Kosovo_men's_national_basketball_team
Kosovo men's national basketball team
Represents Kosovo in international basketball
The Kosovo men's national basketball team (Albanian: Kombëtarja e basketbollit të meshkujve të Kosovës, Serbian: Кошаркашкa репрезентација Косова, romanized: Košarkaška reprezentacija Kosova) represents Kosovo in international basketball. They are controlled by the Basketball Federation of Kosovo, the governing body for basketball in Kosovo. Kosovo has been a member of FIBA since 13 March 2015.[2]
| FIBA ranking | 79  2 (1 March 2024)[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Joined FIBA | 2015 | ||
| FIBA zone | FIBA Europe | ||
| National federation | Federata e Basketbollit të Kosovës (FBK) | ||
| Coach | Rami Hadar | ||
| Nickname(s) | Dardanët (Dardanians) | ||
| FIBA World Cup | |||
| Appearances | None | ||
| EuroBasket | |||
| Appearances | None | ||
|
| |||
| First international | |||
 Slovenia 113–68 Kosovo  (Ljubljana, Slovenia; 31 August 2016) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Kosovo 76–49 Switzerland  (Prizren, Kosovo; 19 July 2023) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Lithuania 106–50 Kosovo (Klaipėda, Lithuania; 26 February 2018) | |||
Pre-independence
The Basketball Federation of Kosovo was founded in 1991. During the Yugoslavian era, Kosovo had its own Superleague and lower divisions, in both genders. In the 1990s, Kosovo declared political and sports independence from the Yugoslav system, organising its own league, based on different teams from seven major cities of Kosovo. Some basketball players from Kosovo, especially Kosovo Serbs and Gorani, participated as part of the Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia national teams.
After independence
Kosovo were not allowed to play international matches, not even friendlies by FIBA, until 2015, when the Basketball Federation of Kosovo became an official member of FIBA and FIBA Europe. Kosovo took part in EuroBasket qualification for the first time in 2017.[3] On 31 August 2016, Kosovo played their first official international match against Slovenia during the EuroBasket 2017 qualifiers.[4]
A year later, the national team achieved their first ever win on 2 August 2017 by defeating Macedonia 72–68 in their first match during the 2019 FIBA World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers.[5] After the win, Kosovo would pick up one more victory during the Pre-Qualifiers, against Estonia 75–69 to finish with a (2–2) record to advance to the first round of World Cup qualifying.[6] In the next round, Kosovo would eventually see their World Cup hopes vanish, as the team went winless before being eliminated.[7] Despite all of that they maintain to reach the second qualifying round in their debut participation, reaching the round of 32 best Basketball teams in Europe.[8]
After missing out on reaching the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Kosovo went through pre-qualifiers in order to reach EuroBasket 2022. However, the team would only compile a (2–8) record during the pre-qualifying process to be unable to advance.[9]
FIBA World Cup
Olympic Games
|
EuroBasket
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Win Loss
2023
| 19 July | Kosovo |
76–49 | Switzerland |
Prizren, Kosovo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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) |
||
| 26 July | Denmark  |
82–75 | Kosovo |
Næstved, Denmark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:00 (UTC+2) | Scoring by quarter: 27–16, 17–27, 25–22, 13–10 | ||||
| Pts: Lundberg 20 Rebs: Dibba 9 Asts: Jukić 7 |
Boxscore | Pts: Artis 23 Rebs: Berisha, Shoshi 6 Asts: Artis 4 |
Arena: Næstved Arena Attendance: 930 Referees: Geert Jacobs (BEL), Sergii Zashchuk (UKR), Javier Torres (ESP) |
||
| 29 July | Switzerland |
72–76 | Kosovo |
Fribourg, Switzerland | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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) |
||
| 5 August | Kosovo |
63–88 | Denmark |
Prizren, Kosovo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:45 (UTC+2) | Scoring by quarter: 17–24, 11–23, 17–21, 18–20 | ||||
| Pts: Artis, Janjeva 11 Rebs: Hajrizi 6 Asts: Hajrizi 3 |
Boxscore | Pts: Lundberg 28 Rebs: Zohore 9 Asts: Lundberg 5 |
Arena: Sezai Surroi Sports Hall Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Yener Yılmaz (TUR), Gellért Kapitány (HUN), Mehmet Şahin (TUR) |
||
2024
| 22 February | Kosovo |
83–76 |  Ireland |
Pristina, Kosovo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 (UTC+1) | Scoring by quarter: 22–17, 23–21, 20–19, 18–19 | ||||
| Pts: Hajrizi 20 Rebs: Hajrizi 9 Asts: Tmušić 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Blount 27 Rebs: Blount 13 Asts: Badmus 4 |
Arena: Palace of Youth and Sports Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Ali Şakacı (TUR), Jan Baloun (CZE), Edgard Ceccarelli (FRA) |
||
| 25 February | Azerbaijan  |
87–77 | Kosovo |
Baku, Azerbaijan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14:00 (UTC+4) | Scoring by quarter: 19–19, 24–25, 16–16, 28–17 | ||||
| Pts: Aydın 27 Rebs: Hall 14 Asts: Shirzadov 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Berisha 20 Rebs: Kapiti 6 Asts: Mala 6 |
Arena: Sarkhadchi Sport Center Referees: Andžej Urbanovič (LTU), Ritvars Helmšteins (LAT), Viktor Nagy (HUN) |
||
2025
v Azerbaijan
| 20 February | Kosovo |
vs. | Azerbaijan |
Kosovo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boxscore | |||||
v Switzerland
| 23 February | Kosovo |
vs. | Switzerland |
Kosovo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boxscore | |||||
Current roster
The following is the Kosovo roster called up for the 2027 FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers first round matches against Ireland and Azerbaijan, on 22 and 25 February 2024.[10]
| Kosovo men's national basketball team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Depth chart
- As of 30 June 2022
Head coach history
| No. | Name | Period | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arben Krasniqi |
2011–2017 | 0–6 |
| 2 |  Brad Greenberg |
2017–2018 | 2–8 |
| 3 |   Damir Mulaomerović |
2018–2019 | 1–7 |
| 4 |  Christos Marmarinos |
2020–2023 | 3–7 |
| 5 |  Rami Hadar |
2023– | 3–3 |
Retired numbers
| No. | Player | Position | Tenure | Date of retirement | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Gazmend Sinani | Center | 2016–2018 | 25 June 2018 (2018-06-25) | [11] |
- "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- "Kosovo becomes 215th National Member Federation of FIBA". FIBA. 13 March 2015. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015.
- "Kosova në kualifikimet për Eurobasket 2017" [Kosovo in qualifications for Eurobasket 2017] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 22 October 2015.
- "Kosovo during the EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers". Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- "Fitore e madhe e Kosovës ndaj Maqedonisë" [Biggest win of Kosovo against Macedonia] (in Albanian). Basketball Federation of Kosovo. 3 August 2017. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
Kosova të mërkurën mbrëma në Pallatin e Rinisë dhe Sporteve në Prishtinë para rreth 2000 shikuesve e ka mposhtur Maqedoninë me rezultat 72:68 (23:11, 17:9, 15:23, 17:25)
- "Kosovo during the 2019 FIBA World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers". Retrieved 19 August 2017.
- "Kosovo during the 2019 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers". Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- "Kosovo during the EuroBasket 2022 Pre-Qualifiers". Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- "Lista e gjerë e Kosovës" [Extensive list of Kosovo] (in Albanian). Basketball Federation of Kosovo. 5 February 2024.
- "Fanella me numër 15 e Përfaqësueses së Kosovës pensionohet me emrin e Gazmend Sinanit" [Kit with number 15 of Kosovo national team retired with name of Gazmend Sinani] (in Albanian). Basketball Federation of Kosovo. 25 June 2018.
Fanella me numër 15 e Përfaqësueses së Kosovës në basketboll do të pensionohet me emrin e basketbollistit Gazmend Sinani, i cili e humbi jetën në një aksident rrugor në orët e hershme të mëngjesit të së shtunës në Gjakovë
- Official website (in Albanian, English, and Serbian)
- Kosovo FIBA profile
- Kosovo National Team – Men at Eurobasket.com