France overcomes Germany to enter Olympic gold medal game

France gave everything they could in front of the home crowd in Paris and they delivered after overcoming reigning world champions Germany, 73-69, at the Bercy Arena in Paris, France for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

France once again fed off the energy from the loud crowd in Paris to eke out a win against a favored opponent for the second straight game. France notably defeated Canada who were filled with legit NBA talent from top to bottom in the quarterfinals, and now they beat the reigning world champions in Germany. 

France started strong yet again with Guerschon Yabusele starting over Rudy Gobert. Yabusele provided the physicality inside to power through Germany’s frontline en route to scoring 17 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. Isaia Cordinier, who also stepped up in the knockout rounds for France, backed him up with 16 points of his own

French phenom Victor Wembanyama struggled for a second straight game offensively with just 11 points on 4/17 shooting but he did have 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks.

Dennis Schroder once again led the world champs’ attack with 18 points but he shot just 6/18 from the field and missed one crucial free throw at the end that would have cut the lead to just one. Franz Wagner, who was the Germans’ leading scorer against Canada with 26 points, only scored 10 points against a tough and tall French frontline.

France will now await the winner of the USA-Serbia matchup for their opponents in the gold medal match.