France defeated USA 89-79 in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Basketball World Cup in south China city of Dongguan on Wednesday night. This was the USA's first loss in a top international tournament since 2006. France will meet Argentina in the semifinals on Friday. In the last quarterfinal game that ended later on Wednesday, Australia beat Czech Republic 82-70, taking the last spot in the semifinals and they will play against Spain next.

USA put three guards – Donovan Mitchell, Kemba Walker, and Joe Harris – in their starting-lineup with Harrison Barnes and Myles Turner. However, instead of working from outside, the team kept challenging Rudy Gobert under the rim. Such unwise tactics led to five turnovers by USA in the first quarter. Meanwhile, France did not have many solutions in the half-court offense. As a result, the first quarter ended 18-18.

USA kept their small-ball squad in the second quarter, continuing to focus on transition offense and assaulting the rim. Though they could cause some trouble with their speed and athleticism, French players still had the advantage in height and size. Even Gobert, who has never been known for scoring ability in the NBA, kept hurting USA in the paint.

The other headache France were giving their opponents were the sharp 3-pointers. With a big enough threat under the rim, the team's perimeter players kept burying shots from the 3-point line, making USA unable to cover both sides at the same time. By contrast, USA kept bricking from the outside, watching the score difference grow to six (45-39) points after Q2.

Both Gobert and Evan Fournier dropped 13 points for France but in totally different ways. Fournier was three for four from the 3-point line while Gobert earned 10 free throws and made nine of them. As for the American side, though Mitchell scored 15 points, the team's offense was held back by their disappointing 3-point rate of 27.3 percent. Six points also reached the biggest half-time trail so far in the World Cup.

Nikolas Batum finished a 3+1 play at the beginning of the third quarter, expanding the lead to 10 points for France. However, in the following six minutes, France seemed to lose their calmness. The team committed six turnovers which became opportunities for USA to launch early offensive plays. Meanwhile, Mitchell continued to make contributions via his incredible isolation offense. As he made his second 3-pointer this quarter, USA regained the lead 66-63 after Q3.

USA continued to hurt France's defense with the sharp raiding ability of their small-ball squad. As the team saw more players warmed up via free throws, their offense grew smoother – they even grabbed several offensive rebounds. Of course France managed to strike back through slashing into the paint. The tallest player USA had was only 2.01 meters, making them vulnerable under the rim.

As Frank Ntilikina buried a score-tying 3-pointer for France, the game entered the last five minutes 76-76. France gained the upper hand first with a 6-0 run that came from rational play and calm passing. Though USA tried to rely on individual attacks again as a counterstrike, Gobert ruined their opponents' last hope with two blocks and one putback.