Jakarta, Aug 30 (EFE).- Spain ended the first group stage of the World Cup this Wednesday with a victory against Iran (65-85) and are already preparing for the second stage, in which they will face the Latvia and Canada for a place. in the quarter-finals.

Arriving with complete victories makes it possible to face the second phase with more calm, but that does not prevent Spain from having to win at least one of their two matches, either this Friday against Latvia (11:45 a.m. CEST), the one of the revelations of the World Cup; or this Sunday against Canada, one of the big favorites (3:30 p.m. CEST).

The first match will be against Latvia. In case of victory, Spain will not be able to celebrate yet, while waiting for the duel between the Canadians and the Brazilians. Scariolo’s men would only be seeded if that case of a win against Latvia happened, if Canada beat Brazil.

If, on the other hand, Spain beats Latvia but Brazil beats Canada, it will be necessary to wait until Sunday to know the qualifications; since if Brazil beat Latvia and Canada beat Spain, there would be a three-way tie (4 wins each and one loss each) which would be canceled looking at the clashes between the three.

What is certain is that a defeat against Latvia greatly complicates the passage to the quarter-finals, since Spain would be forced to beat Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s all-powerful Canada on Sunday.

Also thinking of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, since the two best European teams of this World Cup will obtain a direct place for Paris 2024, Spain wants to be in the quarter-finals. This is the goal, as Scariolo insisted again during a press conference after the victory against Iran. From there, anything can happen.

In this case, there is also a curious situation in which the team that enters in second position in this group L, in which there are Spain, Canada, Latvia and Brazil, would avoid meeting in the semi- final the United States, big favorite, as long as he does not break down on his side of the frame. Or what amounts to the same, the first of group L would play a hypothetical semi-final against Anthony Edwards and company.

Canada and Spain could arrive at Sunday’s duel already seeded, but with the intention of avoiding the American “coconut” and on the possible strategy for the draw of the knockout stage.

For accounts, yes, there will be time. The first stumbling block is Latvia and Spain must win to not complicate the goal of reaching the quarter-finals.