June 7, 2022 - At the end of June, the 2023 Basketball World Cup qualifications will take place, in which Croatia will play against Slovenia and Finland. 

The Croatia basketball team expects an away match in Slovenia and a home match against Finland in Rijeka later this month. 

June 30, 2022, at 20:15 Slovenia - CROATIA (Arena Stožice, Ljubljana)
July 3, 2022, at 20:00 CROATIA - Finland (Zamet Center, Rijeka)

Coach Damir Mulaomerović led Croatia in the last cycle in February, when the national team recorded a defeat and a victory against Sweden. With that victory, Croatia remains in the race for a spot at the 2023 World Cup.

"We have decided on a wider list of 26 players. There were a lot of unknowns about playing NBA players, and in the meantime, we got confirmation that they can train from June 27 onwards, so only three days before the game. So we have a wider list, and all the players deserve to be on it. From that base, we will select those who will come to the preparations on June 15. So we will invite a few more players because we will not be able to use NBA players until the 27th. Of course, we will also watch who finished the competitions and refresh some guys and I hope that as many of us as possible will come to the initial gathering. We have certain problems because, for example, Karlo Matković is in training in the NBA, but we will solve some problems on the fly and soon publish a short list of players for preparations in Opatija," said coach Mulaomerović eight days before the start of preparations.

The 2023 Basketball World Cup will be played in Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines next year. 

3rd cycle 2023 Basketball World Cup qualifications 

• Roko Rogić
• Goran Filipović
• Lovro Gnjidić
• Mate Kalajžić
• Borna Kapusta
• Bojan Bogdanović
• Mario Hezonja
• Filip Krušlin
• Sven Smajlagić
• Mateo Drežnjak
• Toni Perković
• Dominik Mavra
• Toni Jelenković
• Ivan Ramljak
• Pavle Marčinković
• Toni Nakić
• Roko Prkačin
• Željko Šakić
• Tomislav Zubčić
• Matej Rudan
• Dario Drežnjak
• Dragan Bender
• Ivica Zubac
• Ante Toni Žižić
• Karlo Matković
• Danko Branković

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated sports section. 

September 1, 2021 - The Croatia basketball 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifier group has been announced! 

In Tuesday's draw for the World Cup qualifiers, Croatia learned its European opponents. Croatia will face Sweden, Slovenia, and Finland in the hope of qualifying for a place in the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines (Jakarta, Okinawa, Manila).

The draw took place at the Patrick Baumann Basketball House in Mies, Switzerland. It was closed due to the epidemiological situation and could only be watched live on the FIBA ​​YouTube channel.

The qualifiers will be played in six cycles over 15 months. Eighty countries acquired the right to qualify, and in a total of 420 matches, 32 national teams will eventually qualify.

32 national teams entered the qualifications at the European level, and we will only see 12 of them at the World Cup. The national teams were divided into eight groups (A-H) of four teams, and in the first phase, each team will have the opportunity to play six games, i.e., home and away games against each opponent in the group.

Group A: Serbia, Slovakia, Belgium, Latvia
Group B: Belarus, Great Britain, Greece, Turkey,
Group C: Croatia, Sweden, Finland, Slovenia
Group D: Israel, Germany, Estonia, Poland
Group E: France, Portugal, Hungary, Montenegro
Group F: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic
Group G: Georgia, Northern Macedonia, Spain, Ukraine
Group H: Russia, the Netherlands, Iceland, Italy

The last-place team in each group is eliminated from the race for the World Cup, and four new groups (I-L) are formed with six participating countries each, which transfer their results to the next phase. Each national team will play six games at home and away against three national teams in their group with which they did not meet in the qualifiers. After all the matches are played, the three first-place teams from each group will win a ticket to the World Cup.

22.11-30.11, 2021

25.11. Croatia - Slovenia
28.11. Finland - Croatia

21.2-1.3, 2022

25.2. Croatia - Sweden
28.2. Sweden - Croatia

27.6-5.7, 2022

30.6. Slovenia - Croatia
3.7. Croatia - Finland

22.8-30.8, 2022

7.11.-15.11.2022.

20.2.-28.2.2023.

Since the European Championship starts on September 1, 2022, the fourth qualifying cycle of the World Cup will also serve as a preparation for the European Championship.

Source: HKS

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE.

April 10, 2020 - The Executive Board of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has decided on the terms of the next three major tournaments. Thus, the Olympic qualifying tournament in Split has been moved to June 2021.

Gol.hr reports that the basketball qualification tournament for the Olympic Games will now be held in Split from June 22 and July 4, 2021, and the EuroBasket, which is due to be held next year, has been postponed for September 1 to 18, 2022, confirmed the Executive Board of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) at Thursday’s meeting held via video conference.

"After a detailed analysis of all possible scenarios and following the recommendations of the Regional Offices and the Competition Commission, the FIBA ​​Executive Board made the following changes to the calendar: Olympic Qualifying Tournaments for men will be played from 22 June to 4 July 2021 (the exact date is pending approval from the International Olympic Committee); FIBA ​​EuroBasket 2021 and FIBA ​​AmeriCup 2021 have been moved to 1 to 18 September 2022,” FIBA said in an official statement adding that the first two FIBA World Cup 2023 qualifying matches, which were to be played in September 2022, will be rescheduled in August, when the European and US national teams will prepare for EuroBasket and AmeriCup, while all other qualifying dates, including those for continental competitions, remain unchanged.

The FIBA Afrobasket (August 24 - September 5) and the FIBA Asia Cup (August 17-29) will be held next year, but will be shifted by one week to avoid overlapping dates with the Tokyo Olympics.

The FIBA EuroBasket for women’s basketball remained in the scheduled period from June 17 to 27, 2021, and in a similar period (June 20-27, 2021), the FIBA AmeriCup will be held. With four continental competitions, 16 teams will compete in the FIBA Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament, scheduled for February 2022.

"All other senior competition dates scheduled between 2020 and 2023 remain unchanged," the statement said.

"I am very pleased that we have been able to conduct internal consultations and confirm changes to the competition calendar within two weeks of the IOC's announcement of a new Olympic Games date," FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis said in a statement.

"The result is that the calendar of major FIBA events remains very attractive to our fans, with a balanced schedule of major tournaments and keeping in mind the well-being and availability of players. I look forward to the day when the basketball community will be able to return to the court again," Zagklis added.

"As for the EuroBasket to be played in September 2022 and its preparatory period - I think we can be pleased.

As the World Cup Qualifiers were moved into the preparation period of the European Championships, we certainly have a pool of players," said HKS President Stojko Vrankovic, who, among other things, was a FIBA Europe Board member and participated in conversations about calendar changes.

"There was talk that the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments would move to September this year, but my position was that, given the current situation with the pandemic, the economic situation that follows, and given the consequences of the earthquake in Zagreb, it would not be feasible. FIBA has looked at the overall situation, listened to many and decided to postpone these tournaments for next year."

The FIBA Executive Board continues to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic daily and assesses all options for the possible continuation of the competition once all the preconditions have been created.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

February 11, 2020 - Croatian basketball player and Utah Jazz star Bojan Bogdanovic features on the official FIBA website this week. 

In an interview with FIBA on Monday, February 10, Croatia captain and basketball star Bojan Bogdanovic said that he wanted to repeat the summer of 2016 when Croatia qualified for the Olympic Games.

Then it was played in Turin, and this time, the qualifying tournament is held in Split. Croatia is the host and only the winner of the tournament goes to Tokyo.

"We have to play every game as if it was a final, as if our lives depended on it." - ?️ @44Bojan#FIBAOQT | @CbfHks ??https://t.co/921Cxwyari

— FIBA (@FIBA) February 10, 2020

"We were in warrior mode in 2016. We want to achieve the same thing this summer, too. The mentality has to be - win, win, win and not to overthink. We all know that every team that is coming to the (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) is going to battle for a spot in the Olympics, because every player dreams about competing on the Olympic stage. I mean, basketball in the Olympics is one of the most followed competition, and every player has memories from the Dream Team, Team USA, their own national team or the Olympic Games in general,” Bogdanovic said, and added:

“When I heard we were going to play in Split, I was so happy! It's a huge basketball city and it's one of my favorite places in the whole country. Playing at home has to be a plus for us, we have to take advantage of this and show our country that we can win at home. The fans are already talking a lot about it, according to the feedback and information I got from my family and friends back in Croatia. We talk about it, too, between the players. Playing at home is a privilege, and we want to make the most out of it. It's going to be great, and don't want to  and can't disappoint them. We count on them to be our sixth man.”

Croatia lost to Serbia in the quarterfinal at the Rio Olympics, where Bogdanovic scored 25.3 points per game.

“Oh man, I have so many good memories from the Rio Olympics! The atmosphere was unique, the people and the crowd were very good and noisy and the overall Olympic experience was very good,” Bogdanovic concluded.

Recall, the Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be held in Split from June 23 to 28, 2020. Croatia will face Tunisia and Brazil.

You can read the full interview on the official FIBA website.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

November 15, 2019 - Croatia Basketball will host one of the Olympic qualifying tournaments in Split from June 23 to 28, 2020. They will return to the Dalmatian capital for the first time in 21 years. 

The FIBA Executive Board decided on Friday at a meeting in Geneva that Croatia, or Split, will host one of the four qualifying tournaments for the Tokyo Olympics next summer, reports the Croatian Basketball Federation. 

The Olympic qualifying tournaments are one of the most important and prestigious FIBA competitions, and the winner of each of the four tournaments will secure a place at the Tokyo Olympics. As each of the 24 national teams that have qualified for the tournaments has already proven to be high quality, the tournaments will certainly be very attractive for spectators.

The Olympic qualifying tournament in Split will be held from June 23 to 28, 2020.

"This is a big deal for Croatian basketball, after Eurobasket 1989, it is the strongest and most important competition on Croatian territory and should be used to promote basketball in that region and throughout the country, and we will do our best to get our best result,” said coach Veljko Mrsic after learning the good news.

"In order to talk about the odds, however, we have to wait for the draw and see who will come and with what kind of squad. It will depend on the NBA as well, because the finalists will not be able to perform," said Mrsic. For Croatia, Mrsic would have to worry most about Ivica Zubac and the LA Clippers, as well as Croatia captain and current Utah Jazz Bojan Bogdanovic.

In addition to Croatia, the tournament organizers will be Canada (Victoria), Lithuania (Kaunas) and Serbia (Belgrade). Six teams will compete in each of the four qualifying tournaments, with only the top-ranked going to Tokyo.

The draw for qualifying Olympic tournaments will take place on November 27 in Geneva.

The following nations will play in the qualifying tournaments: Angola, Brazil, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Canada, China, Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Germany, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, Senegal, Slovenia, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay and Venezuela.

In the men's competition, the Olympic Games have already been secured by Japan as the host and seven teams from the World Cup, including two from Europe (Spain, France), two from the Americas (USA, Argentina) and one each from Oceania (Australia), Africa (Nigeria) and Asia (Iran).

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

The Croatian men’s basketball team has been knocked out of the round of 16 after losing to Russia.

Croatian basketball players have dominated the group stage at EuroBasket.

This is the first defeat for Croatia in this EuroBasket tournament. 

FIBA invited the best European basketball club of the 20th Century to participate in the next season of the newly established Champions League