2023 WC Qualifiers: Victories for Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro
Džanan Musa hit the clutch 3-pointer to win the game for Bosnia and Heryegovina in a thrilling clash vs. Bulgaria. Montenegro scored a convncing win against Portugal on the road, while North Macedonia and Serbia suffered defeats in the final round of the 1st stage of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.
Dzanan Musa (Photo: FIBA)
Bosnia and Herzegovina have finished the 1st stage of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers with a thrilling win over Bulgaria – 76:73, while the hero of the day was Bosnia and Herzegovina star player Džanan Musa who scored the game-winning 3-pointer just 1 second before the end of the match. That was only his 2nd three-pointer in this game, but that shot brought the big win to his team.
At the same time, Montenegro also grabbed a last-round win as they prevailed over Portugal on the road by 77:62.
What is iimportant to mention is that both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro have qualfied for the 2nd stage of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers and they will play in the same group in the next round of the competition.
Group K of the 2nd stage of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers will look like this:
Group K: France 5-1, Lithuania 5-1. Montenegro 4-2, Czech Republic 3-3, Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-3, Hungary 3-3.
Meanwhile, Serbia suffered a shicking defeat against Belgium at home court in the final round of the 1st stage of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers – 73:74. Serbian team blew a 10-point lead in the final minutes and they dropped one very important win in the race for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Serbia did qualify for the 2nd stage of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, but because of this defeat their starting position is not very good.
Group I of the 2nd stage of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers will look like this:
Group I: Greece 3-1, Latvia 3-1, Turkey 2-2, Belgium 2-2, Serbia 1-3, Great Britain 1-3.
North Macedonia have finished their participation in the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers with a home defeat against Ukraine – 68:73. North Macedonia haven't scored a single win in six games and they failed to qualify for the 2nd stage of the qualfiers.
2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, Group F, Monday, 4 July 2022:
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – Bulgaria 76:73 (19:18, 21:18, 18:26, 18:11)
Halilović 16, Lazić 14 | Bost 24, Kostov 15.
Group E, Monday, 4 July 2022:
Portugal – MONTENEGRO 62:77 (14:19, 16:26, 21:21, 11:11)
Queiroz 17, Ventura 9 | Ilić 14, Ivanović 13, Popović 13.
Group A, Monday, 4 July 2022:
Serbia – BELGIUM 73:74 (21:23, 17:15, 22:15, 13:21)
Marinković 14, Bjelica 12 | Bako 17, Lecomte 16.
Group G, Monday, 4 July 2022:
North Macedonia – UKRAINE 68:73 (21:35, 16:12, 16:10, 15:16)
V. Stojanovski 15, Krstevski 13 | Mykhailiuk 24, Sanon 10.
