FIBA EuroBasket 2025: Which Nation Will Be Crowned Kings of Europe?
by Joseph King | by Joseph King
The 42nd edition of EuroBasket gets underway!
Great Britain and Lithuania get the honours of being the very first game of the tournament. There are six total games scheduled to play on the opening day of EuroBasket 2025 which includes tournament favourites Serbia taking on Estonia.
EuroBasket 2025 quick facts
- Dates: August 27th to September 14th
- Host nations: Cyprus, Finland, Latvia and Poland
- Venue of the final: Arena Riga, Riga (Latvia)
- Structure: 24 teams, 4 groups of 6 teams
- Record winners: Soviet Union (14 titles)
- Current champions: Spain (4 titles)
Spain look likely to be dethroned
Despite being the reigning champions and having won four of the last six EuroBasket tournaments, Spain come into this edition of the competition under serious threat of losing their crown.
Many bookmakers have them as between the fifth and eighth favourites to win this year’s title, a drastic drop off for a team that has been as dominant at La Roja has been over the last two decades.
This Spanish team looks to be going through a transition phase and they are without a number of their top players.
One of their most important pieces during the 2022 championship run, Lorenzo Brown, will miss out, along with players such as Alberto Diaz, Usman Garuba and Alberto Abalde.
On the bright side, they still have Willy Hernangomez, winner of the MVP award in the 2022 edition, along with his brother Juancho. They also have Santi Aldama to call upon, who is the only player on the squad that is currently plying his trade in the NBA.
Top players to watch in the 2025 EuroBasket
There are a number of some of the NBA’s biggest names headlining this tournament. Above them all, the big three: Jokic, Doncic and Antetokounmpo.
Nikola Jokic - Serbia
The centerpiece of tournament favourites Serbia and the best player in the NBA at the moment. Nikola Jokic has been absolutely dominating the world’s best league, putting up numbers rarely seen at that level before. The 30-year-old is a three-time league MVP (2021, 2022, 2024), with many thinking he should have won the award last year instead of OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Luka Doncic - Slovenia
One of the NBA’s biggest superstars, Slovenia’s Luka Doncic made his name on the Mavericks before one of the most shocking trades in NBA history saw him sent to the Los Angeles Lakers. He has yet to be named league MVP but he is consistently among the top favourites to win the award over the last five years. He led the Mavs to the Finals in 2024, where they finished as runners-up to the Celtics.
Giannis Antetokounmpo - Greece
Nicknamed ‘The Greek Freak’ Giannis is one of the NBA’s most frightening and dominant players. His combination of freakishly long length, power, and speed make him almost impossible to stop on the defensive end. He was named league MVP in 2019 and 2020 and led the Bucks to the NBA championship in 2021.
Other notable players:
- Kristaps Porzingis (Latvia)
- Alperen Sengun (Turkey)
- Franz Wagner (Germany)
- Lauri Markkanen (Finland)
Our prediction for the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket
Serbia are undoubtedly the favourites to be crowned champions and would be our pick to win it. They have arguably the strongest roster in the competition and are led by the world’s best player at the moment in three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.
Slovenia could be interesting dark horses to win the title with Doncic leading the way, especially when considering the excellent odds that you will be able to get on them at many of the best online betting sites.
While they don’t have the depth of the top contenders, 'Luka Magic' could lead them to a deep run. They won this tournament in 2017 with Doncic playing a key role in that team. Slovenia also made the quarter-finals of the 2023 FIBA World Cup and finished fourth in the 2020 Olympics.
Who will finish as the top scorer?
Much of the news in the NBA offseason has been around the new-look Luka, as the 26-year-old appears to have lost weight and looks to be in great shape. We’ll get a first-hand view of this potentially new-and-improved Doncic in this tournament and is something that is sure to have Lakers fans, and basketball fans as a whole, salivating at the mouth.
Greece has more favourable odds than Slovenia to win the title and will be led by Giannis Antetokounmpo. He has a history of putting up big point totals in this competition and led the way in 2022 with 29.3 points per game. One of either Doncic or Antetokounmpo look to be solid bets to win the title of top scorer.
