Belgium secured their spot in the Davis Cup Finals by defeating Croatia, with Zizou Bergs clinching the decisive point on Sunday.
In a surprising turn of events, Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen gave Belgium the lead by winning the doubles match 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) against Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic, following a shared result in the opening singles matches on Saturday.
Bergs continued to shine in Varazdin, defeating Duje Ajdukovic 6-1, 7-5, adding to his successful opening-day victory over former world number three Marin Cilic.
This marks the first time Croatia will miss out on the Davis Cup Finals since the format changed in 2019.
Meanwhile, France advanced to the finals by completing a straightforward win over Taiwan.
Already leading 2-0 after Saturday's singles, France secured their passage as Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin rallied from a set down to defeat Hsu Yu-hsiou and Jason Jung 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/1).
The group phase is scheduled for September, with the knockout stage taking place in Malaga in November.
"We were perhaps a little timid at the start," said Roger-Vasselin. "We stayed calm. We knew our level of play was going to change. We had to keep our nerve."
Quentin Halys sealed the French triumph by defeating Jason Tseng 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
On Sunday, the Czech Republic secured qualification with a decisive 3-0 victory over Israel. The Israeli doubles team, consisting of Daniel Cukierman and Edan Leshem, had to retire from their match against Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek.
Cukierman suffered a hamstring injury in the third game and, despite attempting to soldier on, had to concede several games later.
"From the beginning, we played really well," said Machac. "I would like to wish Dani a speedy recovery. This kind of ending is not nice."
Argentina secured a hard-fought victory against the underdogs Kazakhstan, ultimately winning the dramatic tie 3-2.
The host nation, Argentina, initially took a 2-1 lead with a three-set victory in the doubles. However, the Kazakh team staged an unexpected comeback, defying substantial gaps in player rankings compared to their South American counterparts.
Despite Kazakhstan's top player, Alexander Bublik, having recently won the ATP event in Montpellier, the world number 278, Timofey Skatov, managed to defeat the 22nd-ranked Francisco Cerundolo in a gripping match, with a scoreline of 7-6 (7/1), 6-4.
In the deciding rubber, world number 338 Dmitry Popko made a strong comeback from a set down against Sebastian Baez. Despite holding two match points in the third-set tie-break, Popko narrowly slipped to an agonizing 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8/6) defeat.
Over the weekend, Slovakia, Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Brazil, USA and Canada also secured qualification.
In a surprising turn of events, Serbia, playing without Novak Djokovic, suffered a stunning 4-0 loss to Slovakia.
Defending champions Italy, last year's runners-up Australia, as well as Britain and Spain, have automatically advanced to the finals.
(AFP Photo)
