The Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallists have endured a miserable campaign, having failed to progress to the main table after a preliminary round for the first time since 1986.

They finished third in their initial group which subjected them to play in the classification rounds that will sort positions 17 to 32. 

Rudy Gobert looked more like the three-time National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star today at the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta as he recorded nine points and nine rebounds in Group P.

He also recorded his 30^th World Cup block putting him fourth overall behind China's Yao Ming, who was recently inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, and Spain's Marc and Pau Gasol.

"The most important was not only to win but to play and try to offer fun," said French coach Vincent Collet.

"I think we did it after the first quarter.

"Offensively, it was difficult in the first quarter with lack of confidence, but after a few minutes the young guys gave us energy, and we got the lead."

Group P also saw Lebanon beat Ivory Coast 94-84.

Elsewhere, co-hosts Japan got the better of Venezuela 86-77 in Group O at the Okinawa Arena following Finland's 100-77 defeat of Cape Verde.

Egypt kept their Paris 2024 Olympic qualification hopes alive as they beat Jordan 85-69 at Manila's Mall of Asia Arena in Group N.

The best-placed African team at the tournament will automatically seal a place at the Games next year.

Also in Group N, Mexico beat New Zealand 108-100 in a thriller while China beat Angola 83-76 in Group M.

Quezon City's Araneta Coliseum also saw South Sudan beat the Philippines 87-68.

Competition is set to continue tomorrow with the first matches of the second round which features teams that finished in the top two of the initial group stage.