All You Need To Know: Ireland v North Macedonia

Ireland will begin their third window of the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers against North Macedonia in Skopje this Thursday, having narrowly lost the home leg in Dublin. Michael Bree threw six debutants into the mix for their international friendly against Armenia last week, giving them game experience for the upcoming matches.

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, CAN), 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 (Heroes Den Bosch, NED), Sean Fitzpatrick (UCD Marian), Sam Alajiki (Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia, ITA) and Adrian O’Sullivan (Ballincollig BC) will return to the squad after a successful second window. Max Amadasun (Cultural Y Deportiva Leonesa, SPA) also rejoins to the squad having featured in the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Qualifiers in November, 2025.

The squad remains unchanged after their international friendly with Armenia last week, with Michael Bree being impressed with the new players, saying "The guys got some very important reps in Los Angeles. We're trying to build our core group and this window is a great opportunity for the six rookies to put up their hand and say I've got to be back here for the next window. I'm really happy with how they've all settled into the group, so we're all just really looking forward for another chance to execute what we've been working on in practice against North Macedonia. "

North Macedonia's Andrej Jakimovski challenges Sam Alajiki of Ireland in the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers, November 2025

OPPOSITION VIEW

Ireland welcomed North Macedonia to the National Basketball Arena, Dublin in November 2025 for the second game of the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers. A strong start from Ireland led them to a seven point lead after the first quarter, with current captain Sean Flood opening the scoring with a smooth three. Seven different scorers put Ireland in a strong place going into the second quarter.

The sides were trading score for score at the start of the second quarter, before Lejson Zeqiri and Vojdan Stojanovski began to tilt the scoreboard in North Macedonia’s favour. Sean Flood levelled the game with only 26 seconds left on the clock, but Andrej Magdevski secured a bucket to send the away side into half-time with a two-point lead.

Ireland’s Sam Alaijiki took matters into his own hands in the third quarter, scoring ten points including a dunk that got the whole Arena on their feet. Neal Quinn found himself under the basket before the end of the quarter to give Ireland a one-point advantage going into the final session.

North Macedonia’s top two scorers, Andrej Jakimovski and Jacob Wiley, turned up the heat in the final quarter and put Ireland under serious pressure. Taiwo Badmus and Sean Flood led the scoring for Ireland in the final ten minutes, but the visitors widened the gap and finished 76-88 winners.

North Macedonia are currently ranked 62nd in the world, with dangerous scorers in Wiley and Jakimovski who are averaging over 20 points-per-game. Their 4-0 record puts them top of Group A in the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers. 

HOW TO WATCH

The game will be broadcast live on TG4 at 17:00.

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).