{"id":197005,"date":"2026-05-24T14:46:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T18:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=197005"},"modified":"2026-05-24T14:46:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T18:46:58","slug":"wizards-fiba-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/05\/24\/wizards-fiba-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Wizards Selected For France’s World Cup Qualifiers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Washington Wizards had their hands all over the international basketball<\/a> competition last summer. Kyshawn George<\/a> put the world on notice of his untapped potential last season. He helped lead Canada to a fourth-place finish in FIBA’s AmeriCup and was elected to the All-Star Five of the tournament. Across the pond, Tristan Vukcevic<\/a> was a solid contributor for Serbia’s squad in FIBA’s EuroBasket tournament.<\/p>\n

Now, two more Wizards will take to the international stage in hopes of pushing their country into the World Cup next season. Alex Sarr<\/a> and Bilal Coulibaly<\/a> will return to France<\/a> to compete in World Cup qualifying matches after injuries sidelined them from the team last year.<\/p>\n

2 Wizards Selected For France’s World Cup Qualifiers<\/h2>\n

Both Sarr and Coulibaly played for France last season, with Coulibaly returning and Sarr making his debut in a men’s national tournament. Sarr was on an upward trajectory before getting injured<\/a> in the Group Stage, while Coulibaly struggled mightily before also going down. Going into this summer, both players will look to help the French national team secure a spot in the 2027 World Cup.<\/p>\n

France’s World Cup Qualifying Roster<\/h3>\n

It’s no secret that international players have begun taking over the NBA, and France is just one example of a country doing so. Not only are they dominant in international play, but the country has a firm grip on basketball stateside as well. During the regular season, 21 French-born players took to the NBA hardwood, marking an all-time high for active players.<\/p>\n

For France’s qualifying games, the nation enlisted six active NBA players: Sarr, Coulibaly, Rudy Gobert<\/a>, Maxime Raynaud<\/a>, Zaccharie Risacher<\/a>\u00a0and Guerschon Yabusele<\/a>. Additionally, France has recruited former NBA players Evan Fournier<\/a>, Jaylen Hoard<\/a>, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot<\/a>, Adam Mokoka<\/a>, Frank Ntilikina<\/a>, and Elie Okobo<\/a>. To say the least, the team is absolutely stacked even while missing the best French player in the world, Victor Wembanyama<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wembanyama will miss the qualifiers with the San Antonio Spurs<\/a> in the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately, even if the Spurs lose, the big man will not be able to join France during the summer.<\/p>\n

Is Sarr France’s Best Weapon?<\/h3>\n

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Sarr looked to be getting an increased role before a left calf strain sidelined him for the rest of the tournament. Going into the qualifiers, Sarr should be considered one of the better offensive weapons on France’s roster. He averaged 16.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and two blocks during his sophomore season in the NBA. Not only should fans see the young star get plenty of touches, but he should also be a focal point for France on both ends of the floor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sarr is by far the most gifted of France’s frontcourt players on offense, being a true three-level talent with his shooting ability and newfound paint scoring. With that being said, his defensive ability is matched by Gobert, and the two could be a truly unstoppable force on that end.<\/p>\n

So, is Sarr France’s biggest weapon? Without Wembanyama, Sarr is arguably the best player on the roster. He definitely is a top-three scorer on the squad, and paired with his defensive skillset, he 100% is poised to be the face of the nation this summer.<\/p>\n

Can Coulibaly Continue His Upward Trend?<\/h3>\n

A major question mark heading into Washington’s 2025-26 campaign was whether Coulibaly could make a jump after a stagnant second season with the Wizards. While his production stayed much the same, the forward’s production increased significantly as injuries hit the roster late.<\/p>\n

March was a great month for the 2023 seventh overall pick, but April saw career-best averages. During his last four games of the season, Coulibaly averaged 17 points while shooting over 53.1% from the field and 40% from three. After being a possible trade asset in October, Coulibaly has once again inserted himself as a critical piece of Washington’s young core.<\/p>\n

Now, the question becomes whether the Frenchman can continue his impressive streak of basketball. With the talent of France’s roster, Coulibaly will have no problem getting good offensive looks, with the majority of the team being able to stretch the defense out. With that, the forward’s new shooting ability could be put on full display. Along with his strong attacking, Coulibaly could be primed for a strong offensive showing.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Soobum Im-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Washington Wizards had their hands all over the international basketball competition last summer. Kyshawn George put the world on notice of his untapped potential last season. He helped lead Canada to a fourth-place finish in FIBA’s AmeriCup and was elected to the All-Star Five of the tournament. Across the pond, Tristan Vukcevic was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5480,"featured_media":197088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,61,62,3,18],"tags":[49244,4769,2231,797,50128,394,4669,49147],"class_list":["post-197005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-international-basketball","category-nba","category-news","category-wizards","tag-alex-sarr","tag-bilal-coulibaly","tag-fiba-world-cup","tag-guerschon-yabusele","tag-maxime-raynaud","tag-rudy-gobert","tag-victor-wembanyama","tag-zaccharie-risacher"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5480"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197005"}],"version-history":[{"count":54,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197090,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197005\/revisions\/197090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}