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Jakarta (ANTARA) – Canada celebrated two victories on its final night at the Indonesia Arena after defeating defending champions Spain with a score of 85-88, including reaching the quarter-finals of the Cup of the FIBA ​​World 2023 and at the same time obtaining a ticket to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“We're going to the Olympics, it's crazy. Yes, I'm happy, come on,” said Canadian player RJ Barrett after the match against Spain at Indonesia's Gelora Bung Karno Arena in Jakarta, Sunday (3/9 ).

Canada finished the group stage of the 2023 FIBA ​​World Cup in Indonesia on top of Group L with 4 wins and 1 loss. Canada is the second-best team in the Americas region after the United States in the group stage of the FIBA ​​World Cup.

This position guarantees direct tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, alongside Team USA.

It's understandable that RJ Barrett would be so excited that he danced in front of reporters because he had qualified for the Olympics. The last time the Canadian basketball team competed in the Olympic Games was in 2000 in Sydney, Australia.

Canada is also the sixth country to confirm its participation in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games following the 2023 FIBA ​​World Cup. The countries that have confirmed their Olympic tickets are Australia, Japan, South Sudan, the United States and France. hosts.

Also read: Canada eliminates defending champion Spain to qualify for quarter-finals

Canada secured a place in the quarterfinals of the 2023 FIBA ​​World Cup after struggling to beat Spain. Canada was trailed for most of the match by Spain, but was able to overturn its lead when necessary, notably in the final minutes until the end of the match.

“It was a very good game, high-level basketball. Lots of adversity, they played complete basketball. They're a good team, but we wanted to win more. We knew what was at stake, we did whatever it took. we took it, and we did it,” said Canada's best player in that game, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Spain's match against Canada in the closing match of the FIBA ​​World Cup 2023 at the Indonesia Arena was indeed very tense. A very close competition occurs when the match duration is less than one minute.

Even in the last 21 seconds and the last 4 seconds, both teams were still chasing points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sealed the victory for Canada with a final score of 85-88.

Canada became Group L champion with four wins and one loss. Canada will face Slovenia in the quarter-finals on Wednesday (6/9) which will take place in Manila, Philippines.

Also read: Latvia reaches the quarter-finals with impressive statistics