International

Jul 10 2026

Preview: FIBA U20 Men's Youth EuroBasket 2026 in Bratislava, Slovakia

Ireland’s preparation is underway for their opening fixture of the FIBA Youth EuroBasket 2026 in Bratislava, Slovakia. They take on North Macedonia on the 11th of July to kick their tournament off, with the games being broadcast live on FIBA's YouTube Channel and also on the Basketball Ireland website.

OUR OPPOSITION

Ireland will compete in Division B of the FIBA U20 Youth EuroBasket 2026, alongside twenty other nations seeking promotion to Division A. Currently ranked 79th in the world based on their 2025 performance, Ireland have been drawn in Group A alongside Slovakia (72nd), North Macedonia (49th), Sweden (39th) and Azerbaijan (95th).

They will play four matches over five days starting on July 11th, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the quarter-finals. The third, fourth and fifth placed teams will go into the 9-21st classification games.

SQUAD NEWS

Ireland U20 MNT head coach Thomas Walsh has selected two debutants in his final squad for the FIBA U20 Men's Youth EuroBasket 2026 with Franciszck Chmielecki and Gustas Pocevicius to appear on the big stage for the first time.

Fortune Igbokwe, Harry Scully and Declan Gbinigie are the three returning players from the squad who played at the FIBA U20 Youth EuroBasket, while Adam Charles, Darragh Horkan, Stanley Njekwe and Dylan O'Rourke have previously represented Ireland at U16 & U18 level.

Eight of the confirmed squad play their basketball in Ireland, while two players - Stanley Njekwe and Victor Okojie - are playing overseas in the USA. There will be seven Irish clubs represented at U20 level, including Declan Gbinigie and Fortune Igbokwe of Titans BC who won the U20 Men's National Cup earlier this year at the National Basketball Arena.

"We arrived on Wednesday in Bratislava and went straight to practice. We had a great rest on Tuesday and had a double session on Thursday since we are off on Friday," said head coach Thomas Walsh. "The players are training with high energy and communication. We’ll scout a game on Friday and continue our preparation while resting. North Macedonia will be tough for our first game but we are really looking forward to game day!"

LAST TIME OUT

In 2025, Ireland came runners-up in their group after winning three out of four matches, in a group with Latvia, Montenegro, Armenia and Estonia. This set up a quarter-final encounter with Croatia, where the Irish side lost out to the eventual silver-medalists.

They were then drawn against the rest of the nations who suffered defeat in the quarter-finals, where they had a narrow loss to the Netherlands and an emphatic win against Kosovo to earn seventh place, which was a best ever performance for an Irish men's team at U20 level.

IRELAND SQUAD

Adam Charles (Éanna BC), Darragh Horkan (Limerick Sport Eagles), Declan Gbinigie (Titans BC/University of Galway), Fortune Igbokwe (Titans BC/University of Galway), Nathan Gbinigie (Titans BC), Dylan O’Rourke (Neptune BC), Franciszck Chmielecki (Drogheda Wolves), Gustas Pocevicius (Moy Tolka Rovers), Harry Scully (Dublin Lions), Stanley Njekwe (Post University, USA), Victor Okojie (UMass Lowell, USA) , Cillian O'Connell (Portlaoise Panthers)