Already on the first day of the World Cup, the attendance record for a single game was updated. It is about the enormous popularity of basketball in the Philippines, a country that hosts the tournament along with Japan and Indonesia. Although the Philippine national team has never had enough stars from the sky, their opening match against the Dominican Republic, held in the world’s largest indoor arena, the Philippine Arena, drew a phenomenal 38,115 people. True, the support of the stands did not help the hosts – the Dominicans turned out to be stronger (87:81), and yesterday they also beat a strong Italian team (87:82).
However, the 2023 World Cup surprises not only for the attendance figures, but also for the results. Let’s remember that the 32 teams participating in the first stage were divided into eight quartets. The top two teams from each will advance to the second round. France, which got into group “H”, could not cope with this task. In the first game, Vincent Collet’s pupils were defeated by Canada (65:95) and now they failed in the match with the Latvians. Furthermore, the French were leading the entire match, but managed to lose the victory in the last half minute of the match. The last match against Lebanon decides nothing for France. Canada, who crushed the Lebanese team yesterday (128:73), as well as Latvia, who also more than beat Lebanon earlier (109:70), have already guaranteed their way out of the group.
Let’s remember that for political reasons the players who play in the United League were not called up to the French team. In particular, the guard of the “Zenith” from St. Petersburg, Thomas Ertel. According to one of the team leaders, Nicolas Batum, this also played a role: “I don’t care about politics, we needed a better team.”
Both second round entrants were also selected in the “D” quartet. These are Lithuania and Montenegro, who confidently beat Egypt (93:67, 89:74) and Mexico (96:66, 91:71). In group “E”, Germany secured the ticket to the second round, after defeating the Australian team yesterday in a tough game (85:82).
where we will look
Monday August 28, “Match! Game”
15.35. Greece – United States. Live broadcast
