Spain's players react
Spain's players react during their Basketball World Cup quarter-final game against France in Madrid September 10, 2014. Reuters

So much for the highly-anticipated USA vs. Spain final. In what will be remembered as the biggest upset and surprise of the 2014 FIBA World Cup, France convincingly beat hosts and favourites Spain, 65-52 in the quarterfinal round of the basketball world championships in Spain.

This was a different Spain squad from the team that beat France in the group phase last Wednesday. In the first meeting, Spain defeated France easily with a 24-point blowout, 88-64.

In the first meeting, Spain shot 32-of-63 from the field for 50.8 per cent field goal shooting. The French completely clamped down on the Spaniards in the rematch holding Spain to just 20-of-62 field goals or a hapless 32.3 per cent shooting.

The usual suspects from Spain also failed miserably; Marc Gasol, who had 17 points in the first meeting, was contained to just 3 points on 1-of-7 shooting. Serge Ibaka, who had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in the previous match-up was completely non-existent with 2 points (1/7 FGs) and 2 rebounds.

Pau Gasol finished with 15 points and Juan Carlos Navarro had 14 for the losing side.

As much as it was about a Spain collapse in the crucial stage of the tournament, full credit also goes to the French, which had a sound game plan in trying to pull-off the upset over the hosts. France’s slow down defense-first approach took Spain by surprise as the teams were tied at 15 points apiece after the first canto.

That pace continued as the Vince Collet-coached France built a seven-point lead, 35-28 at halftime. To compare, Spain averaged 22.0 points per quarter in the first match-up versus the French and 88.2 points per game in their first six games of the tournament when they went undefeated.

Buoyed by raucous Spanish crowd, Spain bounced back in the third, 15-7 in yet another offensive struggle for both squads. Spain stole the lead before the start of the ultimate quarter, 43-42.

Faced with a Spanish surge, the French upped their defensive intensity further and once again held Spain to single-digit scoring in the final period. France outscored Spain, 23-9 in the fourth and ran away with the upset.

Watch Spain vs. France highlights here:

(YouTube/FIBA)

France, led by Boris Diaw, who finished with 15 points and Thomas Heurtel, who had 13 points and 4 assists, advances to the semifinals to take on Serbia joining Lithuania and the United States of America (USA) in the final four of 2014 FIBA World Cup.