ISTANBUL (Türkiye) - Australia's wait for a podium finish at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup is finally over after 12 years as the Oceania powers grabbed third place in the 2026 edition by fending off hosts Türkiye 77-69.
Australia, who lost 114-65 to USA in the Semi-Finals, watched their 22-point second quarter lead melt down to 6 points in the fourth quarter, but the Crocs withstood the comeback and the boisterous crowd at the Basketball Development Center to get the win. It gave Australia their third FIBA U17 World Cup medal following back-to-back silvers in 2012 and 2014.
It's huge
"It's huge. It's something that we set out to achieve at the start of this campaign, but it's not something that we've spoken about a lot. We've spoken about process and who we are along the way and that outcomes will be a product for our environment and you know tonight's the reward for for having that focus and maintaining that throughout this journey," said Australia head coach Greg Vanderjagt.
"But 12 years is a long time. It's only the third medal this program has had and for basketball in Australia it's huge. This is a great generation of athletes for us and there's going to be some future Boomers coming out of this program."
Luke Paul flirted with a triple-double in collecting 19 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists to lead Australia while William Hamilton added 16 points and Yahya Basaran had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
"I wanted to get back onto the podium. Australia keeps pushing and pushing as a basketball nation so to come away with third place is awesome," said Paul.
Australia as a team swatted 13 shots to tie for second place for the most in U17 World Cup history - even with USA versus Egypt in 2010. The all-time record is 17 by Egypt against Lithuania in 2012.
Most team blocks in a single game at U17 World Cup
Rank | Team | Opponent | Date | Blocks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Egypt | Lithuania 72-73 | 06/07/2012 | 17 |
2 | Australia | Türkiye 77-69 | 05/07/2026 | 13 |
- | USA | Egypt 132-64 | 06/07/2010 | 13 |
4 | China | Canada 78-87 | 28/06/2026 | 12 |
- | Korea | Spain 71-86 | 02/07/2010 | 12 |
- | Australia | Poland 85-68 | 02/07/2022 | 12 |
- | USA | Lebanon 120-44 | 02/07/2022 | 12 |
8 | Serbia | Lithuania 101-78 | 03/07/2026 | 11 |
- | Australia | Canada 100-86 | 03/07/2026 | 11 |
- | Argentina | Philippines 84-71 | 14/08/2014 | 11 |
- | USA | China 113-71 | 14/08/2014 | 11 |
- | Mali | Dominican Republic 52-62 | 09/07/2022 | 11 |
Türkiye missed a chance to grab their second straight bronze medal despite Omer Kutluay scoring 32 points and Darius Karutasu adding 17 points. The hosts were just unable to add another dramatic comeback to their rally from 25 points down in the opener and scoring the final 13 points to win 94-87 over France in the Quarter-Finals.
FIBA