10 games you can't miss in February

MUNICH (Germany) - National team basketball is back soon as the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers tip off in February with defending champions Spain among the teams in action.

32 games will be played across the continent from February 22-26 as the next steps are taken towards the 2025 showcase. The full schedule for the first window can be found, here.

The first of three windows features a number of exciting matchups including Germany playing their first official game as reigning world champions, while other teams will be hungry to bounce back from contrasting performances on the global stage.

The three highest-placed teams from each group will qualify for the Final Round, except for the groups with the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 co-hosts Cyprus, Finland, Latvia and Poland. In those four groups, the hosts plus the two other highest-placed teams will advance. For more on the competition system, see here.

---

Lithuania  vs Poland 

Time: Thursday, February 22 - 18:30 CET 
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania

Lithuania and 2025 co-hosts Poland are probably considered the two favorites in Group H, which also includes North Macedonia and Estonia. Lithuania will be hoping to build on the momentum from the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, where they finished sixth and defeated the United States during the tournament. For Poland, this is the start of the mission to build upon their showing at the last continental event where they surprised all by finishing fourth at FIBA EuroBasket 2022.

Germany  vs Montenegro 

Time: Thursday, February 22 - 19:30 CET
Location: Ludwigsburg, Germany

Germany will play their first official FIBA game after winning their first-ever FIBA Basketball World Cup title. The spirit in Ludwigsburg will undoubtedly be high as the German fans get a chance to celebrate some of the heroes from Manila. Montenegro will go into the Group D showdown knowing they have a good history against Germany in EuroBasket Qualifiers - beating them in both games in the build-up to the 2022 edition. 

Spain  vs Latvia 

Time: Thursday, February 22 - 20:00 CET
Location: Zaragoza, Spain

Not often will Spain go into a game against 2025 co-hosts Latvia with revenge on their minds but that will be the case in Zaragoza in Group C. The Baltic side rallied from 12 points late in the third quarter in the Second Round of the World Cup last summer to knock off Spain 74-69. That was a major blow for Spain, who eventually failed to reach the Quarter-Finals for the first time since 1994.

Italy  vs Turkiye 

Time: Thursday, February 22 - 20:30 CET
Location: Pesaro, Italy

The early advantage in Group B is at stake between Italy and Turkiye, who also have Hungary and Iceland in the group. Italy come back together for the first time since reaching the FIBA World Cup Quarter-Finals for the first time in 25 years this past summer. Their talisman leader Gigi Datome has retired and this will be a good chance for the young generation to take a step forward. Turkiye have not missed a FIBA EuroBasket since 1991 but they did miss out on competing at last year's World Cup.

Denmark  vs Georgia 

Time: Friday, February 23 - 18:30 CET
Location: Naestved, Denmark

Denmark reached the Qualifiers through three rounds in the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers. They missed on EuroBasket 2022 despite beating Lithuania, and are still waiting for their first appearance at the Final Round since 1955 with a home win over Georgia making a a good start to getting there. Georgia for their part come into the qualification campaign after making their debut at the FIBA World Cup last summer, whilst also having played at the last five editions of EuroBasket - including 2022 as co-hosts. There is also the potential for two club teammates to go head-to-head in the shape of Virtus Bologna duo Iffe Lundberg and Toko Shengelia - both hugely instrumental for their countries.

Serbia  vs Finland  

Time: Friday, February 23 - 20:00 CET
Location: Belgrade, Serbia

The two top favorites in Group G go head-to-head in Belgrade to start their qualification campaign. Hosts Serbia will likely get a huge welcome by the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall crowd after they took second place at the FIBA World Cup 2023. The FIBA EuroBasket 2025 co-hosts Finland meanwhile lost all three games in the group stage in Japan and ended up in 21st place as the lowest European finishers. The northern Europeans will be looking to build a solid unit to later play with star Lauri Markkanen.

Greece  vs Czechia 

Time: Friday, February 23 - 20:00 CET
Location: Pireaus, Greece

Greece start their qualification campaign looking to shrug off their disappointing 15th place showing at the FIBA World Cup. The two-time European champions are in Group F along with opening opponents Czechia, plus Great Britain and Netherlands. Greece have not missed out on EuroBasket since 1985, and new coach Vassilis Spanoulis will not be expecting any kind of shock during this campaign. This showdown will be a repeat of the Round of 16 clash at EuroBasket 2022, when Greece won 94-88. Czechia failed to qualify for the FIBA World Cup and will be looking to lay the foundation for their fifth straight EuroBasket appearance.

France  vs Croatia 

Time: Friday, February 23 - 20:30 CET
Location: Brest, France

France finished in 18th place at the 2023 FIBA World Cup after losing to Canada and Latvia in the First Round to drop to the 17-32 Classification. It was not the result the French had hoped for one year before the 2024 Olympics, but they will look to start the year on a positive note against Croatia. The Balkan side had to go through the Pre-Qualifiers after getting bounced in the First Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers. A victory in France would be a major step for Croatia, who also have Bosnia and Herzegovina and 2025 co-hosts Cyprus to contend with in Group E.

Slovenia  vs Israel 

Time: Sunday, February 25 - 18:00 CET
Location: Koper, Slovenia

The FIBA EuroBasket 2017 champions Slovenia will have hosted Ukraine in their first Group A game before welcoming in Israel. The hosts took seventh place at the FIBA World Cup 2023 and hope to finish the first window with a strong performance in the group that also includes Portugal. For Israel, they narrowly missed out on qualifying for the World Cup but is looking for its young talent to get the country back to a 15th consecutive appearance at EuroBasket.

Bosnia and Herzegovina  vs France 

Time: Monday, February 26 - 19:00 CET
Location: Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

The second game among the second group of Qualifiers features two countries who have battled three times since August 2022 with Bosnia and Herzegovina hosting France in Group E. The first of those three encounters was Bosnia and Herzegovina's 96-90 double-overtime win in Sarajevo in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers. Just 10 days later, France downed the Balkan side 81-68 at FIBA EuroBasket 2022 before also winning the other World Cup Qualifier 92-56 at home in November 2022.

FIBA