The first matchday of the men's basketball World Cup was calm, basically there were not too many upsets, the strong teams in Europe and the United States were still stable, and the five teams in Asia and Africa were only beaten. If you have to find a team that has been upset, it must belong to the European powerhouse France. France, the world No. 5 and Olympic runner-up winners, not only lost to Canada, but also suffered a huge 30-point defeat to their opponents.
You know, in this World Cup, the French men's basketball team came to win the championship. Although their two major centers, Embiid and Venbanyamar, did not play, but France, with their luxurious squads, are still regarded as one of the favourites to win the title. Unfortunately, in this battle with Canada, the French team was completely powerless, and was beaten to pieces by the opponent, and there was not even a little strength to counterattack.
After the start of the first quarter, France led Canada 18-14. However, as the second quarter began, Canada's lineup advantage began to show. This time in the World Cup, Canada has 7 NBA players, which is the third most NBA team in this World Cup after the United States and Australia, while France has only 3 NBA players, in terms of bench depth, Canada still dominates. In the second quarter, they were beaten back with a 29-22 run to regain the lead.
After the Yibian rematch, the French team suddenly lost power in the third quarter and scored only 8 points in a single quarter, while Canada did not give the opponent any chance, and played a small climax of 25-8 in a single quarter, completely opening the point difference. At the end of the first three quarters, Canada led France 68-48. In the end, with the explosion of the third quarter, Canada successfully defeated France, won the group stage opener, and basically won the first place in the group.
In fact, in the FIBA rankings, France is far better than Canada. France is in 5th place, behind Spain, the United States, Australia and Argentina. Canada is only ranked 15th, and from the ranking point of view, the strength of the French team should be stronger than Canada. In the past decade, France's record has also been very stable, and they finished third in both the 2014 and 2019 World Cups. At the 2021 Olympics, they finished second.
But this time, they capsized in the gutter and lost to Canada by 30 points. This is undoubtedly a blow for the French team. After all, the French team has not lost so embarrassingly in the past dozen years. Moreover, losing to competitors by a full 30 points is indeed difficult to accept. It should be said that this is the first matchday of the World Cup opener, and the biggest upset.