MIES (Switzerland) - Group C is where you want to be in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025 if you want a wide open competition as none of the four teams can really be considered clear favorites.

Hosts Switzerland and Israel are both playing in the competition for the first time while Dominican Republic have not been in the tournament in 10 years and Jordan's only other appearance came 30 years ago.

This is really a hard one to choose because each of the teams have limitations. But let's go with Israel because they will have a major chip on their shoulder. Israel will be without their top player from the generation as do-it-all guard Ben Saraf will not be available. Saraf was the MVP of the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024 where Israel finished fourth to reach the FIBA U19 World Cup for the first time. That gives the remainder of the team motivation to show they belong on the world stage.

That means the rest of the players will also have to step up - first and foremost Omer Mayer. The guard does not have the playmaking abilities of Saraf but he can score the ball, shooting it much better than Saraf from the outside. Rany Belaga will have point guard duties and it will be interesting to see how versatile big man Joul Karram has advanced since playing this past season in the United States college ranks.

As mentioned before, Jordan's only previous appearance in this competition came in 1995. The Asian country, who knocked off Korea in the Quarter-Finals to book their ticket to Lausanne, may have one of the most valuable players in the tournament in terms of out-performing the rest of the team's players. Saif Al-Deen Saleh averaged a double-double at the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024 and it wouldn't be a surprise if he ranks top-five in Switzerland in scoring and rebounds when it's all over.

Rawhi Kilani will be his main running mate at the point guard spot, Hadi Alshami will be needed to help inside and Omar Salman can knock down some triples. But Jordan all signs point to the team struggling despite having two of the nation's greatest stars in the coaching staff in head coach Sam Daghlas and assistant Zaid Abbas.

While Israel was chosen as favorites, Domininican Republic will enter the tournament thinking Group C is theirs to lose. And it wouldn't be a surprise if both Israel and the Dominicans come into their final game on Day 3 with 2-0 records. That would mean the Israel v Dominican Republic contest will decide Group C winners.

There really isn't that much more to say than that. But this showdown will feature a nice matchup of leaders in Omer Mayer for Israel and Danny Carbuccia for the FIBA Americas side. Another key figure for both teams will be Yaron Goldman from Israel and Lucas Morillo from the Dominicans.

Looking for more about the teams in Group A, don't forget to check the pieces introducing the 16 participating nations as well as Parts 1 and 2 on why each team can win the tournament.

FIBA