All You Need To Know: Ireland v Armenia

Ireland will begin their match preparations for the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers in Los Angeles as they face-off against Armenia in an international friendly. Michael Bree has selected six uncapped players in his 12-man squad, with the intent of trialling these debutants ahead of the games against North Macedonia and Azerbaijan.

COMPETITION FORMAT

Ireland picked up their first win in Group A of the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers against Luxembourg, after an impressive 91-85 victory on home soil. Stellar scoring from Ryan Leonard, Sean Flood and Matt Zona secured the points for Ireland, as they made it a 1-3 record in the group stages. Earlier losses to Azerbaijan, North Macedonia and Luxembourg placed Ireland bottom of Group A as they look ahead to the final two contests in the upcoming window.

Four teams - the three group winners and the best-ranked runners-up will advance to the Second Round where they will join eight teams from the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Qualifiers First Round.

You can find more information about the competition format here.

SQUAD NEWS

Head coach, Michael Bree has made some significant changes to the squad that featured in the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers in February and March, 2026. Six senior debutants have made the roster, including Ben Stevens (Alliance Montreal), Leeroy Odiahi (Western Kentucky, USA), Declan Gbinigie (Titans BC), Aivaras Uosis (Carsen Newman University, USA), Tiernan Stynes (Quincy University, USA) and Victor Okojie (UMass Lowell, USA).

Rapolas Buivydas (Belfast Star), Sean Flood (unattached), Sean Fitzpatrick (UCD Marian), Sam Alajiki (Hapoel Galil Elion, Israel) and Adrian O’Sullivan (Ballincollig) will return to the squad after a successful second window. Max Amadasun (Cultural Y Deportiva Leonesa, SPA) has returned to the squad having featured in the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Qualifiers in November, 2025.

"Armenia is a great opportunity for us. It’s a game where we can sample some things, look at different players, give them more of a chance and give them an opportunity to fail, essentially," said Michael Bree. “I'm quite optimistic about who they are and what they can do as a team. There is so much potential and the opportunity is there for us as a group. The one thing they're all lacking is a little bit of experience. They're all really talented individuals. They're all coming from different backgrounds or in different situations, whether it's college or professionally.”

Sean Flood and Sean Fitzpatrick at Irish practice in the National Basketball Arena ahead of Ireland v Armenia

OPPOSITION VIEW

In June 2024, Ireland and Armenia played out an end-to-end game that went down to the wire in the final of the Los Angeles International Basketball Cup. Ireland hit the ground running in this contest, with John Carroll and Sean Flood combining for five points in the opening plays. There were only six points between the sides at the end of the first quarter, with Ireland going into the break up 17-23.

The home side didn’t back down, as they clawed the deficit back with some sharp-shooting and lockdown defence, finding themselves one point ahead going into half-time. Adrian O’Sullivan and Matt Treacy meant business in the third quarter with some lethal shooting from beyond the arc. Taiwo Badmus and Sam Alaijiki kept the scoreboard tipping over too with some dominance in the paint, leading the sides to go level at the end of the third quarter, tied up at 66-66.

The final quarter was an offensive masterclass from both teams, with a combined 51 points scored between the teams. Ireland went six clear with less than four minutes on the clock, after Eamonn Joyce and Sam Alaijiki linked up to find Adrian O’Sullivan for a corner-three. Armenia, once again, dug deep and went 87-86 up with only 100 seconds left, before turning the Irish ball over twice to extend the lead to six points. Flood and Treacy narrowed the scoreline to one-point, but time ran out for Ireland as Armenia came away 92-91 winners.

Armenia are currently ranked 40th in Europe, only three spots behind Ireland who sit at 37th. They were drawn into Group B of the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers alongside Norway and Bulgaria, where they sit bottom with 0-3 record. In their recent matchup against Bulgaria, Darius Mc Ghee stood out for the Armenians, scoring 35 points and making 9/9 free throws. 

Watch

The game will be broadcast live on YouTube on Sunday, 28th of June at 1:00, link will be published ahead of the game. 

Ireland Squad:

Max Amadasun (Cultural Y Deportiva Leonesa, SPA), Rapolas Buivydas (Belfast Star), Sean Flood (Heroes Den Bosch, NED), Sean Fitzpatrick (UCD Marian), Sam Alajiki (Giorgio Tesi Group Pistona, ITA), Declan Gbinigie (Titans BC), Aivaras Uosis (Carsen Newman University, USA), Ben Stevens (Alliance Monteral, CAN), Adrian O’Sullivan (Ballincollig BC), Tiernan Stynes (Quincy University, USA), Leeroy Odiahi (Western Kentucky, USA), Victor Okojie (UMass Lowell, USA).