L2, J1 vs. I2 and L1 vs. K2. The winning teams will make the semifinals in the following arrangements: winner between I1 and J2 vs. winner between K1 and L2; winner between J1 and L2 vs. winner between L1 and K2. Both games will take place on September 13. Then the last two winning teams will meet each other in the Final on September 15 to decide who will win the trophy.

As for the Classification Round. First each of the four lost teams from the quarterfinals will play two games to decide their final rankings – winners competing for No. 5 and losers competing for No. 7 – on September 12 and 14. After that, the two lost teams from the semifinals will meet each other to fight for third place on September 15.