World-class 3x3 basketball in front of the Ruins of St. Paul's

When

Saturday 17 – Sunday 18 October 2026

Where

Outdoor court in front of the Ruins of St. Paul's, Macau peninsula historic centre

Cost

Free admission for residents and visitors, no ticket needed

The field

16 teams, including world No. 1 Ub (Serbia), Amsterdam RABOBANK, Miami, Shanghai and home team Cotai WOLFUNITED

Sunday finals

Quarter-finals from 15:00; semi-finals and final from 18:00

What is 3x3, and what is the World Tour?

3x3 is basketball distilled: three-a-side on a single half-court, with a 12-second shot clock, games of 10 minutes and the first team to 21 points the winner. There is no time to build a lead and sit on it, games swing in seconds, which is exactly why it works so well in a public square. It has been an Olympic sport since Tokyo 2020.

The FIBA 3x3 World Tour is the top tier of FIBA's 3x3 competition system, a season-long professional circuit that began in April in Utsunomiya, Japan, and travels the world before the season-ending Final in Rio de Janeiro in December. Macau is one of the last stops of the regular season, and this is the third Macau edition: the Serbian side Ub won both previous ones and arrive chasing a third straight Macau title.

The setting: a court at the foot of the Ruins

There cannot be many sports venues with a backdrop like this. The court sits in front of the Ruins of St. Paul's, the great stone façade that is all that remains of the Church of Mater Dei, destroyed by fire in 1835, and the centrepiece of the UNESCO-listed Historic Centre of Macao. FIBA designs the World Tour as street sport with a festival feel, elite competition, music and urban culture wrapped around the games, and the St. Paul's square gives it Macau's most recognisable stage.

The neighbourhood is joining in: around 20 merchants in the Ruins of St. Paul's commercial district, cafés, cultural and creative shops and local brands, are running basketball-themed games in store and event-exclusive offers across the event days, so the streets between the square and Senado Square should be as lively as the court.

The schedule, as published

• Saturday 17 October: qualifying and pools. The qualifying draw starts at 11:00, with six teams fighting for the last two places in the main draw. Pool games start at 14:30 and run through the afternoon and evening.
• Sunday 18 October: knockouts. The quarter-finals start at 15:00, and the semi-finals and final start at 18:00, under lights in front of the façade.

Ten teams go straight into four pools; the format is unforgiving, and only the best of each pool reaches Sunday's quarter-finals. Individual game times within each session have not been published, so plan around the session starts above.

Teams to watch

• Pool A: Ub, Vienna, Cotai WOLFUNITED. Ub (Serbia) are the world No. 1 and top seed, and the team everyone else has to beat. The home crowd's interest is Cotai WOLFUNITED, Macau's own team, who earned their main-draw place by finishing second at the Hongcheon Challenger in Korea, they get Ub and eighth seed Vienna (Austria) on home court.
• Pool B: Amsterdam RABOBANK, Shanghai, Hong Kong. Second seed Amsterdam (Netherlands) arrive fresh from winning the Bucharest stop. Shanghai (China), the seventh seed, and Hong Kong complete a pool with a strong regional edge.
• Pool C: Miami, Ulaanbaatar MMC Energy, plus a qualifier. Third seed Miami (USA) headline against experienced Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia); the last spot goes to the winner of Qualifying Draw A: DeQing (China), Warsaw (Poland) or Colosseum (Italy).
• Pool D: Baskets Bonn, Skyliners, plus a qualifier. An all-German clash between the fourth and fifth seeds, with the Qualifying Draw B winner: Taipei WanBao, Bordeaux (France) or Doha (Qatar), thrown in against them.

Practical tips for the weekend

• Just turn up: it's free. The organisers have confirmed free admission for residents and visitors, with no ticket required. Seating and entry arrangements beyond that have not been published, so for Sunday's finals session in particular, arrive well before the 15:00 quarter-finals to claim a good spot.
• Getting there. The court is in the middle of the historic centre: the classic approach is to walk from Senado Square up through the shopping lanes to the Ruins steps. The peninsula centre is compact and heavily pedestrianised, our getting-there guide covers buses, taxis and walking routes into the old town.
• Make a day of it. The Ruins themselves, the Mount Fortress and Museum of Macau right next door, and the lanes down to Senado Square are all on the doorstep, see our attractions guide for the historic-centre highlights to pair with the games.
• It's outdoors. October afternoons in Macau are still warm: bring water and sun protection for the daytime sessions, and expect the square to be at its most atmospheric, and busiest, for the Sunday-evening finals.
• Bringing kids? The "Stars of Tomorrow" youth 3x3 tournament runs alongside the World Tour on both days at Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion and the Ruins, with young players from across the Greater Bay Area, and chances for them to watch the professionals up close.
• Staying longer? 3x3 continues at the Ruins after the World Tour leaves: the Greater Bay Area Tour 2026 Finals run from Monday 19 to Wednesday 21 October (group games also at Tap Seac), also with free admission.

Quick FAQ

Event details checked 13 October 2026 against the Macao SAR Sports Bureau announcement of 12 October 2026 (gov.mo) and FIBA's official seedings and pools release (fiba.basketball). Session start times are as published by the organisers; individual game times within sessions have not been published. Hero photo: the Ruins of St. Paul's by BenjPhoto, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).