The 2023 FIBA World Cup hasn’t disappointed so far, following the twists and turns we’ve seen in Week 1.
After the first set of group stage games, the usual suspects are on top of their respective groups except for France, who were deemed one of the tournament favourites.
On the other hand, Cape Verde and South Sudan have become two of the darlings of this tournament as they made their supporters proud with their big victories recently.
While the group stage matches continue to roll on, allow us to recap some of the biggest FIBA World Cup 2023 results that have happened so far this week.
France sent home earlier than expected
Yes, you read it right: France crashed out of the 2023 FIBA World Cup after back-to-back losses against Canada and Latvia, although that won’t affect their qualification for the 2024 Olympics because they’re the hosts.
Les Bleus star Nicolas Batum said that he’s ashamed about their early exit, and you can’t blame him based on what happened in their two opening matches.
On Friday, Canada crushed France in the first game by 30 points, which is Les Bleus’ largest loss in a major event since 1987. Then on Sunday, Latvia rallied from a 13-point deficit and didn’t take the lead for the first time until the final 38 seconds of the game, which ended with an 88-86 score.
Canada and Latvia now lead Group H with 2-0 records to confirm their passage to the knockout stage, as they also both defeated Lebanon via blowouts.
France can salvage some pride by trying to win their remaining games. After their game against Lebanon in their final group stage match, which is winnable for them based on the FIBA World Cup 2023 odds, there will be a couple of classification games to play.
Despite the poor showing in Indonesia, France should remain within the Top 10 in the FIBA men’s rankings, especially with their core mostly intact ahead of the 2024 Olympics.
Veteran stars Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier are likely to still be with the team in 2024, while Victor Wembanyama, the top overall pick in this summer’s draft, might play for the national team too soon.
Canada, USA, and Germany look scary
In stark contrast, Canada, USA, and Germany have been particularly dominant in this tournament, with teams such as Serbia, Lithuania, and Spain being honourable mentions.
As mentioned earlier, Canada kicked off their campaign with wins over France and Lebanon, blowing them out with a whopping average margin of 42.5 points.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been the Maple Leafs’ star in this tournament, leading the team in points (19.5), rebounds (9.0), and assists (5.5) per contest.
The Thunder point guard notched 27 points against France but only had 12 against Lebanon, although eight of his teammates scored in double digits too.
As for Team USA, they also routed their opponents, New Zealand and Greece. Paolo Banchero led the team in scoring against the Tall Blacks with 21 points, while Austin Reaves was named Man of the Match against the Greeks with 15 points, six assists, five rebounds, and two steals.
Germany, meanwhile, became the first nation to finish the group stage with a flawless 3-0 record with victories against Japan, Australia, and Finland.
Dennis Schroder has been their best player with averages of 19.7 points and 5.7 points per game, while Johannes Voigtmann leads the team in rebounds with 6.0 per contest.
After bowing out of the first round in the 2019 World Cup, Germany are back in the second round with a vengeance.
Cape Verde and South Sudan stand tall for Africa
After losing to Puerto Rico in overtime in the first game, South Sudan bounced back with an 89-69 victory against China, a game that this SBOTOP writer personally got to witness live.
Following their opening-day loss to Georgia, Cape Verde also clawed their way back with an 81-75 win over Group F bottom feeders, Venezuela.
These wins mean a lot to these two nations, to say the least, because these are both their first-ever wins in this particular tournament.
South Sudan, which gained its independence 12 years ago, is the world’s youngest country. Cape Verde, on the other hand, is not really known as a basketball nation, and it’s one of the world’s least-populated countries. With 1-1 records, both have a chance to be among the 16 teams to qualify for the second round. That’s not bad considering they were the two lowest-ranked nations in the 32-team field prior to the start of this tournament.
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