OURENSE (Spain) - Spain, the defending FIBA EuroBasket champions, haven't missed the Final Round of the tournament since 1957, and their streak was extended to 32 appearances in a row after a pair of wins over Slovakia in the November 2024 window of the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers.
Spain needed a double overtime win on the road to get off the mark in this campaign, but their home win was never in doubt in the reverse fixture in Ourense, to improve their record to 2-2.
Since one of the hosts of the FIBA EuroBasket 2025, Latvia, was in their group, they knew they had to be better than either Belgium or Slovakia to advance to the Final Round. With a sweep over Slovakia, they own the tiebreaker and cannot finish behind them at the end of Gameday 6.
How they qualified
Gameday 1: ESP 75-79 LAT Gameday 2: BEL 58-53 ESP Gameday 3: SVK 72-76 ESP Gameday 4: ESP 84-71 SVK
Remaining fixtures
Gameday 5: LAT vs ESP Gameday 6: ESP vs BEL
Qualifiers heroes
Coach Sergio Scariolo introduced a few new players to the Family, but a lot of these names were already a part of Spain in previous Qualifiers runs, or even major events.
Alberto Diaz and Xabi Lopez-Arostegui was there to take care of the defensive duties throughout the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers, the same as in the Olympics and the last FIBA EuroBasket, while Dario Brizuela, Juancho Hernangomez, Ricky Rubio, Victor Claver, Alberto Abalde and Joel Parra all featured in two games.
Santi Yusta is probably the hero of the successful qualification, since his long range three-pointers saved the day in Slovakia in their first matchup, paving the way to another win at home.
History
Spain are without a doubt one of the most dominant teams in FIBA EuroBasket history, with four continental titles won, all in the 21st century, from 2009 to 2022.
They are still on a run of seven straight podium place finishes, and the only time they failed to reach the top three spots over the last 25 years was in 2005, when they finished fourth.
Before that incredible sequence, they had already won four FIBA EuroBasket medals, taking their medal tally to 14 overall.
Champions: 2009, 2011, 2015, 2022 Runners-up: 1935, 1973, 1983, 1999, 2003, 2007 Third Place: 1991, 2001, 2013, 2017
Tickets
FIBA