EuroBasket 2025: Who's playing, where to watch, injury updates and everything you need to know

With NBA free agency cooled to a simmer and the regular season still two months away, basketball fans in the U.S. have little to satisfy their appetite for hoops. However, across the pond, one of the world’s marquee international tournaments kicks off next week, displaying top talent from the NBA and around the globe. 

The basketball world will turn its eyes to Latvia, Finland, Cyprus and Poland for EuroBasket 2025, where The Old Continent’s best teams will compete for gold and glory. 

While Team USA will not be playing, the tournament offers a chance for many top teams to bring home hardware at the international level, where the Red, White and Blue has long dominated. 

Great teams like France, Germany, Spain and Serbia will enter a field with much more parity and stylistic emphasis than is typically seen at the Olympics, widely recognized as the world’s top international basketball competition. Another limitation of the Olympics is that only 12 teams qualify, and typically only about 4-6 are European, meaning teams with top-tier talent like Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia and Turkey are often left on the chopping room floor. 

At VOZ, we are previewing EuroBasket 2025 with all the information basketball fans need to know, including: the teams playing, when and where to watch, how the tournament works, the big names that will be present and more. 

Tournament schedule and structure

FIBA EuroBasket 2025 will feature 24 of the best international teams from greater Europe facing off to determine the champions of the continent. While the tournament used to be played every two years, beginning in 2017, it was changed to every four. However, the 2021 edition was postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The games begin on Aug. 27 with the Group Phase, with the top 16 moving on to a single elimination bracket. This year’s edition will be hosted by four nations: Latvia, Finland, Cyprus and Poland. All four hosts qualify automatically, and the other 20 spots are filled via qualifying tournaments that took place over the past four years. 

There are four groups (A, B, C and D) with six teams each. Each group’s games will be played in one of the four host countries, with the hosts all playing on their home soil. The teams will play one game against all five teams in their group, with the top four from each group advancing to the Knockout Phase. 

The Round of 16 will be played on Sept. 6 and 7, with the winners advancing to the Quarterfinals (Sept. 9-10). The Semifinals will take place on Sept. 12, and the Third Place Game and Final will be held on Sept. 14. All games in the Knockout Phase will be played from Xiaomi Arena in Riga, Latvia.

The favorites

With its victory at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Team USA solidified itself at the top of the FIBA international rankings. However, the next four spots are all occupied by European countries, and all four will headline at EuroBasket. 

Ahead of the tournament, these four teams stand out above the rest as early favorites: Serbia (ranked No. 2 by FIBA), Germany (3), France (4) and Spain (5). 

Serbia

Serbia is led by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) and veteran NBA guard Bogdan Bogdanovic (Los Angeles Clippers). This golden generation of Serbs will look to win its first major international title, having finished second at EuroBasket 2017 and the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. In last year’s Olympics, Serbia fumbled a 13-point fourth quarter lead against Team USA in the Semifinals on its way to a bronze medal. 

Germany

Germany, winner of the aforementioned 2023 World Cup, will bring one of the deepest rosters to the competition. Led by speedy guard Dennis Schroder (Sacramento Kings) and versatile forward Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic), the Germans will be able to match any team’s talent. They are bolstered by experienced European League players like defensive specialist Isaac Bonga (Partizan Belgrade) and sharpshooter Andreas Obst (Bayern Munich) as they look to win their first EuroBasket title since 1993.

France

France is another team looking to make it over the hump on the international stage. Despite having several silver medals in their trophy case, they have not won a major tournament since EuroBasket 2013. The French, however, must deal with a litany of absences, including Nicolas Batum (Los Angeles Clippers) and Nando de Colo (LDLC ASVEL) due to retirement, and Rudy Gobert (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Evan Fournier (Olympiacos Piraeus) due to injury. 

Lucky for “Les Bleus,” a new and perhaps even better generation is on the horizon, including NBA lottery picks Zaccharie Risacher (Atlanta Hawks), Alexandre Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly (Washington Wizards). However, the most notable face of this new generation, Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs) will sit out of EuroBasket 2025 as he continues his recovery from deep vein thrombosis.

Spain

Spain rounds out the FIBA top five. The defending EuroBasket champions and winners of four of the past six editions (2009, 2013, 2015, 2022) also have a revamped squad. After longtime captain Rudy Fernández retired, veteran big man Willy Hernangómez (FC Barcelona) will now take the reins, alongside his brother Juancho (Panathinaikos). The Spaniards will count one NBA player among their ranks, versatile forward Santi Aldama (Memphis Grizzlies). He missed much of the lead-up to the tournament with an injury but has recovered and will be ready to play. Real Madrid guard Alberto Abalde, one of the pillars of the Spanish side will miss the tournament due to injury.

Tournament sleepers

Aside from the main favorites, there are other teams in the field with top-tier talent that will look to pull off a Cinderella run. Notably, there are two perennial NBA MVP candidates outside of the “top four” with hopes of stealing away the EuroBasket crown.

First is Slovenia’s Luka Doncic (Los Angeles Lakers). The flashy guard, in the headlines recently for his summer workout plan and his now infamous trade from the Dallas Mavericks, already has a EuroBasket title under his belt. His Slovenia team won the 2017 edition, led by Doncic and former NBA guard Goran Dragic. 

However, 2025 presents a different challenge for the Slovenians, who now are absent any NBA players apart from their star. Doncic left Slovenia’s preliminary game against Latvia on Aug. 16 with a knee contusion, though he returned to the lineup just three days later in another exhibition against Great Britain, where he scored 20 points in the first 10 minutes on his way to 28 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.

The other superstar playing for an underdog is Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo. The “Greek Freak” will look to lead his country to its first EuroBasket title since 2005. While, like Doncic, his squad will not feature any other NBA talent, he will be accompanied by players from some of the top teams in Europe. Notably, Olympiacos teammates Kostas Papanikolaou, Giannoulis Larentzakis and Kostas Antetokoumpo (Giannis’ brother) will all play for the squad, as well as Panathinaikos players Kostas Sloukas, Dinos Mitoglou and Vassilis Toliopoulos. 

Another team looking to make noise from the shadows is Latvia. Aside from boasting NBA champion Kristaps Porzingis (Atlanta Hawks), as well as former NBA players Rodions Kurucs (Baskonia Vitoria) and Davis Bertans (BC Dubai), the Latvians have one other major advantage. They are a host country, meaning they will play the Group Phase in front of their home fans. The entire Knockout Phase will be played in the Latvian capital of Riga, meaning if they advance, they would have home court advantage all the way through. 

Other European NBA All-Stars in the tournament include Finland’s Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz), Montenegro’s Nikola Vucevic (Chicago Bulls) and Turkey’s Alperen Sengun (Houston Rockets). While each of their respective rosters likely lacks the depth to advance far in the competition, their star power represents real opportunity for an upset. 

One big name missing from the tournament is Lithuania’s Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings), who elected not to play as his wife is expecting a child, per Basket News. 

Lesser-known NBA players suiting up for their home countries in the tournament include Israel's Deni Avdija (Portland Trailblazers), Georgia's Goga Bitadze (Orlando Magic), Lithuania's Jonas Valanciunas (Denver Nuggets), Bosnia and Herzegovina's Jusuf Nurkic (Utah Jazz), Italy's Simone Fontecchio (Miami Heat) and Portugal's Neemias Queta (Boston Celtics).

When and where to watch 

The Group Phase will take place from Aug. 27 until Sept. 4, with six games per day. The first game of the day will start between 6:30 and 8 a.m. E.T., while the final games of each day will start at 2:15 or 2:30 p.m. E.T. 

The Knockout Phase will begin on Sept. 6-7 with the Round of 16, then the Quarterfinals on Sept. 9-10, the Semifinals on Sept. 12, and the Third Place Game and Final on Sept. 14. All times for the elimination games are TBD. 

The tournament can be streamed with Courtside 1891, which will offer games via DAZN, their app or their website. In order to obtain full access, users need to purchase Courtside 1891 Max, which costs $29.99 for all live games and replays. Otherwise, the free version only gives viewers access to highlights and limited content. FIBA YouTube will also offer various live games and highlights.