KLAIPEDA (Lithuania) - One of Europe's basketball powerhouses and three time FIBA EuroBasket champions Lithuania will have a chance to chase their fourth title after clinching their 14th straight berth.
Lithuania have had another two appearances in the 1930s, making the 2025 edition their 16th time to reach the main draw of the biggest European tournament.
After dropping a game to Estonia in the February window, they won both of their games against North Macedonia in Group H of the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers to push to a 3-1 mark, which puts them clear of their opponents.
With one of the hosts, Poland, in their group, Lithuania needed to finish ahead either Estonia or North Macedonia, and the tiebreaker over the red-and-yellow nation is enough to seal the deal even with the remaining fixtures to be played.
How they qualified
Gameday 1: LTU 83-64 POL Gameday 2: EST 65-59 LTU Gameday 3: MKD 67-82 LTU Gameday 4: LTU 94-72 MKD
Remaining fixtures
Gameday 5: POL vs LTU Gameday 6: LTU vs EST
Qualifiers heroes
Rimas Kurtinaitis made it back to the helm of the national team ahead of the November 2024 window, and along with the previous coach Kazys Maksvytis, he mixed up the experienced players with the younger ones getting their first taste of international basketball.
Four players were in the roster for all four games, Lukas Lekavicius being one of those veterans, Azuolas Tubelis representing the youth, while the other two were Kristupas Zemaitis and Osvaldas Olisevicius.
Even with all the different players used, the emphasis was always on building a deep roster, with nobody coming close to 30 minutes per game. Trademark Lithuanian basketball.
History
Lithuania won their first 12 games in FIBA EuroBasket history, picking up two straight gold medals back in 1937 and 1939. Their first appearance back as an independent nation was in 1995, when they finished as runners-up. They claimed their third triumph in 2003, and have followed it up with three other podium place finishes since.
Champions: 1937, 1939, 2003 Runners-up: 1995, 2013, 2015 Third Place: 2007
Tickets
FIBA