South American teams qualified via the South American Basketball Championship held on 2008 at Puerto Montt, Chile. North American teams (Canada and the United States) automatically qualify to the championship, which will be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The top four teams from the 2009 Championships qualify automatically to the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey, with FIBA handling out four more wild card entries to complete the 24-team tournament.
With the United States winning the gold medal at the 2008 men's Olympic basketball tournament, another slot was opened for a Centrobasket participant, when the United States decided to skip qualification since their gold medal provided them automatic qualification to the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
2007 CBC Championship
The 2007 CBC Championship was held from August 6 to 12, 2007, at Caguas, Puerto Rico. The top three teams at the end of the tournament qualify for the 2008 Centrobasket.
The 2008 Centrobasket was held from August 27 to 31, 2008, at Chetumal and Cancun, Mexico. The top four teams automatically go to the Tournament of the Americas. With the US not participating, the fifth-placed team also qualifies.
Italicized teams advanced to the FIBA Americas Championship 2009.
Qualified to the semifinals, and the Americas Championship