Belarus men's national basketball team
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The Belarus men's national basketball team represented Belarus in international basketball matches, and are controlled by the Belarusian Basketball Federation. They came into existence in 1992 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The team played in their first official match the following year versus Lithuania. They are Europe's most populous nation to have never qualified for a major international basketball competition.
 | |||
| FIBA ranking | NR (15 August 2024)[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Joined FIBA | 1992 | ||
| FIBA zone | FIBA Europe | ||
| National federation | BBF | ||
| Coach | Rostislav Vergun | ||
| Nickname(s) | Белыя крылы (The White Wings) | ||
| FIBA World Cup | |||
| Appearances | None | ||
| EuroBasket | |||
| Appearances | None | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 Belarus 88–80 Lithuania  (Wrocław, Poland; 31 May 1993) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Belarus 121–50 Azerbaijan  (Minsk, Belarus; 2 June 2001) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Spain 101–53 Belarus (Alcoy, Spain; 3 December 1997) | |||
After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIBA suspended Belarus from participating in international competitions.[2]
Prior to independence
Before 1992, Belarus was occupied by the Soviet Union, with Belarusian born players taking part on the Soviet Union national team.
After Belarus gained independence from the Soviet Union, their first attempt to qualify for the premier European basketball tournament came in 1993. They ultimately came up short in their attempt. Throughout the rest of the 1990s and 2000s, Belarus were unsuccessful at securing qualification. During qualifying for the EuroBasket 2017, Belarus was stationed into Group D with another opportunity to reach the EuroBasket finals. The team began the qualifiers with two loses, before earning their first victory at home against Portugal.[3] Belarus went on to win twice more to conclude the qualifiers at a record of (3–3), but it wasn't enough as the team was eliminated.[4]
For qualification to the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Belarus first went through European Pre-Qualifiers. Belarus would finish with a (1–3) record in their pre-qualifying group, but would advance to the first round of the qualifiers; due to owning the point difference in their head-to-head against Portugal.[5] There, they were placed in Group A, and right away the national team were overwhelmed in their first two matches by dominant performances from Slovenia and Montenegro respectively. They eventually notched their first win in the group in a rematch against Slovenia, but to no avail. Belarus finished with a (1–5) record and failed to advance.[6]
Belarus later went on to compete in EuroBasket 2022 Pre-Qualifiers, but were eliminated in a match to Denmark, in the final pre-qualifying window 69–66.[7]
Roster for the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers matches on 25 and 28 November 2021 against Turkey and Greece.[9]
| Belarus men's national basketball team roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench |
|---|---|---|
| C | ||
| PF | ||
| SF | ||
| SG | ||
| PG |
- Aliaksandr Papkou – (2008–2009)
- Mikhail Feiman – (2010)
- Andrei Krivonos – (2011–2012)
- Ruslan Baidakov – (2013–2014)
- Dušan Gvozdić – (2014)
- Aleksander Krutikov – (2015–2019)
- Rostislav Vergun – (2019–present)[10]
Recent results and upcoming fixtures
Win Loss
- ^ a b c d Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all matches in the November 2020 and February 2021 windows were played behind closed doors in select host cities.[11]
- ^ a b c d Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all matches during the European Pre-Qualifiers second round window in August 2021 were played in a single location in select host cities.[12]
- ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ "Federations implement bans on athletes and teams from Russia and Belarus". www.insidethegames.biz. 3 March 2022.
- ^ "Belarus secure first victory in FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers". Retrieved 8 September 2016.
- ^ "Belarus during the EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers". Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Belarus during the 2019 FIBA World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers". Retrieved 19 August 2017.
- ^ "Belarus during the 2019 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers". Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ "Belarus during the EuroBasket 2022 Pre-Qualifiers". Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- ^ "FIBA decisions on Russia and Belarus for upcoming competitions". fiba.basketball. 18 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ^ "Belarus during the 2023 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers in Nov. 2021". Retrieved 25 November 2021.
- ^ "Rostislav Vergun named head coach of Belarus national team". Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- ^ "Statement regarding the November 2020 and February 2021 Qualifiers". Retrieved 18 September 2020.
- ^ "Find out who is hosting the European Pre-Qualifiers Second Round". Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ "Gameday 3 fixture between Belarus and Great Britain postponed". fiba.basketball. 24 February 2022.
- ^ "Gameday 4 fixtures Netherlands - Russia and Great Britain - Belarus postponed". fiba.basketball. 25 February 2022.
- Official website (in Belarusian and Russian)
- Belarus at FIBA site
- Belarus National Team – Men at Eurobasket.com
- Belarus Basketball Records Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at FIBA Archive