International

Aug 16 2026

Ireland U16 MNT finish 11th at FIBA U16 Youth EuroBasket

A victory on the final day of the FIBA U16 Youth EuroBasket earned Ireland an 11^th place finish in Skopje, North Macedonia. Oliver Ettery averaged over 18 points per game, leading Ireland to an exceptional 4-3 record.

Ireland won two out of four games in the group phase, followed by another two wins in the classification games to secure one place higher than their 2025 finish. The squad’s only returning player, Nojus Vasikauskas, scored 95 points over seven games, leading his side to a positive record for the tournament.

"We performed better than our final position suggests, having been neck and neck with the top eight teams in an extremely tough group until the closing minutes of our games, so we know we left games on the line, but overall, we are really happy that we surpassed our goals in key areas of focus." said head coach Emer Howard. "Nojus (Vasikauskas), Hubert (Gocek) and Oliver (Ettery), having been with our programme for two years, gave us a really solid base to build from in terms of culture and style of play. Building on that foundation with nine very talented young athletes was a joy.

"We’ve had a lot of fun and have seen massive growth across the 12 players, and it’s all thanks to a great management team and the work put in by every player and their parents," added Howard.

Ireland were drawn into Group A alongside Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia and Montenegro, where they emerged with 2-2 record. Ireland opened their campaign with a narrow loss to Netherlands, as the Dutch side came away seven-point winners.

The Irish side flipped the script in game two, beating Portugal by seven points after producing a phenomenal second quarter display, which saw them outscore the Portuguese by 23-8. Oliver Ettery stepped up for 26 points and 14 rebounds to lead Ireland in the boxscore.

Oliver Ettery in action against Montenegro at the FIBA U16 Youth EuroBasket, 2026

Hubert Gocek’s double-double of 24 points and 10 assists in game three helped Ireland beat Slovakia by 96-67. The ultimate game of the group ended in defeat, with Montenegro winning to advance to the final eight and Ireland finishing third to secure a spot in the 9-16 classification games.

North Macedonia awaited Ireland in their first classification game after finishing fourth in Group B. Ireland went into the break with a two-point lead before ending up 83-58 winners with a stellar second-half display. Nojus Vasikauskas and Oliver Ettery scored 17 points each, while Giovanni Osadolor secured 10 rebounds in a well-rounded Irish performance.

Finland faced Ireland in the penultimate contest of the tournament. Despite Ireland leading by six points going into the final quarter, Finland turned the screw and took home a ten-point win, setting Ireland up with Austria to battle it out for 11-12 place.

Austria took a solid 14-point lead into the break, but the resilient Irish side produced an extraordinary second half performance to win by 11. The final quarter saw Ireland put up 28 points, only allowing Austria to score seven.