One of the most prestigious basketball tournaments for nations gets underway this mid-week, as the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket competition will start this Wednesday. Spain will be the defending champions this year, having defeated France in the 2022 final. Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and more of the NBA stars will feature in this tournament.
The 2025 FIBA EuroBasket draw was an interesting one, as there are at least two big teams in each group, which will increase the competitiveness in the group stage. The competition starts on Wednesday, 27 August, and runs until Sunday, 14 September 2025. Lithuania will take on Great Britain in the opening matchup on Wednesday in Group B. The event will be held in four different countries this edition: Finland, Poland, Cyprus, and Latvia. All of the playoff games will be played at the Xiaomi Arena in Riga, Latvia.
| ℹ️ Tournament: | 2025 FIBA EuroBasket (Men’s Basketball European Championship) |
| 🏀 Venue: | Venues in Cyprus, Finland, Poland, and Latvia |
| 🗓️ Dates: | 27 August – 14 September, 2025 |
The EuroBasket events were held every two years since their establishment until the 2017 edition, but it was decided to be a quadrennial event after that. The competition consists of 24 of the finest European teams. The teams are split equally into four groups of six teams each, with each team facing all the other teams in their groups once.
The top four teams from each group will qualify for the playoffs, while the bottom two teams will be eliminated. There will be single-elimination matches starting from the quarterfinals in the playoffs until a champion is crowned, in addition to the third-place match for the bronze medal.
The FIBA EuroBasket tournament was first held in 1935 in Switzerland, just a few years after the establishment of FIBA, and Latvia won the first-ever title at that event. The upcoming EuroBasket will be the 42nd edition of the competition, and it will be the fourth straight event that sees four different countries holding the competition.
The Soviet Union has dominated the EuroBasket events in the early ages, having won 14 gold medals, which is by far the most by any other nation. Yugoslavia also won a fair share of tournaments in the 70s and 90s, making them the second team on the gold medal list with eight titles. Spain comes after that with four championships, and all of them were in the last 16 years.
The Spaniards have been on top of the gold medals list in the last few tournaments, as shown in the results of the last five FIBA EuroBasket finals here:
The best basketball bookies have released the odds to win the Basketball European Cup 2025 tournament, so let’s take a look at the top contenders and favorites for the championship:
The Serbian team is the clear favorite to win the title, according to the latest 2025 Europa Cup basketball odds. They have one of the best duos in this tournament, if not the best, Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic, and they have some important role players as well, like the Miami Heat’s Nikola Jovic and the Washington Wizards’ Tristan Vukcevic. The Eagles have never won the tournament, but they have two silver medals in the last six editions. They are in great form, having won 12 consecutive games in all competitions.
The Mannschaft are now the No. 3 team on the 2025 FIBA world ranking. They last won the EuroBasket title in 1993 when they hosted the tournament, but they have been a dangerous team in the last few events, having won the bronze medal in the last EuroBasket edition. Germany won eight of their last nine games, and they have looked sharp in both of their friendly games against Spain last week.
The Blues have won silver medals in the 2025 Summer Olympics and the 2022 EuroBasket, and they are currently on a nine-game winning streak. France will miss Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert, and Evan Fournier in this tournament, so they won’t have some of their firepower, but they still have Theo Maledon, Zaccharie Risacher, and Alexandre Sarr. The French team would have a much better chance of winning the title if they were at full depth, but they still have enough to reach the semifinals at least.
Greece’s hopes for the tournament will be on Giannis Antetokounmpo having an exceptional performance. The two-time NBA MVP winner will carry the team, but it will be a very hard task to win the title, as they don’t have enough players to support him, and they haven’t reached the semifinals in 15 years. The team won four of seven friendly games before the tournament.
La Roja has been the most successful team in the last two decades, having won four of the last six EuroBasket editions. They are going into this tournament without a lot of key players, as Pau Gasol and Ricky Rubio have retired. Santi Aldama is the only active NBA player on the team now, so they are much weaker than they have been in previous years. The Spaniards have lost five of their six friendly games in August, so there aren’t a lot of positives for them going into this tournament.
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The EuroLeague bookmakers ideally know top European players, and the odds for Germany to win this tournament are underestimated. They have one of the most balanced teams, as Franz Wagner and Dennis Schröder are in fine form and are contenders for the MVP Award, while Tristan da Silva, Daniel Theis, and Isaac Bonga are capable of giving them enough support to push for the championship.
The Mannschaft have the best value to win the title, as they usually play well against Serbia, beating them in three of their last six head-to-head games, and they have looked great this year so far.
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Luka Doncic is undoubtedly the main star of the Slovenian team, and they will depend on him to do what he does best: scoring points. Luka was great with the Los Angeles Lakers last season, finishing as the fourth-highest scoring player in the league, and he was in the top three scorers list in the 2024/23 and 2023/22 NBA seasons. Doncic always gives it all when playing for Slovenia, and he is at the peak of his career, so we expect a big performance from him.
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The battle to top Group C will most likely be between Greece and Spain, as all of the other four teams aren’t at the same level as those two teams. The Spaniards have been struggling in 2025, and they have kept the bad run with five losses from six games before the tournament, while Giannis Antetokounmpo will be up for this matchup, as there are no big players on the Spain team that can stop him, so he will do whatever he wants at the rim. Half of La Roja’s usual starting lineup has retired, so this is a good opportunity for Greece to win the group.
To conclude our FIBA EuroBasket 2025 betting guide, here are the recommended betting tips:
This year’s EuroBasket tournament has a lot of good teams that will compete for the title, and we will go with Germany to win it all. Make sure you use our 2025 EuroBasket predictions and bet them at the best sportsbooks to have more fun watching the event.
