As the first four games of the second-stage in the FIBA Basketball World Cup were finished, teams Poland, Argentina, Spain and Serbia secured their places in the quarterfinals.

It should come as surprise to no one that all these four teams made the second stage as they had three straight wins in their own groups in the first stage, an advantage that helped them only need one more win to enter the quarterfinals.

Poland were the biggest surprise. Of their three opponents in Group A, only China were able to make some trouble for them before losing the game thanks to multiple mistakes. The three wins were like a stimulant to Poland, helping them believe maintain confidence even when playing against Russia before claiming victory 79-74.

Argentina benefited from taking three steady wins in Group B by meeting Venezuela, one of the weakest teams in the second stage in their first game. In the end, thanks to the joint efforts of veteran pillar Luis Scola and new back-court leader Facundo Campazzo, Argentina took an easy 20-point win.

Spain took a difficult win over Italy, just like what they did against Puerto Rico and Iran in Group C. The team's playstyle changed a lot from the sharp, smooth offense-oriented game in the past to today's slow, dull game that relies on defense. In all of their for games, Spain managed limit their opponents' score under 70 points while the team themselves scored no more than 80 points in three of those games.

Serbia are convincing more and more people to believe that FIBA is not joking by putting them over USA on their second, third and fourth power rankings. In their four victories, Serbia won by an average of 40.75 points per game and the team did it by having Nikola Jokic start from the bench.

Another four No. 1 ranked teams from the first stage - Brazil, USA, France and Australia - will play their first game in the second stage on Saturday to see if they will make the stage meaning less in advance by taking the remaining four spots in the quarterfinals.