Final in Berlin! The games on TV! |
You have to do that about the 2022 European Basketball Championship
The 41st European Basketball Championship starts on September 1st. Sports fans across Europe can look forward to a great tournament until the final on September 18th.
The European basketball championship has been held by the European association Fiba since 1935. Therefore, this year’s European Championship also bears the official name: FIBA EuroBasket 2022.
But do you know what mode the tournament is played in? Where is the EM actually held? And what can we expect from the German team?
The EM participants
A total of 24 nations will compete at the 2022 European Championship. The first round is played in four groups of six teams each. Since 2015, this preliminary round has been played in four different countries. Each EM group thus has its own host country.
Group A (Georgia):
- Georgia
- Spain
- Montenegro*
- Turkey
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
*After Russia was excluded from the EURO, Montenegro moves up as the best non-qualified nation.
Group B (Germany):
- Deutschland
- France
- Lithuania
- Slovenia
- Hungary
- Bosnien-Herzegowina
Group C (Italy):
- Italy
- Greece
- Croatia
- Ukraine
- Great Britain
- Estonia
Group D:
- Czech Republic
- Serbia
- Poland
- Finland
- Israel
- Netherlands
The EM mode
► In the preliminary round, all group participants play against each other once. These games will take place in Tbilisi, Cologne, Milan and Prague from September 1st to 8th.
► The final round will be held from September 10th to 18th in the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin.
Fiba’s rules are slightly different from those of the NBA. A compact overview of the rules can be found here:
Die FIBA EuroBasket 2022 im TV
You need a Magenta Sports subscription to watch all the European Basketball Championship games on TV. Telekom’s pay TV station shows you the games live and exclusively. Great: Although the games are not on free TV, Magenta Sport has announced that it will show the German matches free of charge.
Germany at the basketball championship
The last time Germany was able to win the European Championship title was in 1993. Apart from the European Championship in 2005 (2nd place), we never made it into the top 3. Will that change this year?
The German European Championship preliminary round games at a glance:
- September 1: France – Deutschland
- 3. September: Deutschland – Bosnien-Herzegowina
- 4 September: Lithuania – Deutschland
- 6. September: Deutschland – Slovenia
- September 7: Hungary – Deutschland
The stars of the EM
► The three most important players in the German squad are NBA veterans Dennis Schroeder (league since 2013), NBA talent Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic) and Franz’ brother Moritz Wagner (Fortitudo Bologna).
► One of the most difficult opponents in the European Championship group for the Germans is France. The 2013 European Championship winner has several NBA players in the squad. One of them is Rudy Gobert (30). The 216 cm center of the Utah Jazz.
► Another star of the EM: Luka Dončić (23). The Slovenian is currently under contract with the Dallas Mavericks. With Dončić in the team, Slovenia was able to win the last European Championship.
►Giannis Antetokounmpo (27) should be familiar to most basketball fans. Since the “Greek Freak” was born in Athens, Giannis will compete for the national team of Greece.
►Besides Giannis, there is another big name at this year’s tournament: Nikola Jokic (27)! The four-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA MVP is the biggest star at FIBA EuroBasket 2022. With Jokić on the team, the Serbs will have legitimate hopes of winning the European Championship.
The European Championship winners of the last five tournaments
| Year | EM winner |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Slovenia |
| 2015 | Spain |
| 2013 | France |
| 2011 | Spain |
| 2009 | Spain |
