The Island is the second worst team in the standings in the Americas, ahead of only Nicaragua.
14ymedio, Havana, March 3, 2026 – Cuba lost again this Monday on the fourth matchday of the qualifying round for the 2027 Basketball World Cup in Qatar. The defeat against the Uruguayan national team, by a 26-point margin, placed the Island as the second worst team in the Americas qualifiers, surpassed only by Nicaragua, and left it on the verge of early elimination from the World Cup.
The game, played at the Arena Roberto Durán against the South Americans, showed a team that traveled with an inexperienced roster, as players such as Jasiel Rivero, Howard Saint-Roos, Yoenki Mencía, and Karel Guzmán did not attend due to injuries or personal reasons. The good impressions left by the team in the previous match against Panama last Friday — a game they lost 84–81 — faded against Uruguay.
In the second half, the team coached by Osmel Planas ran out of steam and was outscored by double the points in the final two quarters, leaving the scoreboard at 88–62. Uruguay’s Emiliano Serres was the game’s top scorer, putting up 25 points, more than a quarter of his team’s total. On the Cuban side, Pedro Bombino stood out with 14 points and nine rebounds. Reynaldo García also reached double digits with 12 points, along with seven rebounds and one block.
On the Cuban side, Pedro Bombino was the standout, with 14 points and nine rebounds.
After the loss to Uruguay, the Island will enter its next matchup at the bottom of the group with a 0–4 record. In the previous three games, it suffered two losses to Argentina and one to Panama. In addition, the defeats — many by wide margins, including a loss by more than 50 points to Argentina last December — leave Cuba with a point differential of -97, ahead of only Nicaragua, which stands at -117.
The result against Uruguay highlights a crisis in Cuban basketball. The previous meeting between the two teams dated back to 1999. On that occasion, the South Americans won 87–84 as part of the FIBA Americas Championship. Before that game, played in Puerto Rico, Cuba had dominated the matchup, winning five of the six games played between them.
Cuba had hoped for better results from this game window. Originally, the matches against Panama and Uruguay were to be played at the Coliseo de la Ciudad Deportiva, but the venue was changed due to a lack of proper conditions amid the worst energy crisis the Island has experienced in decades. “The current conditions the country is facing, as a result of the tightening of the United States embargo, make it difficult to organize this event with the quality it demands, which is why we are forced to take this measure,” explained Dalia Henry, president of the Cuban Basketball Federation, on February 12.
Originally, the matches against Panama and Uruguay were to be played at the Coliseo de la Ciudad Deportiva in Havana.
The former athlete also thanked the International Basketball Federation “not only for its understanding, but for all the help provided so that we can travel and play the games in Panama.”
For the Island, play will resume on July 2, the date set for the second matchup with Panama, which will also be held at the Arena Roberto Durán. Three days later, Cuba will travel to Uruguay to face the hosts in the final matchday of the qualifiers, in what will be a last chance to try to at least secure third place in the group and hope to advance to the next round.
Cuba has not qualified for a Basketball World Cup since 1994. On that occasion, it finished second to last (15th), ahead of only Angola. Far behind remains the golden generation of Cuban basketball in the 1970s, which at the 1974 World Cup in Puerto Rico achieved fourth place, finishing behind only powerhouses such as the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and the United States. At the Olympic level, Cuba won the bronze medal at Munich 1972, surpassed only by the USSR and the United States.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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