After this sixth success in the qualification campaign for the 2023 World Cup, the France team is in an excellent position, with three more victories than Bosnia-Herzegovina, the first unqualified team, which it meets on Saturday (8:00 p.m.) at Sarajevo.

"If we win in Bosnia, we will not be mathematically qualified but we will be very close," coach Vincent Collet appreciated at a press conference.

But before the World Cup-2023 the Euro already presents itself with a first match against Germany, in a week, Thursday.

The Blues have confirmed their rise to power against the Czechs, deprived of their playing master Tomas Satoransky, and whom they could find in the quarter-finals of the Euro.

But they had to, after a sluggish first half (38-42) repair their game, under the instructions of Vincent Collet, like the technicians who busied themselves for long minutes to put back on their feet a basket mishandled by a dunk from Rudy Gobert just before halftime.

Without a crowbar or pallet truck, the coach found the settings: more aggressive and sharp on returning from the locker room, the Olympic vice-champions took the lead in the match before finally winning by a wide margin.

"We really made a terrible start as since the start of preparation elsewhere", regretted Evan Fournier, captain in the absence of Nicolas Batum and Nando de Colo.

"It's something that needs to be corrected because in a Euro we won't always have the ability to come back like that."

In the wake of the whole team, except Guerschon Yabusele who survived in the first quarter (12 pts), the back of the Knicks was barely the whole first part of the game.

Fournier only scored his first basket in the game two minutes before returning to the locker room (0/7 before, 7 points in the end).

By his admission, it was his "worst match in the France team for a few years"

"In each match, we had somewhat complicated starts," admitted Blues star Rudy Gobert.

"The positive thing is that each time we come together, we get stronger as the game goes on and behind it we play the basketball that we can play and that we have to play."

© 2022 AFP