THE FIBA World Cup has wrapped up proceedings for the first round of play, with teams either advancing to the second round or entering the classification round.

The classification pits the teams ranked 17-32 against one another, in a bid to officially rank the defeated sides. It also helps with Olympic qualification, given the one or two teams from each continent earn a spot at the Games based on where they finish at the World Cup.

One of the most surprising factors of the classification was the appearance of France, given it was one of the favourites to win it all and has been a powerhouse side for a numbers of tournaments.

Instead, the French went 0-3 in the first round of action, and were eliminated from World Cup contention in rapid fashion. However, they still had a chance to finish strongly, and faced off against Iran on the first night, where they claimed a 26-point triumph.

It was a slow start to the game, with just 21 points scored for the quarter. A combination of strong defence and wayward shooting saw Iran remarkably take a three-point lead into the first break, with France’s woes looking like continuing into the second batch of games.

However, France got going in the second quarter, showing an offensive fluency that was missing in its first three outings. It turned the quarter-time deficit into an eight-point lead at the main change, looking fully in control of the match as Iran’s offence could not match the output of the opposition.

France’s dominance continued into the third quarter, improving even more on the defensive end to hold Iran to just nine points for the term. The Iranian players were hassled and hounded every time they got the ball, while France was still able to get open looks either inside or behind the three-point line, with the margin blown out to 18.

Despite the game being essentially over heading into the final term, France did not let up, continuing to push the pace in transition and produce quality looks on the fast break and in half court sets. It outscored Iran 28-19 to slam the door shut on any sort of comeback, cruising home to an 82-55 win.

Star big man Rudy Gobert almost secured a double-double in the win, making the most of his presence in the paint to finish with nine points and nine rebounds, while Elie Okobo top-scored with 13 points.

In the remaining classification matches for the day, Finland got on the board with a 23-point win over Cape Verde, China downed Angola by seven points, while Mexico downed New Zealand 108-100 in a high-scoring encounter. Lebanon was 10 points too strong for Cote d’Ivoire, Japan downed Venezuela by nine points, South Sudan snagged a 20-point win over the Philippines and Egypt beat Jordan to the tune of 16 points.