Switzerland men's national basketball team

Switzerland
FIBA ranking62 Increase 1 (1 March 2024)[1]
Joined FIBA1932 (co-founders)
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationSwiss Basketball
CoachIlias Papatheodorou
Nickname(s)Nati
(National Team)
Rossocrociati
(Red Crosses)
Olympic Games
Appearances3
MedalsNone
FIBA World Cup
AppearancesNone
EuroBasket
Appearances5
MedalsNone
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)

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.

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.

History

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.

Competitive record

Results and fixtures

  Win   Loss

2023

19 July 2023 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)
22 July 2023 Switzerland  46–60  Denmark Fribourg, Switzerland
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)
29 July 2023 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)
2 August 2023 Denmark  94–81   Switzerland Næstved, Denmark
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)

2024

22 February 2024 Switzerland  72–53  Azerbaijan Fribourg, Switzerland
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)
25 February 2024 Ireland  63–86   Switzerland Dublin, Ireland
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)
21 November 2024 Switzerland  vs.  Kosovo Switzerland
Boxscore
24 November 2024 Azerbaijan  vs.   Switzerland Azerbaijan
Boxscore

2025

20 February 2025 Switzerland  vs.  Ireland Switzerland
Boxscore
23 February 2025 Kosovo  vs.   Switzerland Kosovo
Boxscore

Team

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
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
G 0 Boris Mbala 28 – (1996-01-19)19 January 1996 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Lions de Genève Switzerland
F 1 Michel-Ofik Nzege 31 – (1992-10-14)14 October 1992 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Aix Maurienne France
SF 2 Anthony Polite 26 – (1997-06-21)21 June 1997 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) Breogán Spain
G 4 Robert Zinn 29 – (1995-02-22)22 February 1995 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Lions de Genève Switzerland
PG 7 Selim Fofana 24 – (1999-07-08)8 July 1999 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Bayreuth Germany
PG 11 Yuri Solcà 23 – (2000-08-29)29 August 2000 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Massagno Switzerland
F/C 12 Laurent Zoccoletti 24 – (1999-11-17)17 November 1999 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Ármann Iceland
PF 13 Killian Martin 25 – (1998-04-03)3 April 1998 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Fribourg Switzerland
PF 19 Noé Anabir 28 – (1995-05-28)28 May 1995 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Lions de Genève Switzerland
G/F 21 Dylan Ducommun 20 – (2004-01-30)30 January 2004 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Fribourg Switzerland
SG 30 Noah Burrell 26 – (1997-05-28)28 May 1997 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Poissy France
PF 99 Natan Jurkovitz 28 – (1995-04-04)4 April 1995 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Fribourg Switzerland
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Greece Dimitris Menoudakos
  • Switzerland Patrick Pembele
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 Laurent Zoccoletti Natan Jurkovitz
PF Killian Martin Michel-Ofik Nzege
SF Anthony Polite Noé Anabir Dylan Ducommun
SG Robert Zinn Noah Burrell
PG Selim Fofana Boris Mbala Yuri Solcà

Head coach position

Notable players

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: ?)

Kit

Manufacturer

  • Erima
  • 2017: Li-Ning[4]
  • 2018: 14Fourteen

2017: Tissot[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Switzerland during the 2027 FIBA World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers in February 2024". Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Un entraîneur de renom à la tête de l'équipe de Suisse". Retrieved 13 July 2021. (in French)
  4. ^ a b FIBA EuroBasket 2017, FIBA.com, Retrieved 31 August 2017.

External links

  • 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
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