It begins with the Bahamas

Canada’s men’s basketball team faces the Bahamas, Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands in World Cup qualifying.

Canada was drawn into Group 2 on Sunday for the first round of Americas qualifying for the 2019 World Cup.

The No. 24-ranked Canadians open Nov. 24 against the 77thranked Bahamas.

The Dominican Republic is ranked 18th, while the U.S. Virgin Islands is 59th.

The first round sees each of the four teams facing off at home and away.

The top three teams from each group advance to the second round, where they’ll face three teams from another group, carrying over their results from the first round.

The top three teams from each group, plus the fourth-best team overall, qualifies for the World Cup, Aug. 31-Sept. 15, 2019 in eight cities in China.