Belgian Cats reach final of EuroBasket Women for first time

For the first time in history, a Belgian national team has reached the final of a major basketball tournament. On Saturday night, the Belgian Cats beat France 67-63 in the semi-finals of EuroBasket Women. They will face Spain in the final on Sunday night in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana.

The Belgian women have already beaten their previous record in the tournament: they reached third place in both the 2021 edition in Valencia and the 2017 edition in Prague. At the World Cup in Sydney last year, they finished fifth.

Star player Emma Meesseman remained realistic during a post-match interview. "The main thing is to recover as well as possible. After all, it was a very tough game against the French and we didn't substitute too much. Therefore, I don't think we are the favourites in the final."

^{© BELGA PHOTO VIRGINIE LEFOUR}