• → Game to take place at Spodek Arena, Katowice on Thursday, August 28 at 17:00 CEST (16:00 BST).
• → Les Bleus roll into Group D young, long and unbeaten in prep; the Belgian Lions counter with structure and size, now built around Ismaël Bako.
• → Form line: France swept four tune-ups (including back-to-back over Spain); Belgium split their Ostend friendlies and arrive battle-tested from qualifiers.

Les Bleus vs the Lions - Group D Icebreaker

Katowice gets a blue-chip opener with real bracket implications. France enter with a fresh coat of paint and the same lofty bar - podium or bust- while Belgium arrive shorthanded but stubborn, a tournament team with clear habits and a frontcourt that travels.

For France, the story is youth meeting continuity. Head coach Frédéric Fauthoux leans into length and switchability: Guerschon Yabusele as the experience anchor, Zaccharie Risacher and Alexandre Sarr as rangy two-way fulcrums, and a guard room - Elie Okobo, Théo Maledon, Sylvain Francisco, Matthew Strazel - that pushes pace without coughing up the ball. The prep tape said plenty. Against Spain - twice - France’s spacing held, the defense stacked stops without fouling, and the wings generated clean corner looks out of drive-and-kick. That efficiency, layered over a top-five tournament defense in talent alone, is why Les Bleus open as favorites in Group D and beyond.

For Belgium, the headline is blunt: Retin Obasohan is out. That shifts the center of gravity to Ismaël Bako, whose rim running, screening angles and paint touches give the Lions a dependable half-court engine. Around him, the support cast is seasoned and pragmatic: Manu Lecomte organizes, Pierre-Antoine Gillet spaces, Hans Vanwijn and Andy Van Vliet add frontcourt skill, Loïc Schwartz guards the toughest perimeter matchup, and Vrenz Bleijenbergh supplies length and connective passing. Dario Gjergja’s teams don’t beat themselves; they stay in structure, rebound in numbers and manufacture just enough shooting to make you guard the whole floor.

History colors the night without dictating it. France have stood on the EuroBasket podium nine times - gold in 2013, silver in 2022 - and they have owned the head-to-head across eras. Belgium, though, are on their sixth straight EuroBasket and have twice reached the Round of 16 in the modern format. Their qualifiers were a proof-of-concept: 3–3 overall with home-and-home dogfights vs Spain, including a gritty 58–53 win in Charleroi. The Lions live in games like this.

Fault Lines & Levers

Glass Tax
France want to run; Belgium can only survive if they make that expensive. Bako’s first job is to end possessions - box out, secure, outlet. If the Lions can keep Les Bleus at one-and-done and steal two or three team offensive rebounds a quarter via Vanwijn/Van Vliet crash-downs, they can drag the game into a tempo they like.

Yabu Gravity vs. Help Rules
Yabusele bends coverages with pick-and-pop range and bully drives. Belgium’s help must be early but controlled - show at the nail, peel out to shooters, and live with tough twos from mid-post. Over-help, and France’s corner three machine lights up the scoreboard.

Point-of-Attack Fire vs. Poise
Okobo/Francisco can turn ball pressure into a six-point run in 90 seconds. Belgium’s counters are baked in: hit the advance pass, invert the offense with elbow touches to Bako, and make the next action simple - short roll, corner skip, repeat. Keep the turnover margin inside two, and the Lions will like the shot diet they create.

Late-Clock Authors
At :06, stars and habits matter. France can lean on Okobo in two-man games with Yabusele, or clear a side for Risacher to elevate. Belgium’s best answers are Lecomte’s pace-change P&R and a Bako re-screen to force drop coverage into a pull-up or pocket pass. Whichever team scripts cleaner ATOs probably owns the final two minutes.

Threads To Watch

• Les Bleus’ runway: four wins from four in August, including back-to-back over Spain, have fast-tracked trust in the new guard rotation and confirmed Sarr/Risacher as playable closers.

• The Lions’ receipts: qualifying wins over Slovakia (twice) and Spain, plus a competitive split in the Ostend friendlies, frame a side that won’t blink at the jersey across from them.

• Depth minutes: France’s second unit (Cordinier, Luwawu-Cabarrot, Jaiteh/Hoard) has the length to smother; Belgium need clean shifts from Bleijenbergh/Schwartz to survive the non-Lecomte minutes without a run.

How to watch Belgium vs France

Stream Belgium vs France live and on-demand on Courtside 1891. A Max Day Pass gets you the game; a Max Annual Pass unlocks the entire EuroBasket slate from group play through medal Sunday. Regional availability may vary.