Canada and Germany qualified for the semi-finals of the World Cup this Wednesday. The flanks will play Serbia against Canada and the USA against Germany on Friday.
In a tense match that was decided on the last ball of the match as the game clock ran out, Germany defeated Latvia with plenty of drama to qualify for the Quarterfinals of the 2023 FIBA ​​World Cup at The Mall 81-79 of Asia in Pasay, Philippines , and bought his ticket to the semi-finals of the competition.
After his ankle injury against Japan, Franz Wagner finally returned to action and it paid off right from the start. The Orlando Magic junior scored 16 points on 5/8 shots from the field, which was enough to defeat Latvia, earning Germany a game against the United States for the World Cup Grand Finals.
Andreas Obst added 13 points for Germany, where Mo Wagner had 12 and Johannes Thiemann completed 10 points, offsetting a terrible performance by Dennis Schröder who scored 9 points on 4/26 shots from the field, including 0/8 at Three-pointers and the last-ball failure that gave Latvia the golden chance.
Arturs Zagars was the big figure on the Latvian side. The left-hander led the game for his team and helped with a phenomenal evening followed by 20 points from Davis Bertans who also had a chance to become a hero. Without their biggest star, Kristaps Porzingis, Latvia appeared at the World Cup like never before and left the world speechless.
The situation would have been very different had Bertans hit the final shot of the game, a 3-pointer that would have completed a true movie scene in the final instance after coming from a nine-point deficit in the last two minutes. However, the ball didn’t go in and Germany clinched the ticket, but Latvia managed to gain possession twice in the fourth quarter, where they were even double-digit behind. The game is rated as one of the best of the 2023 World Cup.
Meanwhile, Canada did their homework against Slovenia, beating them 100-89 in the quarterfinals match, advancing to the semifinals of the 2023 FIBA ​​World Cup, where they meet Serbia to win a ticket to the grand finish of the tournament
Canada were in control of the game for most of the course. With a 50-minute half-time tie, the second set was more comfortable for the North Americans as they found support players at a good level who tipped the scales in their favor and eventually won the game after some drama.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the star of the game and secured Canada victory in the final minutes as Slovenia slashed the lead to single digits. The Oklahoma star finished the game with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists to put his team in the top 4 of the tournament. RJ Barrett also played a crucial role, finishing the game with 24 points, 9 rebounds and a steal.
In Slovenia, who lost Luka Doncic to a second technical foul five minutes from time, it was the same Dallas star who took the lead with 26 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in 29 minutes of play. Klemen Prepelic signed the best game of his World Cup today with 22 points and 4 triples, although it wasn’t enough to win.
In addition, the eight direct qualifiers for the Olympic Games have been confirmed: Australia, the USA, Canada, Serbia, Germany, South Sudan and Japan, with France as the host.
