As Brazil was eliminated with two losses, but beat Canada, a victory for Spain would not only eliminate the Canadians but also leave the Brazilian team in third place in their group and 10th place overall, as second best on the continent. only behind the United States, which advances to the quarterfinals.

The decisive match for Brazil was dominated by Spain until the final quarter, a stage which Canada won by 15 points. The Spaniards even had the chance to equalize with a 4-man attack, but they missed the shot, shot from distance, and ended up being beaten by 88 to 85. The result qualified Canada for the quarterfinals and left Spain out of the top 8 for the first time in almost 30 years.

As only the United States and Canada are alive at the World Cup, among the continent’s teams, both are qualified for the Olympics. Australia, South Sudan and Japan too, as the best of their continents. The six Europeans classified in the quarter-finals will compete for two places on the continent.

Brazil, which finished 13th in the World Cup, still has to take part in the pre-Olympics in early July next year. There will be 24 teams divided into four tournaments of six teams each, in which only the champion will qualify. The Brazilian team has already participated in a pre-Olympic like this in 2021, when they lost in the decisive match against Germany.

Since Atlanta 1996, Brazil has only qualified once for the men’s basketball Olympics, in London 2012, after losing its place following a historic victory against Argentina on its home court. rival. Brazil then participated in Rio-2016 as the home team.