Belgium vs France - Neighbours face off in group D EuroBasket opener

By Nemanja Dojcinovic

2 hours ago

Nemanja Dojcinovic 2 hours ago

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Belgium faces France in a tough EuroBasket opener.
France, though missing key players, is a title contender.
Expect a low-scoring game with a focus on defense.

Frederic Fauthoux France (Getty Image)

Belgium vs France Preview
Belgium Form & Team News
France Form & Team News
Head to Head

Belgium vs France Preview

Belgium face one of their toughest tests right at the start of EuroBasket, going up against one of the tournament favourites, France.

Can coach Dario Gjergja’s side put up a competitive fight, or will the French have an easy job as expected?

Belgium Form & Team News

Belgium’s national team will appear at EuroBasket for the sixth consecutive time. Their best result in this period was 9th place in Slovenia in 2013, but since then they haven’t achieved much success in this competition.

Their main goal is to reach the knockout stage, which will be a big challenge in a very strong group.
On paper, they have a modest roster, but they have been playing together for a long time, and their main advantage over some other teams is chemistry and familiarity.

Ismael Bako is the only EuroLeague player on the squad, while most of the others play in the domestic league or for clubs in France.

Their warm-up games haven’t been encouraging, as they lost all three, once to Greece and twice to Finland - by an average margin of 25 points.

They will have couple more preparations games, including one vs Great Britain and couple vs Bosnia and Herzegovina.

France Form & Team News

Even though they will play with a significantly changed roster compared to recent tournaments, France remain one of the main favourites for the title.

Nando De Colo and Nicolas Batum have ended their distinguished international careers, and due to injuries the team will also be without Evan Fournier, Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert, and Mathias Lessort.

New head coach Frederic Fauthoux has brought fresh blood into the squad, including NBA prospects Zaccharie Risacher and Alexandre Sarr, who are seen as the future of the national team.

France are targeting the gold medal, with their biggest group-stage challenge expected to be Slovenia, led by NBA star Luka Doncic.

So far, they have played two warm-up games against Montenegro and Great Britain, winning both, though not in dominant fashion, and showing some expected inconsistency with so many new faces in the lineup.

Head to Head

These two teams last met at a major tournament during EuroBasket 2013, when France won 82–65. That was also the year France claimed their first – and so far only – European Championship title.

Verdict

Belgium v France

It’s already clear that this French team won’t rely on flashy, high-scoring basketball, but will instead impose themselves with physicality and strong defense.

The absence of several top offensive talents means they will have to slightly adjust their playing style.

The question is how Belgium will cope when facing a physically stronger opponent. I expect this to be a tough, low-scoring game, much like most of the previous encounters between these two teams.

Under 163.5 points

Total

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