IZMIR, Turkey?France stunned world and European champions Spain 72-66 on Saturday as the world basketball championships got off to a sensational start.

With as many as five frontline players opting not to play for France in Turkey, the side had been given little chance of going far.

But after their shock Group D result, they are now in a prime position to advance to the second round.

"They are the best in the world. It was great to play Spain first as we had to jump straight into the tournament. It has given us great confidence," said French player Nicolas Batum.

Earlier in the day it looked like an even bigger upset was set to take place in Kayseri as Australia were forced to rally hard to overcome a spirited Jordanian side.

Jordan, ranked just 38 in the world, had been written off as one of the easy beats of the tournament.

But that meant little to the Jordanians who raced out to an 11-point lead early in the game and were 39-32 ahead at the half-time break.

However, Australia fought back to claim the game by a mere point, 76-75 in the last seconds when David Andersen drew a foul. He made certain of his two free-throws, to help Australia pull off a lucky escape.

A much stronger performance will be needed when Australia take on group favorites Argentina on Sunday who prevailed 78-74 over Germany in a hard fought game.

Serbia did not suffer from the same problems as Australia and Argentina recording the biggest win of opening day hammering Angola 94-44 to sit atop of the group.

The other favorites in Turkey had a relatively easy day as USA, Greece, and Brazil all starting their campaigns with few concerns.

USA coach Mike Krzyzewski was able to use his full roster, as the US got their campaign off on the right foot with a 107-78 win over Croatia as they look to win the world championships for first time since 1992.

They looked sluggish early, only carrying a two-point lead into the second period but this was as close as the Croats would be for the remainder of the game.

After the game USA team member Chauncey Billups admitted that USA, "got off to a rough start but stayed patient and stayed aggressive but the game opened in the second quarter and we never looked back."

Greece did not have too many problems overcoming China 89-81 to open Group C action in Ankara.

Although the Chinese were able to come back within three points with a period left to play, Greece never really looked in trouble as China struggled to fill the gap left by the absent national star Yao Ming.

In the other two Group C games, Turkey were able to give their home fans plenty to cheer about, seeing off the Ivory Coast 86-44 in front of a raucous home crowd, while Russia looked dangerous in defeating a fancied Puerto Rico side 75-66.

Brazil were the last team to finish in Group B, finding trouble in accounting for Iran 81-65.