Sport Basketball Inaugural season 1935 Continent FIBA Europe (Europe) | Founded 1935 No. of teams 24 | |
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Countries FIBA Europe member associations | ||
EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition contested biannually by the men's national teams governed by FIBA Europe, the European zone within the International Basketball Federation. The championship was first held in 1935 and has been regularly contested every two years since 1947; starting in 2017, it will change to a four-year cycle.
Contents
- Qualification
- Competition format
- Medal table
- Individuals
- All time leading scorers in total points scored
- All time leading scorers in points per game average
- References
EuroBasket 1991 was the first EuroBasket tournament in which currently active NBA players, that had also already played in an official NBA regular season game were allowed to participate. All EuroBasket tournaments from the 1991 edition onward, are thus considered as fully professional level tournaments.
Through 2017, it also alternates between serving as a qualifying tournament for the Summer Olympic Games and the FIBA Basketball World Cup. The most successful nation is the now defunct Soviet Union with fourteen titles. Spain are the reigning champions, having won their third title in 2015.
Qualification
24 European teams take part in the final competition. The qualification format that existed until EuroBasket 2011 permitted 16 teams to compete. Eight spots were determined by the host nation and the top seven finishers of the previous EuroBasket. The remaining Division A teams compete in a qualification tournament. There, they were divided into four groups. Each group played a double round-robin. The top team in each group qualified for EuroBasket. The best three of the four runners-up also qualified.
Of the ten teams that did not qualify in the qualification tournament, the six best got another chance in the additional qualification round. The remaining four competed in a relegation round, with two being sent to Division B for the next qualification cycle (and replaced by the two best teams from Division B).
The final spot was determined by the additional qualifying round. The six teams were divided into two groups of three, with each group playing a double round-robin. The top team in each group played in the final against the other group's top team; the winner of that game received the final EuroBasket qualification spot.
Competition format
EuroBasket has used a number of different formats, ranging from the simple round-robin used in 1939, to a three-stage tournament, and now a two-stage tournament that is currently in use.
The current format begins with a preliminary round. The twenty-four qualified teams are placed into four groups of six, and each group plays a round-robin tournament. The top four teams in each group (16 overall) advance to the knockout stage. The knockout stage is a 16-team single-elimination tournament, with a bronze medal game for semifinal losers and classification games for the quarterfinal losers to determine fifth to eighth places.
Medal table
The medal table below lists the national teams according to the respective table published by FIBA.
Individuals
Below are the lists of all players voted as the MVP and the top scorers of each EuroBasket edition. Krešimir Ćosić and Pau Gasol are the only players to win the MVP award twice. Nikos Galis was the Top Scorer 4 times.