RIGA (Latvia) - Back in 1989 and 1991, Israel missed consecutive FIBA EuroBasket tournaments, but they've been omnipresent ever since, reaching their 15th straight berth with a pair of wins over Ukraine in the November 2024 window of the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers.
They have failed to reach the sweet 16 phase in the last two events, but with a new look team, they won't settle just for a place in the main draw in 2025. Instead, look for Israel to fly among the top 10 for the first time since 2015.
The two games against Ukraine were both played in Riga, Latvia, with Israel securing wins in both games, climbing to 3-1, and making sure winless Ukrainians cannot catch them across the remaining two games in February 2025.
How they qualified
Gameday 1: POR 70-72 ISR Gameday 2: SLO 88-79 ISR Gameday 3: UKR 73-86 ISR Gameday 4: ISR 88-75 UKR
Remaining fixtures
Gameday 5: ISR vs POR Gameday 6: ISR vs SLO
Qualifiers heroes
Coach Ariel Beit-Halahmy put together a rock solid core, with a healthy balance of experienced players such as Tomer Ginat, Bar Timor, Oz Blayzer or Rafael Menco, guys reaching their prime like Yovel Zoosman and Yam Madar, and upcoming youngsters in Noam Yaacov and the teenage sensation Ben Saraf.
Ginat, Madar, Timor, Zoosman, Blayzer and Itay Segev were the players appearing in all four games, while lefty guard Khadeen Carrington stepped up for the November 2024 window and proved he's a valuable addition to the national team after he had already gained respect over the past three seasons with Hapoel Jerusalem in Israel.
History
This is the second time that Israel put together a string of 15 FIBA EuroBasket appearances in a row, the first one happening between 1959 and 1987. They also achieved their biggest success in that era, finishing as runners-up at the FIBA EuroBasket 1979, losing the title game to the Soviet Union 98-76.
A lot of time passed since those days of Miki Berkovich heroic performances, and in the newer history of the strongest European tournament, they only have a single Quarter-Finals appearance, back in 2003 when Spain pushed them towards a seventh-place finish.
Runners-up: 1979
Tickets
FIBA