EuroBasket
Current season, competition or edition: EuroBasket 2017
|
|
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1935 |
| Inaugural season | 1935 |
| No. of teams | 24 |
| Countries |
 FIBA Europe member associations |
| Continent |
FIBA Europe (Europe) |
| Most recent champion(s) |
 Spain (3rd title) |
| Most titles |
 Soviet Union (14 titles) |
| Related competitions |
FIBA European Championship for Small Countries EuroBasket Women |
| Official website |
www.EuroBasket.com/ www.FIBAEurope.com |
EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition contested biannually by the men's national teams governed by FIBA Europe, the European zone within the International Basketball Federation. The championship was first held in 1935 and has been regularly contested every two years since 1947; starting in 2017, it will change to a four-year cycle.
EuroBasket 1991 was the first EuroBasket tournament in which currently active NBA players, that had also already played in an official NBA regular season game were allowed to participate. All EuroBasket tournaments from the 1991 edition onward, are thus considered as fully professional level tournaments.
Through 2017, it also alternates between serving as a qualifying tournament for the Summer Olympic Games and the FIBA Basketball World Cup. The most successful nation is the now defunct Soviet Union with fourteen titles. Spain are the reigning champions, having won their third title in 2015.
24 European teams take part in the final competition. The qualification format that existed until EuroBasket 2011 permitted 16 teams to compete. Eight spots were determined by the host nation and the top seven finishers of the previous EuroBasket. The remaining Division A teams compete in a qualification tournament. There, they were divided into four groups. Each group played a double round-robin. The top team in each group qualified for EuroBasket. The best three of the four runners-up also qualified.
Of the ten teams that did not qualify in the qualification tournament, the six best got another chance in the additional qualification round. The remaining four competed in a relegation round, with two being sent to Division B for the next qualification cycle (and replaced by the two best teams from Division B).
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