Belgium men's national basketball team

Belgium

FIBA ranking	39 (15 August 2024)[1]
Joined FIBA	1933
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	Basketball Belgium
Coach	Dario Gjergja
Nickname(s)	Lions
Olympic Games
Appearances	3
Medals	None
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	None
EuroBasket
Appearances	18
Medals	None
Home Away
First international
Belgium 17–31 France  (Brussels, Belgium; 6 May 1928)
Biggest win
Belgium 114–11 Albania  (Prague, Czechoslovakia; 28 April 1947)
Biggest defeat
Italy 91–50 Belgium  (Sofia, Bulgaria; 23 June 1957)

The Belgium men's national basketball team^[a] has represented Belgium in international basketball since 1928. The supervising body for the national team is Basketball Belgium.

Belgium has qualified for the EuroBasket 18 times throughout their history, achieving their best result at the event in 1947, where they finished in fourth place. Moreover, Belgium has competed at the Olympic Games on three occasions, in 1936, 1948, and 1952. However, Belgium is still in pursuit of making their first appearance at the FIBA World Cup.

The team is nicknamed and also represents itself as Belgian Lions.

Belgium played in their first official match on 6 May 1928, a 17–31 loss against France in Brussels. Belgium became a member of FIBA in 1933. In 1935, Belgium participated in the first European Basketball Championship. In their first game of the tournament, Belgium was defeated by Spain 25–17.^[2] Following the loss, Belgium was unable to advance into the semi-finals, and completed the rest of the competition in the classification round.

At the 1936 Olympic Games, Belgium was quickly eliminated, after posting an (0–2) record during their tournament stint. Ten years later, Belgium reappeared on the international stage at EuroBasket 1946. Entering the competition, the national team lost their only two games of the preliminary round, which sent them into the classification phase. There, Belgium earned a victory against Poland 22–39.^[3] The team would pick up one more victory, over Luxembourg, to finish the event in seventh place. A year later, Belgium was back on the continental level for EuroBasket 1947. After dropping their first game of the tournament to Egypt, the national team turned around to heavily defeat Albania 114–11.^[4] In their final match of the preliminary round, Belgium won again, this time against Italy to advance. Belgium opened up the second group phase of the competition with a win over France 26–27.^[5] However, the team would go (2–2) for the rest of the event, including the classification round, for a fourth place finish.^[6] At the 1948 Olympic Games, Belgium failed to advance past the preliminary phase, and was once again relegated to the classification round to complete the event.

In 1950, Belgium participated in a European qualifying tournament for the inaugural FIBA World Cup. Ultimately, the team missed out on the competition, after narrow losses to Spain and Yugoslavia.^[7] The following year, Belgium entered the EuroBasket 1951, where the team went undefeated in the preliminary round at (3–0). However, the team would endure a complete reversal of their results in the quarter-final round, losing all three of their matches; and being sent into the classification phase to finish out the tournament.^[8]

At the 1952 Olympic Games, Belgium made their third appearance in the competition, losing two out of their three matches, and failing to make it past the tournament's first round. Heading to EuroBasket 1953, the struggles for Belgium on the international stage continued, as the national team posted a (1–2) record in the preliminary round; and was sent into the classification phase to closeout the event.^[9]

After a disappointing tournament for Belgium, the team declined to enter the competition in 1955, and instead entered the event in 1957. However, Belgium would once again compile subpar preliminary phase results at (0–3), and relegated to the classification round. Belgium would lose their first two matches of the phase, before earning their first win of the competition against Austria 58–70.^[10] Following the victory, Belgium prevailed in three out of their next four games, including a 90–48 win over Albania in their final game of the tournament. That was where national team guard Eddy Terrace scored (63 points), which set a single game EuroBasket record to that point.^[11][12] Two years later, Belgium made their seventh appearance in the competition for EuroBasket 1959, where they garnered a (2–1) record in the preliminary stage to qualify for the semi-final round. Although after losing two of the three games in the round, Belgium's chances for a medal finish were gone.^[13]

Heading into the 1960s, Belgium's first competition of the decade came at the EuroBasket 1961. After finishing second in their preliminary round group, the team advanced into the second group phase. However, even after winning three out of their four games in the round, Belgium was eliminated from medal contention.^[14] Two years later, at the EuroBasket 1963, Belgium won their opening match of the competition against Turkey 71–52.^[15] Although they would only manage to split their next six games in the round (3–3), and sent into the classification bracket to finish the tournament.^[16] In the ensuing years for Belgium, frustration continued to mount, as they would only qualify for the Euros once (1967), over the next fourteen years.^[17]

At EuroBasket 1977, Belgium hosted the event for the first time, and won their opening game 107–98 against Finland.^[18] However, the national team would lose three of their next four games in the preliminary round, and once again have to finish the competition in the classification stage.^[19] Two years later, Belgium's disastrous performance at the EuroBasket in 1979, culminated with the team going winless (0–7); and completing the tournament in last place. Following the event, Belgium failed to qualify for every major international competition during the 1980s. Fourteen years after competing in their last EuroBasket, Belgium qualified for the tournament in 1993. In Belgium's first game of the event, the national team defeated Slovenia 61–82.^[20] Ultimately, the victory for Belgium turned out to be their only one of the tournament, as they lost their next five games before being eliminated.^[21]

After the turn of the century, the arrival of Belgium at the EuroBasket in 2011, marked the first time the national team qualified for the continental stage in 18 years. However, they would endure a disappointing tournament, losing all five of their preliminary round matches to be eliminated.^[22] Two years later, the team made it back to the competition for EuroBasket 2013. Following a 57–58 loss to Ukraine in their first game of the tournament, Belgium displayed resilience in their second game, in a 73–77 overtime victory against Germany.^[23] Belgium went on to finish the preliminary phase with a (2–3) record, to advance into the second round. There, the team lost two of their three games before exiting the event.^[24] Belgium qualified for EuroBasket 2015, after finishing (5–1) during qualifying.^[25] Entering the finals, Belgium split their first two games of the competition, before earning a buzzer-beating win over Lithuania 74–76.^[26] Belgium would finish the group stage with a (3–2) record to advance. Although in the Round of 16, Belgium would be eliminated by Greece 75–54.^[27]

To reach EuroBasket 2017, Belgium once again went (5–1) during their qualifying campaign to make the finals.^[28] However, Belgium failed to sustain the momentum achieved during their qualification period, and were eliminated after a (1–4) record in the group stage.^[29] The struggles for Belgium would continue during European Qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, as the team was ousted from the qualifiers following a (1–5) record.^[30]

Belgium entered Pre-Qualifiers for the EuroBasket 2022, where the national team went undefeated at (4–0), to move closer to clinching qualification.^[31] In the Qualifiers, Belgium completely dominated Lithuania at home in their first game 86–65.^[32] Following the victory, Belgium would go on to finish top of their qualifying group, to reach their fifth consecutive Euro finals.^[33] Drawn into Group A at the tournament, Belgium split their first two games of the event, prior to their impressive 83–73 win against the eventual champions Spain.^[34] Although after making it through the group stage, Belgium was eliminated in the Round of 16 to Slovenia 88–72.^[35]

FIBA World Cup [edit] World Cup Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1950 Did not qualify 5 3 2 1954 EuroBasket served as qualifiers 1959 1963 1967 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 6 1 5 1990 EuroBasket served as qualifiers 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2019 6 1 5 2023 12 6 6 2027 To be determined To be determined Total 0/19 29 11 18 Olympic Games [edit] Olympic Games Qualifying Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1936 19th 2 0 2 1948 11th 8 5 3 1952 17th 3 1 2 1956 Did not enter 1960 Did not qualify 6 4 2 1964 8 5 3 1968 Did not enter Did not enter 1972 Did not qualify 3 1 2 1976 5 3 2 1980 Did not enter Did not enter 1984 Did not qualify 3 1 2 1988 Did not enter Did not enter 1992 1996 Did not qualify Did not qualify 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 3 0 3 Total 3/21 13 6 7 28 14 14

EuroBasket [edit] EuroBasket Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1935 6th 3 1 2 1937 Did not enter 1939 1946 7th 4 2 2 1947 4th 7 4 3 1949 Did not enter 1951 7th 8 4 4 1953 10th 9 5 4 1955 Did not enter 1957 12th 10 4 6 1959 7th 8 3 5 1961 8th 8 4 4 1963 8th 9 4 5 Directly qualified 1965 Did not qualify 3 1 2 1967 15th 9 2 7 3 3 0 1969 Did not qualify 5 2 3 1971 4 2 2 1973 7 3 4 1975 Did not enter Did not enter 1977 8th 7 2 5 Qualified as host 1979 12th 7 0 7 Directly qualified 1981 Did not qualify 5 1 4 1983 5 2 3 1985 12 5 7 1987 5 2 3 1989 4 2 2 1991 10 6 4 1993 12th 6 1 5 6 4 2 1995 Did not qualify 6 2 4 1997 10 4 6 1999 13 4 9 2001 15 11 4 2003 10 3 7 2005 10 3 7 2007 12 6 6 2009 12 6 6 2011 21st 5 0 5 8 6 2 2013 9th 8 3 5 8 5 3 2015 13th 6 3 3 6 5 1 2017 19th 5 1 4 6 5 1 2022 14th 6 3 3 10 8 2 2025 To be determined To be determined Total 18/41 125 46 79 195 101 94

  Win   Loss

Slovakia  v  Belgium

22 February 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Slovakia	60–75	Belgium	Bratislava, Slovakia
18:00 (UTC+1)	Scoring by quarter: 13–25, 23–15, 18–24, 6–11
	Pts: Brodziansky 17 Rebs: Pavelka 9 Asts: Ihring 4	Boxscore	Pts: Obasohan 22 Rebs: Delalieux, Tumba 5 Asts: Obasohan 4	Arena: Hala Pasienky Attendance: 3,068 Referees: Georgios Poursanidis (GRE), Lorenzo Baldini (ITA), Valentin Oliot (FRA)

Belgium  v  Spain

25 February 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Belgium	58–53	Spain	Charleroi, Belgium
17:30 (UTC+1)	Scoring by quarter: 11–14, 8–12, 21–13, 18–14
	Pts: Obasohan 19 Rebs: Gillet 8 Asts: Schwartz 4	Boxscore	Pts: Brizuela 14 Rebs: López-Arostegui 7 Asts: Brizuela, Rubio 3	Arena: Dôme Attendance: 6,500 Referees: Boris Krejić (SVN), Nicolás Maestre (FRA), Carsten Straube (GER)

Latvia  v  Belgium

22 November 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Latvia	vs.	Belgium	Latvia
		Boxscore

Belgium  v  Latvia

25 November 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Belgium	vs.	Latvia	Belgium
		Boxscore

Belgium  v  Slovakia

20 February 2025 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Belgium	vs.	Slovakia	Belgium
		Boxscore

Spain  v  Belgium

23 February 2025 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Spain	vs.	Belgium	Spain
		Boxscore

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers matches on 22 and 25 February 2024 against Slovakia and Spain.^[36][37][38]

Belgium men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. PG 7 Milan Samardžić 24 – (1999-05-25)25 May 1999 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Spirou SF 8 Jean-Marc Mwema 34 – (1989-12-05)5 December 1989 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Antwerp G/F 11 Loïc Schwartz 31 – (1992-12-04)4 December 1992 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Saint-Quentin PF 13 Pierre-Antoine Gillet 32 – (1991-04-16)16 April 1991 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Oostende PF 15 Jonas Delalieux 31 – (1992-10-28)28 October 1992 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Limburg United C 16 Kevin Tumba 32 – (1991-02-23)23 February 1991 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Liège F 17 Hans Vanwijn 29 – (1995-02-15)15 February 1995 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Hapoel Holon C 19 Ismaël Bako 28 – (1995-10-10)10 October 1995 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) UNICS SF 28 Thijs De Ridder 21 – (2003-01-31)31 January 2003 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Bilbao G/F 29 Siebe Ledegen 21 – (2003-01-06)6 January 2003 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) Aalst SG 32 Retin Obasohan 30 – (1993-07-06)6 July 1993 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Derthona PG 39 Jo Van Buggenhout 20 – (2003-06-06)6 June 2003 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Antwerp	Head coach Dario Gjergja Assistant coach(es) Kristof Michiels Raymond Westphalen Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 22 February 2023

1935 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 10 teams

3 René Demanck, 4 Émile Laermans, 5 Louis Levaux, 6 Pierre Van Basselaere, 7 Gustave Vereecken, 8 Gaston de Houwer, 9 Robert Breuwer (Coach: ?)

1936 Olympic Games: finished 19th among 21 teams

1 Robert Breuwer, 2 Gustave Crabbe, 3 René Demanck, 4 Raymond Gérard, 5 Émile Laermans, 6 Guillaume Merckx, 7 Pierre Van Basselaere, 8 Gustave Vereecken (Coach: ?)

1946 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 10 teams

3 Armand Van Wambeke, 4 Henri Servaes, 5 Julien Meuris, 6 Georges Baert, 7 Henri Hermans, 8 Émile Kets, 9 Augustin Bernaer, 10 Alexander Hollanders, 11 Louis Van De Goor, 12 Henri Hollanders, 13 Marcel de Haeck, 14 Pierre Van Basselaere, 23 Fernand Rossius, 25 Auguste Wijns (Coach: Raymond Briot)

1947 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 14 teams

3 Armand Van Wambeke, 4 René Steurbaut, 5 Julien Meuris, 6 Georges Baert, 7 Henri Hermans, 8 Émile Kets, 9 Henri Coosemans, 10 Gustave Poppe, 11 Alexander Hollanders, 12 Henri Hollanders, 13 Fernand Rossius, 14 François De Pauw, 17 Joseph Pirard, 21 Guillaume van Damme (Coach: Raymond Briot)

1948 Olympic Games: finished 11th among 23 teams

3 Armand Van Wambeke, 4 René Steurbaut, 5 Julien Meuris, 6 Georges Baert, 7 Henri Hermans, 8 Émile Kets, 9 Henri Coosemans, 10 Alexander Hollanders, 11 Henri Hollanders, 12 Augustin Bernaer, 13 Louis Van De Goor, 14 François De Pauw, 15 Gustave Poppe, 16 Léon Lampo (Coach: Raymond Briot)

1951 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 17 teams

3 Jef Eygel, 4 Henri Crick, 5 Francois Plas, 6 Georges Baert, 7 François De Pauw, 8 Émile Kets, 9 Henri Coosemans, 10 Désiré Ligon, 11 Alexis Van Gils, 12 Philippe Dewandelaer, 13 Guy Gekiere, 14 Roger van Harck (Coach: Raymond Briot)

1952 Olympic Games: finished 18th among 23 teams

3 Jef Eygel, 4 Yvan Delsarte, 5 Julien Meuris, 6 Félix Roosemont, 8 Johannes Ducheyne, 9 Henri Coosemans, 10 Désiré Ligon, 11 Alexis Van Gils, 12 Henri Crick, 13 Jules Boes, 14 Jan Ceulemans, 16 Josef du Jardin (Coach: Raymond Briot)

1953 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 17 teams

3 Maurice Chavagne, 4 René Steurbaut, 5 Julien Meuris, 6 Georges Baert, 7 André Vermeulen, 8 Émile Kets, 9 Henri Coosemans, 10 Désiré Ligon, 11 Alexis Van Gils, 12 Edouard Samson, 13 Jean Nolis, 14 Roger van Harck, 15 Joseph Decombe, 16 Félix Roosemont (Coach: Louis van Hof)

1957 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 16 teams

3 Albert van Mechelen, 4 Robert Jolijt, 5 Charles Storme, 6 Georges de Meyer, 7 Jean de Nayer, 8 Elie Deweerdt, 9 Emile Martin, 10 Eddy Terrace, 11 John Loridon, 12 Alex van den Avondt, 13 Charles Feyen, 14 Lucien van Kersschaever (Coach: Eddy Verswijvel)

1959 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 17 teams

3 Rene Aerts, 4 Richard Wagner, 5 Pierre van Huele, 6 Jef Eygel, 7 Francois de Pauw, 8 Elie Deweerdt, 9 Jean Steveniers, 10 Lucien van Kersschaever, 11 John Loridon, 12 Henry Raets, 13 Lievin Vinck, 14 Maurice Chavagne (Coach: Eddy Verswijvel)

1961 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 19 teams

4 Andre Desplats, 5 Pierre van Huele, 6 Jef Eygel, 7 Rene Aerts, 8 Jean Steveniers, 9 Henri Degraeve, 10 Guido Scholiers, 11 John Loridon, 12 Joseph Serron, 13 Alphonse Maes, 15 Oscar Wauters, 16 Charles Feyen (Coach: René Mol)

1963 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 16 teams

4 Francois Clement, 5 Pierre van Huele, 6 Jef Eygel, 7 Rene Aerts, 8 Francois d’Hoir, 9 Lucien Michelet, 10 Guido Scholiers, 11 John Loridon, 12 Pierre Dewandeler, 13 Lucien van Kersschaever, 14 Willy Ivens, 15 Camille Dierckx (Coach: Roger Staes)

1967 EuroBasket: finished 15th among 16 teams

4 Camille Dierckx, 5 Willy Ivens, 6 Jef Eygel, 7 Rene Aerts, 8 Lucien Michelet, 9 Robert van Herzele, 10 Raoul Schoeters, 11 John Loridon, 12 Willy d’Hondt, 13 Lucien van Kersschaever, 14 Etienne Geerts, 15 Alfons Declerck (Coach: René Mol)

1977 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 12 teams

4 Alain Stollenberg, 5 Ive van Poppelen, 6 Robert van Herzele, 7 Olin "Corky" Bell, 8 Etienne Geerts, 9 Rene van den Broeck, 10 Imre Nytrai, 11 Jos Peeters, 12 Francois Huysmans, 13 Christian Becknel, 14 Roger Marien, 15 Hector Vermeersch (Coach: René Mol)

1979 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 12 teams

4 Alain Stollenberg, 5 Herman Reynders, 6 Eric Rogiers, 7 Jos Peeters, 8 Ive van Poppelen, 9 Tony Van den Bosch, 10 Imre Nytrai, 11 Rene van den Broeck, 12 Francois Huysmans, 13 Christian Becknel, 14 Etienne Geerts, 15 Rik Samaey (Coach: René Mol)

1993 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 16 teams

4 Jacques Stas, 5 Éric Struelens, 6 Dirk Snyders, 7 Ronny Bayer, 8 Rik Samaey, 9 Danny Herman, 10 Erik Cleymans, 11 Marc Deheneffe, 12 Herman Bruyninckx, 13 Ivan Verberckt, 14 Daniël Goethals, 15 Dimitri Lambrecht (Coach: Tony Van den Bosch)

2011 EuroBasket: finished 21st among 24 teams

4 Roel Moors, 5 Sam Van Rossom, 6 Christophe Beghin, 7 Randy Oveneke, 8 Jorn Steinbach, 9 Jonathan Tabu, 10 Dimitri Lauwers, 11 Guy Muya, 12 Marcus Faison, 13 Maxime De Zeeuw, 14 Tomas Van Den Spiegel, 15 D. J. Mbenga (Coach: Eddy Casteels)

2013 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 24 teams

4 Roel Moors, 5 Sam Van Rossom, 6 Christophe Beghin, 7 Axel Hervelle, 8 Jean-Marc Mwema, 9 Jonathan Tabu, 10 Quentin Serron, 11 Guy Muya, 12 Wen Mukubu, 13 Maxime De Zeeuw, 14 Sacha Massot, 15 Yannick Driesen (Coach: Eddy Casteels)

2015 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 24 teams

4 Lionel Bosco, 5 Sam Van Rossom, 7 Axel Hervelle (C), 8 Jean-Marc Mwema, 9 Jonathan Tabu, 10 Quentin Serron, 12 Wen Mukubu, 13 Pierre-Antoine Gillet, 14 Maxime De Zeeuw, 22 Kevin Tumba, 23 Jean Salumu, 24 Matt Lojeski (Coach: Eddy Casteels)

2017 EuroBasket: finished 19th among 24 teams

4 Manu Lecomte, 5 Sam Van Rossom, 7 Axel Hervelle (C), 8 Jean-Marc Mwema, 9 Jonathan Tabu, 10 Quentin Serron, 12 Jean Salumu, 13 Pierre-Antoine Gillet, 14 Maxime De Zeeuw, 16 Kevin Tumba, 19 Ismaël Bako, 22 Vincent Kesteloot (Coach: Eddy Casteels)

2022 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 24 teams

4 Manu Lecomte, 8 Jean-Marc Mwema, 9 Jonathan Tabu, 13 Pierre-Antoine Gillet, 14 Maxime De Zeeuw (C), 16 Kevin Tumba, 17 Hans Vanwijn, 18 Alexandre Libert, 19 Ismaël Bako, 21 Vrenz Bleijenbergh, 25 Haris Bratanovic, 32 Retin Obasohan (Coach: Dario Gjergja)

2015: KIPSTA

2015: Voo

• Sport in Belgium
• Belgium women's national basketball team
• Belgium men's national under-20 basketball team
• Belgium men's national under-18 basketball team
• Belgium men's national under-16 basketball team
• Belgium men's national 3x3 team

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Belgium men's national basketball team.

• Official website
• Belgium FIBA profile
• Belgian National Team – Men at Eurobasket.com
• Belgium Basketball Records at FIBA Archive

• Lithuania v Belgium - Group D - Game Highlights - EuroBasket 2015 Youtube.com video