MIES (Switzerland) - Spain created a new set of heroes by winning the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2023 for the country's second junior global crown in a competition full of historical performances.
The Final of the 16th edition was all-European showdown with Spain prevailing in overtime against France to add 2023 glory to that from 1999. It was just the second Final to go to an extra session following 2015.
Türkiye pulled off a stunning win over United States - their first ever victory against the Americans - to finish the second all-European podium following 2011 (Lithuania, Serbia and Russia). That was also the last time that USA failed to take home a medal with a fifth place finish.
The best team: Spain
Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
1. | Spain | 7-0 |
2. | France | 5-2 |
3. | Türkiye | 6-1 |
4. | USA | 5-2 |
5. | Argentina | 4-3 |
6. | Serbia | 5-2 |
7. | Canada | 3-4 |
8. | Japan | 2-5 |
9. | Slovenia | 5-2 |
10. | China | 2-5 |
11. | Brazil | 4-3 |
12. | Korea | 1-6 |
13. | Egypt | 2-5 |
14. | Madagascar | 2-5 |
15. | Lebanon | 1-6 |
16. | Hungary | 2-5 |
The FIBA U19 World Cup was awarded to Debrecen, Hungary as part of FIBA's multi-year hosting model to maximize synergies and better organize and manage events. The Hungarian city the two previous summers had hosted the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2021 and FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022. The games were played in Debrecen from June 24-July 2.
Among the 16 teams were two debutants: hosts Hungary and Madagascar, who surprising reached the Final of the FIBA U18 AfroBasket 2022, including knocking off powerhouse Mali in the Semi-Finals. Japan were making back-to-back appearances for the first time in history; Slovenia returned to the junior global stage for the first time since 2003; Lebanon ended a 16-year drought for their second-ever showing; Brazil were playing at the competition for the first time since 2013; and Egypt were back after missing the last two editions.
The teams were drawn into four groups of four with a single round-robin style competition. All of the teams advanced to the Knockout Phase, starting with the Round of 16. Spain, USA, Serbia and Türkiye went undefeated in group play. The biggest surprise of the stage was hosts Hungary beating Korea and Argentina to take second place in Group D.
The biggest highlight of the group stage was Spain defeating France 88-69 in a showdown of two massive powerhouses in Group A. Slovenia meanwhile were beating USA by 12 points late in the third quarter before losing 77-75 in Group B. And Serbia went back and forth before finally fending off Brazil 74-72 in Group C.
Brazil suffered another close defeat in the Round of 16, losing 87-85 to South American rivals Argentina. The first round of knockout games also saw history as Spain hammered Lebanon 102-20, getting a new U19 record for fewest points scored. The previous mark came in 2013 when USA beat Cote d'Ivoire 88-29. Hosts Hungary's ride was stopped meanwhile by Japan, who won 63-53 to reach the Quarter-Finals for the first time.
None of the four Quarter-Finals were close as three Europeans - Spain, Türkiye and France - as well as USA reached the Semi-Finals with Türkiye's 24-point rout of Canada being the closest result. Spain set another record by beating Argentina 85-47 for the fewest points allowed in a Quarter-Finals. That eclipsed the previous mark of 56 points in 2007 when Serbia beat Türkiye 94-56.
The average winning margin of 36.8 points in the four Quarter-Finals set a new record for the most lopsided set of Quarter-Finals in history. That eclipsed the previous mark of 22.3 points winning margin in the 2013 U19 World Cup. The event has held Quarter-Finals knockout games since the 2007 World Cup.
Spain rolled on in the Semi-Finals, blowing out Türkiye 83-51 in a rematch of the Final of the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2022, which Spain won 68-61. The other Semi-Final was much more dramatic - and history making - as France beat USA 89-86 for the country's first victory over the Americans in a youth world event. France had lost all six games against USA in the U19 World Cup - including the 2021 Final - as well as two games in the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup.
The Third-Place Game saw more history with Türkiye knocking off USA 84-70 for their first victory ever against the Americans. That gave the Turks their second podium finish, matching the third place from 2015. And USA went home empty-handed for the first time since finishing fifth in 2011.
The Final between Spain and France proved to be a thriller - unlike the 19-point Spain blowout in the group stage. It would go into overtime - just the second Final to need an extra session after USA's 79-71 OT victory over Croatia in 2015. Spain would prevail 73-69 and hoist the trophy for the second time following 1999 when they beat USA 94-87 in Lisbon, Portugal.
The best player: Izan Almansa - MVP
Izan Almansa came into the 2023 U19 World Cup having been named Most Valuable Player in two major competitions the summer before. He helped Spain take second place at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022 and was handed the MVP trophy. And he made it two for two in winning the MVP after guiding Spain to the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2022 title.
He lived up to his expectations in Hungary as he averaged 16.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocks. Almansa shot 61 percent from the field and 90 percent from the foul line. He also only committed 6 turnovers in 182 minutes on the court.
Almansa scored at least 14 points in every game except for the Quarter-Finals blowout of Argentina, in which he had 10 points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes. He topped out with 24 points against China and came up big when it mattered most. The center totalled 17 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks in the Semi-Finals and then played 41 minutes in the overtime win over France with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals and 1 block.
Almansa was joined on the All-Star Five by teammate Jordi Rodriguez along with France big man Zacharie Perrin, Berke Buyuktuncel of Türkiye and Mark Armstrong of USA
The best game: The Final - Spain outlast France in OT thriller
The Final pitted two of Europe's absolute youth superhouses - undefeated Spain against France, who had only lost to the Spanish so far in the tournament - including their historic win over USA in the Semi-Finals. Spain were looking to finally win a second U19 global title following 1999 while France had finished third in 2019 and then second in 2021.
Izan Almansa scored the first four points of the game and Jordi Rodriguez was helping him while Zacharie Perrin and Melvin Ajinca were leading the French. There were a total of eight lead changes in the first quarter and the biggest lead was in fact four points and Spain were up 19-17 after 10 minutes.
Three more lead changes followed to start the second quarter. Almansa and Rodriguez went scoreless in the period and France nosed ahead by five points at 29-24. And they went into the locker room up 29-28 at halftime.
Almansa returned to the fore in the third quarter but the French were still leading 39-34 midway through the frame. Spain managed to keep France scoreless for 3 minutes and reclaimed the lead 40-39 but were then down 43-41 after 30 minutes.
Lucas Fischer hit a big three-pointer and Perrin converted a three-point play and France found themselves up 53-46 with under 6 minutes to play. Baba Miller stepped up for the Spanish with some big scores alongside Rafael Villar while Alex Saar and Ajinca both knocked down triples in what felt like a serious heavyweight fight, France up 64-59.
Spain's defense held strong the final 2 minutes and a Miller score was followed with 18 seconds left by Rodriguez converting to tie the game 63-63 and send the game to overtime. It was the first time the U19 World Cup went to OT since the 2015 Final - won 79-71 by USA over Croatia.
Miller drew first blood in the extra session with a three-pointer as the shot clock was winding down. Ajinca knotted the game 68-68 with more than 3 minutes to play. That would end up being the final field goal for France in the game, making just one free throw the rest of the way.
Spain would finish by game by making 5 of 8 free throws down the stretch - including two by Villar with 26 seconds remaining - to lock up the win 73-69 and the title.
Rodriguez ended up with 18 points for Spain, Villar scoring 17 points, Almansa picking up 14 and Miller chipping in 11 points. France's top scorer was Ajinca with 21 points and Perrin added 14 points and 20 rebounds.
The biggest first: Türkiye shocks USA for third place, first ever win over Americans
Türkiye is a proud basketball nation and knows what it means to celebrate a major achievement, which is why they really went wild after taking third place in Debrecen - and matched the country's best finish from 2015.
The Türkiye team in Hungary did something that no other Turkish team had done - they beat USA in a FIBA game. Tan Yildizoglu scored 20 points with 8 assists, Berke Buyuktuncel had 19 points and Samet Yigitoglu collected 10 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks in an 84-70 win over the Americans.
"It's a great honor for us and for our national team and our country. We wanted to beat Spain (in the Semi-Finals) and make the Final but we got the third place. We are proud of this. And thank you to all the support of the Turkish fans," the Türkiye captain Buyuktuncel said afterwards.
Türkiye used an 11-2 run late in the third quarter to take a 51-41 cushion. And they never let the Americans get closer than 7 points the rest of the way.
"This generation has been working together for three or four years and last year they took second place (at FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2022). Now they reached third place at a World Cup, which is very important because we think this generation has great heart," said the Turkish basketball federation CEO Omer Onan.
Two of the most famous matchups between USA and Türkiye were the Americans winning 81-64 in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2010 Final in Istanbul and Türkiye being unable to surprise USA 93-92 in overtime in group play at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.
France history repeating itself: First Wembanyama takes silver, then next NBA No. 1 draft pick Risacher follows
France came into the tournament with the hopes of reaching the podium for a third time. A big reason they had good reason for those expectations was the country continuing to develop more and more elite talent. And the 2023 team was no different.
Victor Wembanyama starred in the 2021 U19 World Cup and guided the French to the country's first-ever second place. He would go on to be selected first overall in the 2023 NBA Draft. As fate would have it, Zaccharie Risacher followed the same pathway - U19 World Cup silver medalist to No. 1 NBA pick.
Risacher was highly regarded in the buildup to the tournament, but the son of former France international and 2000 Olympic silver medalist Stephane Risacher struggled at times in Hungary.
He totaled 17 points in the first three games. Risacher did get going a bit in the Round of 16 blowout of Madagascar with 13 points but he also fouled out after just 16 minutes. That followed with him scoring 9 points with 5 steals in the Quarter-Finals against Serbia, and he poured in 13 points in the Semi-Finals win over United States.
Risacher could not continue that momentum in the Final though with 0 points and 5 turnovers in 23 minutes against Spain. Still, he ended up averaging a solid 7.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 19 minutes - in a competition where he was a year younger than the rest of the competition.
Risacher shined his following club season with JL Bourg and answered any doubts evaluators had about his performance in Debrecen. He ended up following Wembanyama's footsteps a second time and was selected with the first overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks.
It was the first time a country outside the Americas had players picked No. 1 overall in back-to-back years (Canada in 2013 and 2014 with Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins, respectively).
Also playing in the tournament was Alex Sarr. The big man contributed 7.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 2.0 blocks. Sarr would follow that showing with a stellar performance for the Perth Wildcats in Australia and was selected right behind Risacher in the draft as No. 2 by the Washington Wizards.
The best performance: Mathias M'Madi
The leading scorer of the tournament was Madagascar's Mathias M'Madi at 24.1 points per game. He is only the second player since 2003 to average 24+ points at a FIBA U19 World Cup - Yeo Jun Seok of Korea being the other with 25.6 points in 2021.
In Madagascar's first ever U19 World Cup game against USA, M'Madi scored 28 points with 2 assists and 1 steal. M'Madi poured in a tournament high 34 points in the second game, helping his country to their first-ever win at the competition in beating Lebanon 83-66. He also picked up 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals.
M'Madi played 40 minutes for the second straight game and was held to 16 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals against Slovenia. The Round of 16 was special for M'Madi as he was facing France, where he was born and raised. And he scored 33 points in a blowout loss. He followed that with 12 points against Korea, 24 points in a win over Hungary and tallied 22 points in a loss to Egypt to finish 14th in their debut.
M'Madi struggled shooting the ball, hitting 38 percent from the field including 16 percent from long range. But he converted nearly 87 percent of his free throw, making 8.3 of 9.6 attempts during the tournament. He also contributed 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.9 steals.
Stats leaders
Points
Player (Country) | Points Per Game |
|---|---|
Mathias M'Madi (Madagascar) | 24.1 |
Melvin Ajinca (France) | 19.3 |
Jan Vide (Slovenia) | 17.9 |
Lee Aaliya (Argentina) | 17.1 |
Akira Jacobs (Japan) | 17.0 |
Rebounds
Player (Country) | Rebounds Per Game |
|---|---|
Zacharie Perrin (France) | 10.9 |
Tobe Awaka (USA) | 10.6 |
Yang Hansen (China) | 10.4 |
Lee Aaliya (Argentina) | 9.0 |
Samet Yigitoglu (Türkiye) | 9.0 |
Assists
Player (Country) | Assists Per Game |
|---|---|
Alexandre Bouzidi (France) | 5.9 |
Yan Yildizoglu (Türkiye) | 5.3 |
Moon Yu-Hyeon (Korea) | 4.9 |
Yang Hansen (China) | 4.7 |
Karim El-Gizawy (Egypt) | 4.6 |
Ilija Milijasevic (Serbia) | 4.6 |
FIBA