The Bulgarian men's national basketball team lost to Austria 76:88 (14:24, 14:24, 25:28, 23:12) as a guest in Schwechat in their first match of Group F in the preliminary qualifications for the World Cup in Qatar in 2027. This was the first victory for the Austrians from their two played matches, after losing to the Netherlands 64:65 in the first meeting.

Bulgaria demonstrated poor efficiency in three-point shooting, making only 6 out of 24 attempts, while the opponent scored 10 three-pointers from 19 attempts. The nationals also fell behind in rebounding (29-35).

Borislav Mladenov was the top scorer for Bulgaria with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, followed by Dimitar Dimitrov with 15 points and 6 rebounds. Sylven Landsberger stood out for Austria with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

Bulgaria's next match is a home game against the Netherlands on August 9 at 18:00 in Samokov. The top two teams from the four groups will qualify for the main stage of the qualifications.