The German basketball players gave national coach Alex Mumbru a perfect comeback after his pancreatic illness. 75 days after winning European Championship gold in Riga, the national team, with a heavily changed line-up, won 89:69 (50:31) against Israel and got off to a perfect start in the World Cup qualification.
In the absence of the NBA professionals around captain Dennis Schröder, the three remaining European champions Oscar da Silva (19 points), Isaac Bonga and Justus Hollatz contributed significantly to the favorite’s clear victory in front of 6,049 spectators in Neu-Ulm.
Am Montag in Limassol
The first step on the way to the 2027 World Cup in Qatar has been taken for Germany. The guest game in Limassol against Cyprus awaits on Monday (6 p.m./MagentaSport). The clear outsider received a clear 60:100 defeat in their opener against Croatia.
The high-security game, which was declared due to the scheduling, entailed special security precautions and an enormous police presence around the arena in Neu-Ulm. It remained quiet in the hall – head coach Mumbru was already posing for selfies when the team bus arrived, accompanied by escorts. On the sidelines he took over again from Alan Ibrahimagic, who had led Germany to the European Championship title as a representative in September.
Krämer is accurate
The fans greeted the German title hunters with a choreography that read: “History made twice.” The World Cup gold cup could be seen in the hall, and under the hall roof, in addition to the 2023 World Champion banner, the European Champion banner with the year 2025 hung for the first time.
The German team didn’t have any major problems on the floor, even without its NBA stars Schröder and Franz Wagner. David Krämer, who was injured at the European Championships (13 points in total), was accurate from the three-point line and made the German fans in the sold-out arena cheer for the first time. Bayern professional Da Silva and Bonga, who was considered an NBA candidate after his outstanding European Championships, twirled under the basket.
Israel without resistance
The ambitious Israelis, who had to do without NBA great Deni Avdija compared to the European Championships, were inferior in all respects and were gradually left behind. Hollatz directed the German game, and the young Jack Kayil (19 years old) and the huge center tower Norris Abgakoko (2.18 meters) also scored their goals in the attack.
At the beginning of the third quarter, the Israeli basketball team completely fell apart – the deficit increased from 19 to 27 points in a very short time. After that, even a decent final phase from the guests didn’t help. In August, Israel surprisingly defeated Olympic runner-up France at the European Championships.
The first three teams in the group of four with Croatia and Cyprus reach the next round of qualification. The World Cup in Qatar will take place from August 27th to September 12th, 2027.