New Zealand upset France on Friday (NZT) 82-70 to slide into third spot in their pool and book a date with Russia next Tuesday morning (NZT).
The Tall Blacks had already secured themselves a spot in the final 16 before the start of this match but a win by 12 points or more would see them take third and miss having to face the in-form host nation, Turkey.
Kirk Penney continued his top scoring form with 25 points followed by Mika Vukona with 15, shooting at an impressive 92 percent and collecting six rebounds.
Penney said: "This was our best performance of the tournament so far, this is what tournament basketball is all about. It's about winning the one that matters."
Yannick Bokolo was the best of the French with 13 points followed by forward Florent Pietrus with an impressive night taking a total of 8 rebounds.
Penney opened the game with two three-pointers to start the scoreboard ticking for the Tall Blacks; a trend towards three pointers looked to be starting for the Tall Blacks as Lindsay Tait and Tom Abercrombie joined in although France led 20-17 at the end of the first quarter.
The Tall Blacks employed their aggressive defensive style at the other end of the court with great effect.
As if a possum in the headlights, the French were stunned and looked on only in frustration as the Tall Blacks restricted their scoring opportunities but sunk baskets at will at the other end as they took control of the game along to score 22 points to France's five in the second quarter and take a 39-25 lead at halftime.
New Zealand returned in the second half looking cold, as their first three attempts struggled to hit the target. The Tall Blacks' inability to sink their shots allowed France to sneak the 15-point halftime deficit back to 10 during the quarter. It took the majority of the third quarter for New Zealand to regain their composure but once they found their sweet spot they pushed the margin back out to 15 points to lead 58 to 43 with one quarter to play.
France's defence stiffened at the beginning of the final quarter which saw the Kiwis unable to get their shots away, having the 24-second shot clock run out on them in the space of two consecutive plays. The margin was squeezed back toward ten as France began to tighten their clinging grip, getting as close as six points with a minute on the clock.
But as he has done so many times before for New Zealand, Pero Cameron checked back into the game and took control. Adding two positive assists in the dying stages to see the margin on the scoreboard back out to 12 as Tom Abercrombie nailed a three with time as good as up.
Vukona said afterwards: "We just knew we didn't want to face Turkey, so we needed to get that score line back beyond 12."
New Zealand now enters the knockout stage of the tournament. They head from Izmir to Istanbul later on Friday (NZT) and have a well earned three days off before Tuesday's do-or-die clash.
The Tall Blacks have played Russia twice in build-up tournaments over the past month with the ledger sitting at one game each.