Switzerland_men's_national_basketball_team
Switzerland men's national basketball team
Men's national basketball team representing Switzerland
The Switzerland men's national basketball team (French: Équipe de Suisse de basketball, German: Schweizer Basketballnationalmannschaft, Italian: Nazionale di pallacanestro della Svizzera, Romansh: Squadra naziunala da ballape da la Svizra) represents Switzerland in international basketball. The managing body for the national team is Swiss Basketball.
| FIBA ranking | 62  1 (1 March 2024)[1] | ||
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| Joined FIBA | 1932 (co-founders) | ||
| FIBA zone | FIBA Europe | ||
| National federation | Swiss Basketball | ||
| Coach | Ilias Papatheodorou | ||
| Nickname(s) | Nati (National Team) Rossocrociati (Red Crosses) | ||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Appearances | 3 | ||
| Medals | None | ||
| FIBA World Cup | |||
| Appearances | None | ||
| EuroBasket | |||
| Appearances | 5 | ||
| Medals | None | ||
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| First international | |||
 Switzerland 19–39 France  (Geneva, Switzerland; 5 March 1932) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Switzerland 68–19 Scotland  (Paris, France; 11 May 1951) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
Switzerland 53–130 Spain  (Geneva, Switzerland; 24 November 1988) | |||
Switzerland has competed at five EuroBasket tournaments (1935, 1946, 1951, 1953, 1955) in their history. The national team has also made three appearances at the Olympic Games (1936, 1948, 1952). However, Switzerland has struggled over the past decades to once again qualify to international competitions. They also continue their pursuit to clinch their debut trip to the FIBA World Cup.
EuroBasket 1935
Switzerland hosted the first European Basketball Championship in Geneva at EuroBasket 1935. The national team finished fourth in the ten team tournament, defeating Romania and Italy in the preliminary round to advance to the semifinals. There they lost to Latvia, resulting in a playoff for third place against Czechoslovakia which the Swiss lost 25–23.
EuroBasket 1946
Switzerland did not play in the European championship again until the post-war, at EuroBasket 1946, which they hosted. There, they placed second in their three-team preliminary group after losing to the eventual champions Czechoslovakia 20–17, but defeating Belgium 38–33. That preliminary round finish put the Swiss into a 5th/6th place playoff against the Netherlands, which Switzerland won 36–25.
EuroBasket 1951
The next Swiss entry into the European Basketball Championship was at the EuroBasket 1951 tournament in Paris. Switzerland finished the preliminary round with a 1–3 record, 4th in their group. They fared little better in the first classification, taking 3rd in the group with a 1–2 record. In the second classification round, the Swiss won the classification 13-16 and 13/14 games to finish in 13th place of 18 teams, with a 4–5 record.
EuroBasket 1953
EuroBasket 1953 in Moscow was the fourth appearance of the Swiss. The tournament began poorly for the team, as they finished last in their preliminary pool at 0–3. It got somewhat better for them after that, as they took second in their first classification pool with 2 wins and a loss. They dropped their 9-12 semifinal to Belgium, but defeated Finland in the 11/12 final to take 11th of 17 overall.
EuroBasket 1955
Switzerland competed next at the EuroBasket 1955 tournament in Budapest. Their 2–2 record in preliminary round put them in 3rd of the five-team group and relegated them to the classification rounds. They had similar results there, again taking a 2–2 record and 3rd of 5 teams. They won their classification 13-16 semifinal, but lost to Austria in the 13/14 game to finish 14th of 18 teams.
Later years
The 1952 Summer Olympics and the 1955 EuroBasket are the last major international basketball tournaments that the country qualified for. Since then, it lost its international significance despite occasional strong showings at qualification games. E.g. Switzerland surprisingly beat former European Champion Russia at the qualification for the 2015 EuroBasket.
FIBA World Cup
Olympic Games
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EuroBasket
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Win Loss
2023
| 19 July 2023 | Kosovo  |
76–49 | Switzerland |
Prizren, Kosovo | |
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| 20:45 (UTC+2) | Scoring by quarter: 18–16, 23–8, 27–14, 8–11 | ||||
| Pts: Berisha 20 Rebs: Hajrizi 12 Asts: Artis 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Rocak 12 Rebs: Tutonda 7 Asts: Fofana 3 |
Arena: Sezai Surroi Sports Hall Attendance: 1,700 Referees: Paulo Marques (POR), Beniamino Attard (ITA), Franko Gracin (CRO) |
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| 22 July 2023 | Switzerland |
46–60 |  Denmark |
Fribourg, Switzerland | |
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| 17:30 (UTC+2) | Scoring by quarter: 6–18, 17–9, 13–12, 10–21 | ||||
| Pts: three players 7 Rebs: Rocak 5 Asts: Fofana 3 |
Boxscore | Pts: Lundberg 14 Rebs: Dibba 10 Asts: Lundberg, Zohore 3 |
Arena: Salle Saint-Lèonard Attendance: 540 Referees: Fernando Calatrava (ESP), Lorenzo Baldini (ITA), Łukasz Jankowski (POL) |
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| 29 July 2023 | Switzerland |
72–76 | Kosovo |
Fribourg, Switzerland | |
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| 17:30 (UTC+2) | Scoring by quarter: 21–20, 18–15, 22–21, 11–20 | ||||
| Pts: Tutonda 15 Rebs: Fofana 10 Asts: Fofana 7 |
Boxscore | Pts: Artis 22 Rebs: Hajrizi 8 Asts: Artis 4 |
Arena: Salle Saint-Lèonard Attendance: 840 Referees: Gintaras Vitkauskas (LTU), Alexandre Deman (FRA), Valentin Oliot (FRA) |
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| 2 August 2023 | Denmark |
94–81 | Switzerland |
Næstved, Denmark | |
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| 18:00 (UTC+2) | Scoring by quarter: 18–25, 26–9, 27–21, 23–26 | ||||
| Pts: Lundberg 22 Rebs: Erikstrup 9 Asts: Jukić 9 |
Boxscore | Pts: De la Fuente 22 Rebs: Fofana, Martin 5 Asts: Fofana 9 |
Arena: Næstved Arena Attendance: 1,280 Referees: Antonio Conde (ESP), Josip Jurčević (CRO), Juozas Barkauskas (LTU) |
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2024
| 22 February 2024 | Switzerland |
72–53 |  Azerbaijan |
Fribourg, Switzerland | |
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| 19:00 (UTC+1) | Scoring by quarter: 10–20, 19–8, 21–15, 22–10 | ||||
| Pts: Fofana 19 Rebs: Nzege 10 Asts: Fofana, Zinn 5 |
Boxscore | Pts: LeDay 22 Rebs: Donat, LeDay 6 Asts: Mammadov 4 |
Arena: Salle Saint-Lèonard Attendance: 1,120 Referees: Stylianos Simeonidis (GRE), Joaquin García (ESP), Alessandro Perciavalle (ITA) |
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| 25 February 2024 | Ireland  |
63–86 | Switzerland |
Dublin, Ireland | |
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| 15:00 (UTC±0) | Scoring by quarter: 14–22, 15–19, 14–22, 20–23 | ||||
| Pts: Flood 15 Rebs: Buivydas 7 Asts: Blount 4 |
Boxscore | Pts: Anabir 15 Rebs: Jurkovitz 8 Asts: Fofanfa 6 |
Arena: National Basketball Arena Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Valerio Grigioni (ITA), Javier Torres (ESP), Chess van Looy (BEL) |
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v Kosovo
| 21 November 2024 | Switzerland |
vs. | Kosovo |
Switzerland | |
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| Boxscore | |||||
| 24 November 2024 | Azerbaijan |
vs. | Switzerland |
Azerbaijan | |
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| Boxscore | |||||
2025
v Ireland
| 20 February 2025 | Switzerland |
vs. | Ireland |
Switzerland | |
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| Boxscore | |||||
Current roster
Roster for the 2027 FIBA World Cup Pre-Qualifiers matches on 22 and 25 February 2024 against Azerbaijan and Ireland.[2]
| Switzerland men's national basketball team roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Depth chart
Head coach position
Sébastian Roduit – (2008–2012)
Petar Aleksić – (2013–2017)- Gianluca Barilari – (2017–2021)
Ilias Papatheodorou – (2021–present)[3]
Notable players
- Thabo Sefolosha – First Swiss-born player to get drafted and play in the NBA.
- Clint Capela
Past rosters
1935 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 10 teams
3 René Karlen, 4 Raymond Lambercy, 5 Mottier, 6 Jean Pare, 7 Radle, 8 Sidler, 9 Marcel Wuilleumier (Coach: ?)
1936 Olympic Games: finished 9th among 21 teams
1 Fernand Bergmann, 2 Pierre Carlier, 3 René Karlen, 4 Georges Laederach, 5 Raymond Lambercy, 6 Jean Pollet, 7 Jean Pare, 8 Marcel Wuilleumier (Coach: ?)
1946 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 10 teams
3 Georges Stockly, 4 Fernand Keller, 5 Theo Winkler, 7 Georges Gallay, 8 Henry Gujer, 10 Robert Geiser, 12 Jean Pollet, 13 Jean Pare, 15 René Wohler, 20 Louis Sanguin (Coach: ?)
1948 Olympic Games: finished 21st among 23 teams
3 Georges Stockly, 4 Henry Gujer, 5 Jean Pollet, 6 Maurice Chollet, 7 Claude Chevalley, 8 Pierre Albrecht, 9 Marcos Bossy, 10 Robert Geiser, 11 Jean Tribolet, 12 Claude Landini, 13 Jean Pare, 14 Bernard Dutoit, 15 Henri Baumann, 16 Gérald Piaget (Coach: ?)
1951 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 17 teams
3 Georges Stockly, 4 Henry Gujer, 5 Theo Winkler, 6 Arthur Bugna, 7 Henri Baumann, 8 Roger Domenjoz, 9 Marcos Bossy, 10 René Wohler, 11 René Chiappino, 12 Bernard Dutoit, 13 Albert Hermann, 14 Roger Prahin, 15 Francis Perroud (Coach: ?)
1952 Olympic Games: finished 20th among 23 teams
3 Georges Stockly, 4 Pierre Albrecht, 5 Jacques Redard, 6 Gérald Cottier, 7 Henri Baumann, 8 Roger Domenjoz, 9 Marcos Bossy, 10 René Wohler, 11 René Chiappino, 12 Marcel Moget, 13 Maurice Chollet, 14 Roger Prahin, 15 Bernard Schmied, 16 Jean-Pierre Voisin (Coach: ?)
1953 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 17 teams
3 André Laverniaz, 4 Pierre Albrecht, 5 Jacques Redard, 6 Henri Devaud, 7 Albert Hermann, 8 René Hofmann, 9 Marcos Bossy, 10 Gérald Cottier, 11 René Chiappino, 12 Jean Emery, 13 Pierre Wittwer, 14 Michel Currat, 15 Jean-Pierre Voisin, 16 Ruggero Balmelli (Coach: ?)
1955 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 18 teams
4 Pierre Albrecht, 5 Jacques Redard, 6 Michel Currat, 7 Henri Baumann, 8 V Bally, 9 C Sevelley, 10 Gérald Cottier, 11 Marcos Bossy, 12 René Chiappino, 13 M Etter, 14 C Lambrecht, 15 Jean-Pierre Voisin, 16 P Worte, 17 M Robert (Coach: ?)
Manufacturer
Sponsor
- "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- "Switzerland during the 2027 FIBA World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers in February 2024". Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- "Un entraîneur de renom à la tête de l'équipe de Suisse". Retrieved 13 July 2021. (in French)
- FIBA EuroBasket 2017, FIBA.com, Retrieved 31 August 2017.
- Official website (in French, German, and Italian)
- Switzerland FIBA profile
- Switzerland National Team – Men at Eurobasket.com
- Switzerland Basketball Records at FIBA Archive
Videos
- Switzerland v Iceland – Full Game – EuroBasket 2022 Pre-Qualifiers Youtube.com video