ISTANBUL, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The 2010 FIBA World Championship will start officially in Istanbul on August 27.

The semi-official Anatolia news agency reported that the games will be played in the cities of Ankara, Kayseri, Izmir and Istanbul from August 28 to and September 2.

The finals will take place in Istanbul from September 2 to 12. 24 teams are qualified for the event, while the draw on December 15, 2009 divided them into four groups of six.

Group A matches will be played in the central province of Kayseri. The six teams competing in the Group A are Angola, Argentina, Australia, Germany, Jordan and Serbia.

Group B matches will take place in Istanbul among Brazil, Croatia, Iran, Tunisia, Slovenia and the United States.

Group C matches will be played in Ankara. The six teams competing in the Group C are China, Ivory Coast, Greece, Russia, Puerto Rico and Turkey.

Canada, France, Lebanon, Lithuania, New Zealand and Spain will compete in Group D in the western province of Izmir.