Greece’s basketball slump continues in World Cup qualifiers

Greece’s national basketball team continued their poor run in the qualifiers for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Qatar, suffering a third consecutive defeat.

Coached by Vassilis Spanoulis, Greece, who lost to Türkiye in the semifinals of the 2025 EuroBasket, have struggled in the World Cup qualifying campaign.

After ending the first round in July with defeats to Romania and Portugal, Greece made a poor start to the second round as they suffered an 82-76 away loss to Ukraine on Friday.

The result left Greece bottom of Group I in the second round with three wins and four defeats.

Spanoulis’ side face a challenging schedule in their remaining five qualifiers, with two games each against group leaders Spain and Georgia and another meeting with Ukraine.

The top three teams in each group will qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Greece have been without NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo in their qualifying games due to injury.