Ireland drawn alongside Croatia and Luxembourg in FIBA EuroBasket pre-qualifying third round

Ireland have been drawn alongside Croatia and Luxembourg in the third round of FIBA Men’s EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifying, following the draw which took place in Switzerland this afternoon.

Mark Keenan’s side will open up their condensed campaign live on TG4 at the National Basketball Arena on Wednesday July 19^th against Croatia, who could boast NBA stars Bojan Bogdanović of the Detroit Pistons and the LA Clippers Ivica Zubacs in their ranks for the trip to Dublin.

Ireland will then travel to Luxembourg on Wednesday July 26^th, before facing the reverse fixture against the Croatians three days later (Saturday, July 29^th), concluding by welcoming Luxembourg to the National Basketball Arena on Saturday, August 5^th. All games will be broadcast on TG4.

Croatia have qualified for every FIBA EuroBasket competition since 1993, finishing 12^th at the most recent event last year. Luxembourg last qualified for FIBA EuroBasket in 1955 but have contested the ‘B’ Division on four occasions, most recently in 2011.

Ireland reached this stage after finishing third in their initial qualifying group. Defeats against Austria and Switzerland book-ending two wins against Cyprus to close with a 2-4 record. ‘A very exciting group for us, with world powerhouse Croatia alongside Luxembourg and ourselves,’ said head coach Mark Keenan. ‘I see this as a great opportunity for us to play against the best and show what we can do. Luxembourg we know well from friendly internationals and they are a very dangerous side and not to be under estimated. We were negotiating some more friendly games with them as perpetration for this competition, but those plans will go out the window now.’ he added. 

Croatia are currently ranked 25^th in the FIBA World Rankings, Luxembourg are 77^th, with Ireland a further 19 spots back in 96^th. Only the top team in the group will secure qualification for FIBA EuroBasket 2025. 

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Fixtures:

Away venues and times TBC

Ireland v Croatia, National Basketball Arena, Wednesday, July 19^th, TBC

Luxembourg v Ireland, Wednesday July 26^th, TBC

Croatia v Ireland, Saturday July 29^th, TBC

Ireland v Luxembourg, National Basketball Arena, Saturday August 5^th, TBC