MUNICH (Germany) - Famously unpredictable, the FIBA Women's EuroBasket Qualifiers have always thrown up surprise results and the second window on the road to next year's flagship event was no different.
Right from the first jump ball on Thursday, there were surprises and the FIBA World Ranking Women, presented by NIKE serves as a handy reference point to gauge the size of those upsets. Here is the full list, in order of differential in World Ranking:
Here's a closer look at the top five upsets on the list which are all differences of 10 or more.
1. Switzerland hand out reality check for Bosnia and Herzegovina
It's almost 70 years since Switzerland made the top table and took a ticket for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket. With no recent history of success, they are regularly underdogs in any group they play. This was a fantastic 81-62 road win.
However, Bosnia and Herzegovina were vulnerable to defeat without their naturalized superstar Jonquel Jones. She was instrumental in them rocketing up the rankings with a historic fifth place finish at the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021 and maiden appearance at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup a year later.
2. Bulgaria bowl over Hungary for their best result in years
The addition of Besiktas JK forward Khaalia Hillsman to Bulgaria's lineup was a difference-maker in their triumphant 83-68 win in Hungary. With the ever-reliable offensive punch of the 25-point Borislava Hristova, the boost of Hillsman was huge as she poured in 25 points for Bulgaria, who have not been to the showpiece Final Round in 32 years.
Hungary is quite the scalp for Bulgaria since they made it to the FIBA Women's EuroBasket Semi-Finals last year and only just missed out on a ticket to Paris 2024.
3. Rise of Luxembourg making people sit up and take notice
It was Amanda Cahill and not the usual heroic figure of Faith Ehi Etute who helped Luxembourg continue on their growing rise to prominence. The forward netted a spectacular 32 points in her first game and formed a devastating partnership with her teammate which has Luxembourg dreaming of a debut at the big show next year.
Montenegro know what it is like to be first-timers relatively recently having debuted in 2011 and they have since made the last seven editions and were unbeaten heading into this matchup. It was also perhaps the scale of victory for Luxembourg which really made people sit up and take notice.
4. Estonia celebrate success - and so do Sweden
Estonia had the joy of beating Denmark 66-58 on Gameday 4 and while on paper it might not immediately appear as a huge upset, the rankings tell us something different with some 21 places between the teams.
This one was significant not only for Estonian basketball, but also for Sweden, who celebrated the 'shock' victory as it sent them to the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025.
5. Slovenia shine and eye up top 20 spot
There was a terrific win double for Slovenia as they increased their prospects of qualifying. They firstly cut down Finland and then were able to take care of Hungary 74-67 who sit a full 10 places above them in the rankings. Hungary made the Semi-Finals of the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2023 balling on Slovenian's soil, but this was very different.
This time they were unable to stop Jessica Shepard who put up a superb 17 points and 17 boards in the contest. It means that Slovenia might just be looking upwards in pursuit of a coveted top 20 spot when the rankings are updated.
FIBA