The Spanish basketball team defeated Ukraine again and certified its place in the second qualifying round for the 2027 World Cup in Qatar. Chus Mateo’s team easily beat the Ukrainian team (78-64)whom he has easily surpassed in the two matches of this window.
Spain was ahead the entire match and accelerated in the last quarter to close the duel with a 14 point lead. ‘The Family’ adds four wins in four games and leads group A alone.
The national team dominates, but is erratic in the rival basket
Spain began dominating, with a very high pace of the ball and being very aggressive in defense, with Santi Yusta scoring two triples in their first two attempts and escaping with a ten-point lead (14-4).
Ukraine was not able to find its rhythm, in positional attack it was not successful due to Spain’s great defense and, on top of that, it was quickly loaded with fouls. The first quarter was completely dominated by the national team, although with low scoring pace (16-9).
The second quarter was less dynamic from the beginning and that gave Ukraine wings to reduce the distance they had achieved, also taking advantage of the multiple rotations of a Chus Mateo that after thirteen minutes he had already put his 12 summoned players on the court. Pustovyi He emerged as the visitors’ great offensive resource, but he did not quite transform it into points (23-13).
In the last five minutes of the first half, Ukraine got serious, Voinalovych led his team with 7 points and the Ukrainians’ lead was 0-8, with the score at 23-21, at which point Chus Mateo turned to his starting quintet to put things in place. Sergi Martínez broke that negative partial and Jaime Fernández, with a triple at the buzzer, They left the lead at seven to go to the locker room (28-21).
‘La Familia’ accelerates in the last quarter to seal the victory
After the break, it seemed that ‘La Familia’ escaped on the scoreboard thanks to the push of Sergi Martínez and Fran Guerrawith eight and seven points the top Spanish scorers, but Ukraine was nourished by free throws and good defense to get back into the game thanks to Skapintsev and Tyrtyshnyk who with a triple punished Spain’s losses, making it 38-34.
Chus Mateo turned to the veteran Pierre Oriola and his connection with Ferran Bassastogether with the external success of Francis Alonso and the fiercest defense of the locals, once again tied the set. The third quarter ended with a triple by Brovov and, as happened in the second quarter, equality reigned (22-22) and that benefited Spain, which went to the bench at 52-43.
The maximum advantage at that time on the scoreboard in favor of Spain (+12) came after a triple of Pierre Oriola, who was clearly leading the national team and he was applauded by the Oviedo Sports Palace when he was traded, bordering on a double-double with 12 points and 8 rebounds.
Ukraine tried, but Paulí closed an offensive rebound and Spain left the game ready for a decision at 65-48. He finished closing the match ‘La Familia’ on the back of Francis Alonsowho lifted the Asturian public thanks to his great pace with the ball and his success in his outside shot, leaving him on the bench as the top scorer with 12 points.
The maximum advantage for the Spanish was +19 and, finally, although Ukraine tried to make up, the score went to a 78-64 that keeps Chus Mateo’s Spain undefeated and already mathematically classified for the second phase of the 2027 World Cup qualification.
