Frenemies: Which club teammates are going head-to-head with their national teams?

MUNICH (Germany) - Club allegiances will fall to the wayside at the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers as the first window features teammates facing off with national team pride at stake.

There are several matchups between club teammates across Europe - including some prominent stars at EuroLeague level - as they go head-to-head in representing their nations.

 

 

Here is a look at some of those main matchups in February's action:

Vincent Poirier & Guerschon Yabusele vs Mario Hezonja | Sylvain Francisco vs Danko Brankovic | Andrew Albicy vs Roko Prkacin

France vs Croatia - February 23, 2024

Talk about intrigue with a game - or better said, games - within a game, this France-Croatia clash has some massive bragging rights at the club level. Oh, and the game has major implications on qualification, too, as only two of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and France will advance from Group E to the Final Round.

The French low post duo of Vincent Poirier and Guerschon Yabusele as well as Croatian forward Mario Hezonja are all superstars with the mighty Spanish powers Real Madrid, who won the EuroLeague title last season with the trio of stars. The French will know how Hezonja likes to attack and that could really be an advantage.

The game will also feature the combination of plenty of alley-oops for FC Bayern Munich as France's point guard Sylvain Francisco and his dunking partner Danko Brankovic of Croatia share the court on opposite sides. Both players are making their debut in the EuroLeague this season with Bayern and both have excelled at their own level.

Meanwhile, this encounter will also see French playmaker Andrew Albicy going up against his Gran Canaria teammate Roko Prkacin - seen as one of the biggest hopes for Croatia's future. Albicy helped the Spanish club win the EuroCup competition last season, while Prkacin joined the club this off-season in his second campaign in Spain.

Dzanan Musa vs Vincent Poirier & Guerschon Yabusele | Amar Gegic vs Andrew Albicy

Bosnia and Herzegovina vs France - February 26, 2024

Poirier and Yabusele square off against another Real Madrid teammate in their second game of the window as Dzanan Musa - who also was on the EuroLeague title-winning side - and Bosnia and Herzegovina welcome the Paris 2024 Olympics hosts. Albicy will also be facing off against a club teammate again as Bosnia and Herzegovina's roster includes Amar Gegic from Gran Canaria.

All five faced off twice last summer - first in a double-overtime win by Bosnia and Herzegovina at home in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers, and then France knocking off the Balkan side in the FIBA EuroBasket 2022. With so much at stake - especially Bosnia and Herzegovina really needing to win their home games to advance to EuroBasket - these five stars will definitely play major roles in the game.

Iffe Lundberg vs Toko Shengelia | Sebastian Aris vs Beka Burjanadze

Denmark vs Georgia - February 23, 2024

Two of biggest stars in this game are club teammates - Denmark's dynamic Iffe Lundberg and the Georgian heart and soul Toko Shengelia, who play together at Virtus Bologna. Both players have massive impact on their national teams and will play a deciding factor in who goes back to Italy after the window with a critical victory.

The other teammates are Danish guard Sebastian Aris and Georgian power forward Beka Burjanadze, who both represent Leyma Coruna in the Spanish second division LEB Gold. Both have long been role players for their national teams and now face off against a player they know well.

Dusan Ristic vs Sasu Salin

Serbia vs Finland - February 23, 2024

Group G has other club teammates squaring off and two of them are Serbian big man Dusan Ristic and Finland veteran guard Sasu Salin, who play together at Spanish club Lenovo Tenerife. The urgency level might be a bit lower for Finland given they are 2025 co-hosts and don't need to worry about qualifying. But Serbia would be best served to knock off the Finns on home soil knowing that Denmark and Georgia would love to pull a surprise against the Balkan side.

Toko Shengelia vs Ognjen Dobric | Giorgi Shermadini vs Dusan Ristic

Georgia vs Serbia  - February 26, 2024

Shengelia has another Virtus matchup in Georgia's second game against Serbia as the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 runners-up will feature Ognjen Dobric. The game also has a showdown of Lenovo Tenerife teammates with Georgian big man Giorgi Shermadini going against Serbian center Dusan Ristic. Shermadini and Georgia would love to knock off the Serbs in Tbilisi and get a leg up in qualifying from Group G. These two have faced off so often at the club level, any basket inside will be a major challenge.

Nick Weiler-Babb, Niklas Wimberg, Nelson Weidemann & Ivan Kharchenkov vs Dino Radoncic

Germany vs Montenegro  - February 22, 2024

Over in Group D, the freshly crowned world champions Germany start their FIBA EuroBasket 2025 quest at home against Montenegro in a game that could see as many as five club teammates going against one another. In fact, it could be four German players from FC Bayern Munich - Nick Weiler-Babb, Niklas Wimberg, Nelson Weidemann and Ivan Kharchenkov - and Dino Radoncic from Montenegro.

While Weiler-Babb is a major contributor to Bayern, Wimberg and Weidemann play predominantly in the German domestic league and the 17-year-old Kharchenkov has played in seven domestic and EuroLeague contests in total. Radoncic for his part has appeared in only 11 EuroLeague games and three league games for Bayern while playing mainly with the club's second team in the third division. So, the 25-year-old talent will be hungry to show what he can do in the colors of Montenegro.

FIBA