LAUSANNE (Switzerland) - Germany avoided a mishap on their quest to the title at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025 by defeating Australia to reach their first Semi-Finals in 38 years.
Germany nearly blew a big lead but held on for a 80-67 victory over Australia to remain undefeated in the championship - and book their first ticket to the FIBA U19 World Cup Semis since 1987, when they eventually finished fourth.
Christian Anderson led the way with 18 points and 8 rebounds, Hannes Steinbach collected 16 points and 16 rebounds and Jack Kayil chipped in 4 points and 12 assists for Germany, who have never reached the podium in tournament history.
When asked about the country finally ending a 38-year wait, Steinbach said: "That's pretty amazing. This group here is pretty good and we can achieve even more."
Germany showed their class from the very beginning, opening a 12-point margin after just 6 minutes. The cushion grew to 23 points early in the second half and the score was still 63-42 with under 4 minutes left in the third quarter.
Australia would not go down without a fight and unleashed an 18-1 run to pull within 64-60 and make Germany think about it. But German stars Anderson and Steinbach came through with big scores to stop the rally.
"We started well and got running and were playing good defense. In the second half, especially the third quarter they came back with some big threes, but we found our rhythm again and finished the game," Steinbach said.
"It's a pretty big thing that we were able to show the character when we have a run against us. We stuck together and found a way to win."
Waiting now in the Semi-Finals will be Slovenia - a team that Germany beat 75-68 in the opening game of the tournament. Germany actually needed to rally to beat the Balkan side after falling behind by 13 points early in the third quarter.
If Germany want to reach the Final they will have to beat Slovenia a second time within a week. Slovenia will also be hungry for revenge from losing 88-68 to Germany in the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024.
FIBA