The buzzer sounded in Warsaw and Madagascar stood among the last teams standing. Two games, two verdicts, one afternoon that reordered the men's tournament at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup 2026. Elly Randriamampionona and his team beat Australia, then removed the reigning world champions Spain, and walked out of Pool A into the knockout stage for the first time.
The morning had offered no comfort. Madagascar had opened the event with two defeats, and the final day of pool play demanded a clean sweep against strong opposition. Against Australia they found their rhythm early and held it. Randriamampionona scored eight points, added two assists and struck a pair of two-pointers. With the score at 16-15, he and Anthony Rasolomanana combined for the last six points to close out a 22-17 win.
The shot against Spain
Then came Spain, the defending champions, and a contest settled in its final seconds. Randriamampionona carried the offence again with ten points. Spain led 19-18 with under twenty seconds left. Alpha Solondrainy gathered his second offensive rebound of the game, rose from beyond the arc and drilled a go-ahead two-pointer over Iván Aurrecoechea. Moments later he forced a Spanish turnover as time expired. The score finished 20-19. Madagascar had eliminated the champions.
The double win lifted the team to a 2-2 record and third place in Pool A, behind Serbia and Austria, enough to reach the Play-In round. From 0-2 to the knockout stage, on a single day, against two teams ranked far above them.
A programme finding its feet
The result reads differently set against what came before. In their two previous World Cup appearances, in 2023 and 2025, Madagascar had managed a single victory between them and never left the pool phase. This time they survived one of the harder groups in Warsaw and took a scalp of real weight on the way through.
Randriamampionona has been the constant. The steady scorer, the player who takes the ball when the margin is thin. Against Australia it was his hand on the closing points. Against Spain it was his ten points that kept Madagascar within reach until Solondrainy delivered the finish. The team belongs, and the numbers now say so.
Madagascar came to Warsaw hoping to measure themselves against the best. Three days later they had answered the question themselves.
For a small island programme, this was the day the record changed. The clock had not yet struck midnight.
