Hosts Spain passed their first real test at the World Cup with flying colours when they beat Brazil 82-63 to book a last 16 berth alongside a Greek team who brushed aside Puerto Rico 90-79.

Both teams improved their records to 3-0 but Croatia’s passage into the knockout stage of the competition was put on hold after a shock 77-75 defeat by Senegal, whose centre Gorgui Dieng shone with 27 points and eight rebounds.

Having strolled to easy wins over Egypt and Iran, the Spaniards expected a tougher clash from Brazil but they pulled away after a blistering first quarter gave them a 30-14 lead in Granada.

Hitting top gear on the road to an expected final against the US, Spain excelled with an entertaining high-tempo performance.

The depth of the Spanish and the American squads, packed with NBA quality, has made other medal contenders look second best but the host nation’s Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol was confident there was still room for improvement.

“It’s impossible to play 40 perfect minutes but we were good in terms of intensity and in the first and third quarters we played at a very high level,” he told Cadena Ser radio.

Gasol enjoyed another stellar night with 26 points and nine rebounds, overshadowing his fellow NBA stalwarts Nene Hilario, Tiago Splitter and Anderson Varejao who netted a combined total of 23 points for Brazil.

Greece dominated against the Puerto Ricans from start to finish in Seville with four of their players ending up in double digits, while on defence they confined the opposition to just 24 field baskets from 62 attempts.

The Senegalese had won just two of 15 games in their previous three World Cup campaigns and arrived in Spain as one of the also-rans with little or no chance of making an impact.

Having upset Puerto Rico after an opening defeat by Greece, however, the West Africans produced the shock of the tournament against Croatia to the delight of several hundred of their fans who danced joyfully in the stands.