All You Need To Know: Ireland v Azerbaijan

Following defeat to North Macedonia on Thursday, Ireland will play their final game of the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers on Sunday at 14:00 Irish time against Azerbaijan in Baku.

Head coach, Michael Bree believes it will be a ‘physical challenge’ in Baku: "Azerbaijan are a really well coached team," he said. "Their guards shot the ball really well in Dublin, so if we're not able to contest and disrupt at the point of attack, they will take the opportunity to do that again. It seems obvious but rebounding is really imporant, we need to improve on that area from Thursday to tonight if we're going to come away with a win on the road. Their confidence will be sky high, with a home crowd behind them too. I'm excited to see how our guys respond to that challenge." 

COMPETITION FORMAT 

Following the recent 77-56 loss to North Macedonia in Group A, Ireland sits with a 1-4 record, meaning qualification for the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 is not possible anymore. Ireland secured one win against Luxembourg in the National Basketball Arena in March 2026, where Sean Flood stood out with 16 points and 8 assists. Earlier losses to the fellow Group A teams gave Ireland a narrow chance at qualification before the North Macedonia encounter. Group A consists of four teams, where each team plays a home and away fixture against the other teams over three windows. Group B and Group C consist only of three teams.  

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 

All six senior debutants - Ben Stevens, Leeroy Odiahi, Declan Gbinigie, Aivaras Uosis, Tiernan Stynes and Victor Okojie - received game-time in the contest with North Macedonia, where Stevens and Stynes combined for 12 points. Sam Alajiki caught fire in Skopje, scoring a game-high 20 points while captain Sean Flood made 14 points and 9 assists. 

“There’s a reason North Macedonia are 4-0 and top of the group,” said head coach Michael Bree. “They gained 17 extra possessions, mostly through their offensive rebounding, so we’ll have to look back at the film to identify where we can be better there for sure.” 

OPPOSITION VIEW 

Ireland played host to Azerbaijan in February 2026 during the second window of their FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers. After previously losing to North Macedonia and Luxembourg, Ireland were looking to bounce back and contest in Group A. 

Threes from Sean Flood and Matt Zona edged Ireland 11-10 in front with four minutes gone. CJ Fulton, returning to the Irish squad for the first time in 18 months, got his first points six minutes in, to bring the game level at 13-13. A long range three by Wesley Van Beck had Azerbaijan 18-15 up with a little over a minute to go.  A basket from Ryan Leonard - who was making his EuroBasket debut – ensured Ireland went 19-18 ahead by the end of the first. 

Van Beck opened the second quarter with five points to put Azerbaijan 23-19 up. A shot clock buzzer-beating three from Jordan Blount narrowed the deficit. Threes from Zona and Sam Alajiki and another Quinn dunk nudged back in front 30-26 with four minutes gone. Azerbaijan got a run of threes through which helped them into a 39-32, but that scoring sequence was finally snapped by an Alajiki three, leading Azerbaijan to lead 41-35 at half-time.  

Back-to-back threes from Van Beck and Amil Hamzayev in the opening 40 seconds of the third quarter saw Azerbaijan 47-35 up and prompted an early timeout from Ireland head coach Michael Bree. Ireland came out of it with a Fulton driving layup and a pair of Blount free throws, so Ireland trailed 50-41 a minute and a half in. Alajiki and Zona helped cut the deficit to five, withIreland 59-54 behind going into the fourth. 

Alajiki got the crowd off their feet with a dunk to open the fourth quarter. Another Zona corner three and a pair of Flood free throws had Ireland in front, 62-61, two and a half minutes into the quarter.  Azerbaijani captain Hamzayev’s three with 1’33” to go saw them re-establish a five point cushion. Ireland responded with a corner three from Flood with 1’11 remaining. Mammadov slotted one of his two free throws to make it a three-point game, 76-73, but Ireland had possession with 15.4 seconds left and a driving layup from Flood closed it 76-75. Azerbaijan missed two free throws after that and a buzzer beating attempt from deep inside his own half by Alajiki rimmed out, to give the away side the narrowest of wins. 

Azerbaijan are currently ranked 99th in the world, which is 17 places behind Ireland at 82nd.  After recently beating Luxembourg, their two wins and three losses places them in third place in Group A.  

“Azerbaijan have picked up a big win for their programme tonight in Luxembourg, so they’ll be coming into Sunday full of confidence and we’ll need to turn the page quickly and refocus the minds to meet another physical challenge in Baku,” said Michael Bree.

HOW TO WATCH 

The game will be broadcast live on TG4 Player and app at 14:00 here.

Time to get to work in Baku 🪏

Watch the action live on the @SportTG4 player and app from 14:00! #GreenMeansGo ☘️ | #IrishBasketball pic.twitter.com/92Qe72eJtF

— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) July 5, 2026

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).