REYKJAVIK (Iceland) - There were some nerves in the air as Iceland failed to seal the deal in the previous game against Hungary, but it only made the celebrations sweeter as they clinched another FIBA EuroBasket berth at home in the very last game.
With a win over Türkiye at home, Iceland kept Hungary in the rear-view mirror with a 3-3 record in the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers, making it back to the main draw after missing the 2022 edition.
Iceland first took part in the Qualifiers back before the 1969 event, but could not reach the Final Round until 2015. Now, they made it a habit, appearing in three of the last four tournaments.
How they qualified
Gameday 1: ISL 70-65 HUN Gameday 2: TUR 76-75 ISL Gameday 3: ISL 71-95 ITA Gameday 4: ITA 74-81 ISL Gameday 5: HUN 87-78 ISL Gameday 6: ISL 83-71 TUR
Qualifiers heroes
Iceland's core is still there, with Martin Hermannsson and Tryggvi Hlinason being the inside-outside combo to lead the scoring, and Elvar Fridriksson leading the assists category, while also being the second scoring option.
Kristinn Palsson, Jon Axel Gudmundsson and Aegir Steinarsson provided plenty of experience as role players, while Hilmar Henningsson, Orri Gunnarsson and Styrmir Thrastarson lead the new generation of players born in 2000 or later.
A solid mixture of youth and experience is set to reach its climax in August and September, as Iceland will look to pick up their first EuroBasket win.
History
This will be Iceland's third participation, and they were desperately unlucky in last two draws.
In 2015, Iceland ended up alongside Serbia, Spain, Italy, Türkiye and Germany in the group in Berlin, losing all five games, including the overtime thriller against Türkiye.
Two years later, they ended up next to Slovenia, Finland, France, Greece and Poland in Helsinki, once again ending up without a win, with an 0-5 record.
Best finish: 24th (2015, 2017)
Tickets
FIBA