Sweden men's national basketball team

Sweden
FIBA ranking51 Decrease 1 (1 March 2024)[1]
Joined FIBA1952
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationSBBF
CoachMikko Riipinen
Nickname(s)Blågult
(The Blue and Yellow)
Olympic Games
Appearances1
MedalsNone
FIBA World Cup
AppearancesNone
EuroBasket
Appearances10
MedalsNone
First international
 Sweden 55–45 Denmark 
(Stockholm, Sweden; 6 December 1952)
Biggest win
 Sweden 128–61 Azerbaijan 
(Norrköping, Sweden; 24 August 2011)
Biggest defeat
 Soviet Union 103–31 Sweden 
(Budapest, Hungary; 10 June 1955)

The Sweden men's national basketball team (Swedish: Sveriges herrlandslag i basket) represents Sweden in international basketball competition. The national team is controlled by the Swedish Basketball Federation.

Sweden has qualified for the EuroBasket ten times throughout their history. Their best tournament result was the 11th place finish at the 1995 edition. The Scandinavian squad has also qualified for the Olympic Games once, in 1980, finishing in 10th place. However, Sweden still seeks qualification for their first appearance to the FIBA World Cup.

History

EuroBasket 1953

Sweden's European Basketball Championship debut came at EuroBasket 1953 in Moscow. Although the Swedes did not fare well in their first tournament appearance. As they lost all seven of their matches to finish in last place in the 17 team tournament.

EuroBasket 1955

Sweden's second appearance on the continental level came at EuroBasket 1955 in Budapest. The team got off to an demoralizing start by losing to Switzerland in their first match. Although Sweden would achieve their first ever win at the EuroBasket against Luxembourg in their second match of the preliminary phase. However, they followed it by losing their next two matches in the round as well to Romania, and the Soviet Union. They finished 4th out of the 5 teams in the group with an (1-3) record, and found themselves in the classification rounds. There, the team once again finished with an (1-3) record in their pool, with their only victory coming against Denmark. Two losses in the classification 13th–16th place semifinals and the 15th/16th place final (a rematch against Luxembourg) put Sweden at 16th place of the 18 teams.

Later years

Sweden qualified for the EuroBasket eight more times with their three best finishes coming in 1969, 1983 and 1995. They also made their lone Summer Olympics appearance in 1980. But overall the national team has struggled to reach an elite level of consistency to become a serious medal contender at major international tournaments. At some events, however, the team displayed potential. E.g. at the EuroBasket 2013 they beat the heavily favored former champion Russia 81-62.

Competitive record

Results and fixtures

  Win   Loss

2024

22 February 2024 Sweden  84–70  Bulgaria Partille, Sweden
19:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 29–22, 21–21, 12–12, 22–15
Pts: Pantzar 16
Rebs: Gaddefors 9
Asts: Pantzar 5 		Boxscore Pts: Miller-McIntyre 21
Rebs: Minchev 13
Asts: Ivanov 4 		Arena: Partille Arena
Attendance: 4,567
Referees: Boris Krejić (SVN), Mihkel Männiste (EST), Ilias Kounelles (CYP)
25 February 2024 Montenegro  95–70  Sweden Podgorica, Montenegro
19:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 27–24, 23–13, 25–20, 20–13
Pts: Perry 18
Rebs: Simonović 8
Asts: Perry 5 		Boxscore Pts: Njie 15
Rebs: Gaddefors 8
Asts: Borg, Njie 4 		Arena: Morača Sports Center
Attendance: 5,500
Referees: Antonio Conde (ESP), Andris Aunkrogers (LAT), Valentin Oliot (FRA)
22 November 2024 Sweden  vs.  Germany Sweden
Boxscore
25 November 2024 Germany  vs.  Sweden Germany
Boxscore

2025

20 February 2025 Bulgaria  vs.  Sweden Bulgaria
Boxscore
23 February 2025 Sweden  vs.  Montenegro Sweden
Boxscore

Team

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers matches on 22 and 25 February 2024 against Bulgaria and Montenegro.[2][3]

Sweden men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
PF 1 Denzel Andersson 27 – (1996-09-21)21 September 1996 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Bilbao Spain
C 2 Adam Ramstedt 28 – (1995-07-24)24 July 1995 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) Norrköping Sweden
PG 6 Tobias Borg 30 – (1993-11-02)2 November 1993 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Andorra Spain
PG 7 Felix Terins 25 – (1998-04-24)24 April 1998 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Norrköping Sweden
C 15 Mattias Markusson 27 – (1996-04-10)10 April 1996 2.17 m (7 ft 1 in) Fos Provence France
F/C 16 Nick Spires 29 – (1994-02-25)25 February 1994 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Södertälje Sweden
F 18 Viktor Gaddefors 31 – (1992-10-08)8 October 1992 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) San Giobbe Italy
G 19 Melwin Pantzar 23 – (2000-04-10)10 April 2000 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Bilbao Spain
SG 21 Johan Löfberg 28 – (1995-07-08)8 July 1995 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Stade Rochelais France
PF 27 Zaba Bangala 22 – (2001-11-13)13 November 2001 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Feyenoord Netherlands
PG 31 Barra Njie 23 – (2001-01-13)13 January 2001 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Braunschweig Germany
SF 44 David Höök 24 – (1999-04-07)7 April 1999 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Alicante Spain
Head coach
  • Finland/Sweden Mikko Riipinen
Assistant coach(es)
  • Spain Boris Balibrea
  • Sweden Joakim Källman
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 22 February 2024

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Simon Birgander Mattias Markusson
PF Denzel Andersson Nicholas Spires
SF Viktor Gaddefors Erik Rush David Höök
SG Tobias Borg Pelle Larsson Felix Terins
PG Ludvig Håkanson Melwin Pantzar Tim Schuberg

Head coach position

  • Canada Rolf Nilsson – (1991–1997)
  • Sweden Jan Enjebo – (1998–2004)
  • Greece Kostas Flevarakis – (2005–2010)
  • United States Brad Dean – (2010–2013)
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina Vedran Bosnić – (2014–2018)
  • Spain Hugo López – (2018–2021)
  • Sweden Kenneth Grant – (2021 Interim)
  • Sweden Ludwig Degernäs – (2021–2023)
  • Finland/Sweden Mikko Riipinen – (2023–present)

Past rosters

1953 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 17 teams

3 Rune Erkers, 4 Kjell Eliasson, 5 Sture Herrman, 6 Staffan Widén, 7 Bo Widén, 8 Örjan Widén, 9 Åke Larsson, 10 Lars Olsson, 11 Erik Sundell, 12 Bengt Gustafsson, 13 Lars-Erik Keijser, 14 Per-Åke Hallberg (Coach: Lars-Åke Nilsson)

1955 EuroBasket: finished 16th among 18 teams

3 Staffan Widén, 4 Bo Widén, 5 Örjan Widén, 6 Jan Holmberg, 7 Alvin Tornblom, 8 Lars Helgostam, 9 Sture Herrman, 10 Per-Åke Hallberg, 11 Palle Cardell, 12 Bengt Gustafsson, 13 Jan Oldenmark, 14 Anders Renner, 15 Gustaf Ragge, 16 Nils af Trolle (Coach: Lars-Åke Nilsson)

1961 EuroBasket: finished 18th among 19 teams

4 Svante af Klinteberg, 5 Staffan Widén, 6 Udo Tohver, 7 Bo Widén, 8 Torbjörn Langemar, 9 Alvin Törnblom, 10 Bjorn Lundberg, 11 Lars Andersson, 12 Curt Wennström, 13 Örjan Widén, 14 Gunars Kraulis, 15 Lennart Dahllöf (Coach: Juris Reneslacis)

1965 EuroBasket: finished 16th among 16 teams

4 Hans Albertsson, 5 Jörgen Hansson, 6 Anders Grönlund, 7 Rune Leinas, 8 Per-Olof Svensson, 9 Ulf Lindelöf, 10 Björn Lundberg, 11 Torbjörn Langemar, 12 Lars Cullert, 13 Per-Olof Lefwerth, 14 Kaj Håkansson, 15 Egon Håkanson (Coach: Rolf Nygren)

1969 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 12 teams

4 Kjell Gunna, 5 Bo Lundmark, 6 Anders Grönlund, 7 Ulf Lindelöf, 8 Arturs Veigurs, 9 Ebbe Edström, 10 Janos Fugedi, 11 Jan Hjorth, 12 Per-Olof Lefwerth, 13 Kjell Rannelid, 14 Hans Albertsson, 15 Jörgen Hansson (Coach: Arne Jansson)

1980 Olympic Games: finished 10th among 12 teams

4 Peter Andersson, 5 Thomas Nordgren, 6 Peter Gunterberg, 7 Göran Unger, 8 Torbjörn Taxén, 9 Joon-Olof "Jonte" Karlsson, 10 Jan Enjebo, 11 Bernt Malion, 12 Roland Rahm, 13 Sten Feldreich, 14 Leif Yttergren, 15 Åke Skyttevall (Coach: Mike Perry)

1983 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 12 teams

4 Bill Magarity, 5 Bernt Malion, 6 Peter Nyström, 7 Jerry Sehlberg, 8 Thomas Nordgren, 9 Joon-Olof "Jonte" Karlsson, 10 Kenny Grant, 11 Bo Faleström, 12 Roland Rahm, 13 Sten Feldreich, 14 Göran Eriksson, 15 Åke Skyttevall (Coach: Sven Jensen)

1993 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 16 teams

4 Olle Håkanson, 5 Magnus Tegel, 6 Örjan Andersson, 7 Henrik Evers, 8 Henrik Gaddefors, 9 Peter Borg, 10 Martin Jansson, 11 Jens Tillman, 12 Torbjörn Gehrke, 13 Anders Marcus, 14 Per Stümer, 15 Mattias Sahlström (Coach: Rolf Nilsson)

1995 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 14 teams

4 Olle Håkanson, 5 Örjan Andersson, 6 Christian Larsson, 7 Henrik Evers, 8 Henrik Gaddefors, 9 Jonas Larsson, 10 Oscar Lefwerth, 11 Joakim Blom, 12 Torbjörn Gehrke, 13 Anders Marcus, 14 Vincent Lundahl, 15 Mattias Sahlström (Coach: Rolf Nilsson)

2003 EuroBasket: finished 16th among 16 teams

4 Paul Burke, 5 Hakan Larsson, 6 Jens Stalhandske, 7 Mats Levin, 8 Oluoma Nnamaka, 9 Jonas Larsson, 10 Lesli Myrthil, 11 Joakim Blom, 12 Fredrik Jonzen, 13 Christian Maråker, 14 John Pettersson, 15 Daniel Dajic (Coach: Jan Enjebo)

2013 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 24 teams

4 Ludvig Håkanson, 5 Jonathan Skjöldebrand, 6 Joakim Kjellbom, 7 Dino Pita, 8 Anton Gaddefors, 9 Brice Massamba, 10 Kenny Grant, 11 Jonas Jerebko, 12 Thomas Massamba, 13 Erik Rush, 14 Jeffery Taylor, 15 Viktor Gaddefors (Coach: Brad Dean)

Kit

Manufacturer

Sponsors

  • Previously: Adlibris
  • 2018–present: SJ (back)
  • 2023–present: Nocco (front)

See also

References

  1. ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Herrlandslagets trupp till EM-kvalet uttagen". basket.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Sweden during the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers in February 2024". Retrieved 22 February 2024.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sweden men's national basketball team.
  • Official website (in Swedish)
  • Sweden FIBA profile
  • Sweden National Team – Men at Eurobasket.com
  • Sweden Basketball Records at FIBA Archive

Videos

  • Sweden v Turkey – Full Game – FIBA EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers Youtube.com video
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sweden_men%27s_national_basketball_team&oldid=1210286051"