World Champions Spain ELIMINATED From 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup After Defeat By Canada

SPAIN have been eliminated from the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup after losing a thrilling match 85-88 to Canada this Sunday, September 3.

📺 Canada is going to the Quarter-Finals for the first time since 1994 after knocking out Spain. 🇨🇦#FIBAWC x #WinForCanada pic.twitter.com/05wqGAE5WB

— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 🏆 (@FIBAWC) September 3, 2023

Their downfall came in the final quarter of this second group stage clash at the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta when the reigning world champions only managed to put 12 extra points on the scoreboard, compared to 27 by their opponents.

Willy Hernangómez had been key for the Spaniards in the first two quarters, while, in the third quarter, Brizuela and Aldama were also very decisive, giving their team a lead of 13 points as they headed for the last break.

In the final parts of the match, Canada’s Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillon Brooks were outstanding. Combining to put 52 points on the board, they helped their coach Jordi Fernandez guide the nation to its first World Cup quarter-final since 1994 where they will face Slovenia in Manila.

Jordi Fernandez congratulated Spain

‘I congratulate Spain, a great program. They were a tough one tonight. We faced a lot of adversity. We had to start from the bottom, and now we’re here in the Quarter-Finals. It was a win where we all had to come together. Shai took us home, Dillon was amazing’, Fernandez said in a report from fiba.basketball.

He added; ‘At the end of the day, it was the definition of a winning team. We have to keep growing and believe, and we’re much better than this. They took us out of a lot of our stuff. Now we’re going to the Philippines thinking the same way – a lot of things to do, a lot of things to improve’.

The Spanish coach was gracious in defeat

In response, Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said: ‘Congratulations to Canada, to their players, to coach Jordi, to the federation. I know how much of a commitment and dedication they put into this effort to rebuild their program. Now they have a high-level team, and they can enjoy the fruits of those seeds’.

‘I fully agree with Willy, I can’t be prouder of my team tonight. We made an unbelievable effort, we led practically the whole game, we did a hell of an effort. It’s true that in 4 quarters, floor leadership is crucial, and we had to know that when the opponent is an All-Star’, he continued.

Scariolo added: ‘When he’s handling it like that, things might happen. We did our best and had extremely fun-to-coach guards who have learned a lot. They did a great job. No regrets. Tonight, we were Spain until the very end’.

Canada knocks out the reigning champs Spain in an absolute thriller! 🤯#FIBAWC x #WinForCanada 🇨🇦

— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 🏆 (@FIBAWC) September 3, 2023

Today’s defeat means it is the first time that Spain will miss competing in the World Cup Quarter-Finals since 1994.

By advancing to the last eight of the tournament, Canada also secured a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics. They now join the USA in taking the two automatic spots from the Americas after defeats for Brazil and the Dominican Republic earlier today saw them miss out.

This is the first time Canada has qualified for the Olympics since Sydney 2000. On that occasion, they achieved a seventh-place finish. The nation’s only Olympic medal came back in 1936.

Six nations have now already qualified for Paris. Alongside the hosts France, there are the teams from the USA, South Sudan, Japan, Australia, and now Canada. Two more European qualifying spots are up for grabs among the sides competing in the final eight of the current tournament.