MIES (Switzerland) - There's plenty to savor from the second window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Qualifiers.
Spectators piled into arenas in Europe, Asia, the Americans and Africa, and the players put on a show!
Mali stunned Angola, the team it fell to in the AfroBasket Final last year. The Dominican Republic upset the No. 1 country in the FIBA World Ranking, USA, in the Americas and in the Asian Qualifiers, China bounced back from two defeats in the opening window by winning at Japan and Chinese Taipei.
Europe had Iceland and Poland win with buzzer-beaters, while France and Austria snatched victories in the last seconds of games.
And thousands of spectators were in the arenas to watch, including Manila's Mall of Asia, the main venue for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.
A 12,054-strong crowd watched the New Zealand Tall Blacks edge Gilas, 69-66, on February 26, while 11,496 showed up three days later to see the Filipinos suffer defeat to Australia.
The loud heartbeat of basketball was heard in Japan. At the Okinawa Suntori Arena, 7,465 spectators watched China come from 15 points down on February 26 to beat the Japanese, while a few days later at the same venue, 7,821 saw the home team bounce back with a 78-72 win over Korea.
The Nohad Nawfal Stadium once again had an amazing hoops vibe as hosts Lebanon rolled to victory over Saudi Arabia. There 5,934 fans in the seats.
In Europe, Riga had 10,829 fans on hand to watch Latvia's home game against Poland on February 27. Despite the Xiaomi Arena being at 97% capacity, the Poles won with a Jordan Loyd 3-pointer at the buzzer, 84-82. Poland then returned home to their Polsat Plus Arena and won again, with the venue 95% full.
That same night, Sweden had 9,364 spectators in the Avicii Arena watch their team fall to Estonia, 88-77. The Swedes bounced back in front of a capacity 6,637 crowd in Tallinn a few days later with a 79-69 victory.
The legendary Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade was at 94% capacity with 7,500 screaming fans for Serbia v Türkiye, with the 12 Giant Men edging an 82-78 thriller. Then in Istanbul's TBF Turkcell Basketball Development Centre a few days later, the venue was 94% full with 9,422 spectators seeing Türkiye win again.
Montenegro and hosts Greece traded blows on February 27 in the Sunel Arena in Athens with 6,730 fans on hand, and the visitors spoiled the party with a narrow win. The Montenegro v Greece a few days later at the Sports Center Moraca was at 100% capacity, where the Greeks prevailed.
In an overtime classic on March 1, Germany came from behind to stun Croatia in a Telekom Dome that had a capacity crowd of 6,032. Just days before, the KC Drazen Petrovic venue was 93% full as Croatia beat Germany in a real humdinger.
There were other arenas with 100% capacity crowds in the window, like Bosnia and Herzegovina's home clash with Switzerland at the Mejdan and Spain's showdown with Ukraine in Oviedo.
Finland's Metro Arena was at 86% capacity with 6,822 spectators on March 1 for the Susijengi's narrow triumph over Belgium.
There were 7,900 Italy fans (98% full) rocking in the Modigliani Forum on March 2 as the Azzurri beat Great Britain for the second time in the window.
Other games had near capacity crowds. Georgia were cheered on by 7,100 spectators in the Tbilisi Arena on March 2 as they defeated Denmark for the second time in the window.
In the Americas, basketball continued to be a hot ticket in the Polideportivo Alexis Arguello, which was 96% full with 7,641 spectators for Mexico's victory over Nicaragua on February 26. There were also 6,825 fans to see the "La Azul y Blanco" in their game against the Dominican Republic on March 1.
The Arena Roberto Durán in Panama City had 5,778 spectators on February 27 and "Los Canaleros" prevailed over Cuba in a 84-81 thriller.
There were festive scenes in Dakar at the Stade Marius N'Diaye, with capacity crowds of 3,500 fans cheering on Senegal in each of their three games, a defeat to Cote d'Ivoire on opening night followed by huge wins over Madagascar and Democratic Republic of Congo.
FIBA