A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
FIBA ranking | 79 2 (1 March 2024)[1] | ||
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Joined FIBA | 2015 | ||
FIBA zone | FIBA Europe | ||
National federation | Federata e Basketbollit të Kosovës (FBK) | ||
Coach | Rami Hadar | ||
Nickname(s) | Dardanët (Dardanians) | ||
FIBA World Cup | |||
Appearances | None | ||
EuroBasket | |||
Appearances | None | ||
| |||
First international | |||
Slovenia 113–68 Kosovo (Ljubljana, Slovenia; 31 August 2016) | |||
Biggest win | |||
Kosovo 76–49 Switzerland (Prizren, Kosovo; 19 July 2023) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
Lithuania 106–50 Kosovo (Klaipėda, Lithuania; 26 February 2018) |
The Kosovo men's national basketball team (Albanian: Kombëtarja e basketbollit të meshkujve të Kosovës, Serbian: Кошаркашкa репрезентација Косова, romanized: Košarkaška reprezentacija Kosova) represents Kosovo in international basketball. They are controlled by the Basketball Federation of Kosovo, the governing body for basketball in Kosovo. Kosovo has been a member of FIBA since 13 March 2015.[2]
History
Pre-independence
The Basketball Federation of Kosovo was founded in 1991. During the Yugoslavian era, Kosovo had its own Superleague and lower divisions, in both genders. In the 1990s, Kosovo declared political and sports independence from the Yugoslav system, organising its own league, based on different teams from seven major cities of Kosovo. Some basketball players from Kosovo, especially Kosovo Serbs and Gorani, participated as part of the Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia national teams.
After independence
Kosovo were not allowed to play international matches, not even friendlies by FIBA, until 2015, when the Basketball Federation of Kosovo became an official member of FIBA and FIBA Europe. Kosovo took part in EuroBasket qualification for the first time in 2017.[3] On 31 August 2016, Kosovo played their first official international match against Slovenia during the EuroBasket 2017 qualifiers.[4]
A year later, the national team achieved their first ever win on 2 August 2017 by defeating Macedonia 72–68 in their first match during the 2019 FIBA World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers.[5] After the win, Kosovo would pick up one more victory during the Pre-Qualifiers, against Estonia 75–69 to finish with a (2–2) record to advance to the first round of World Cup qualifying.[6] In the next round, Kosovo would eventually see their World Cup hopes vanish, as the team went winless before being eliminated.[7] Despite all of that they maintain to reach the second qualifying round in their debut participation, reaching the round of 32 best Basketball teams in Europe.[8]
After missing out on reaching the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Kosovo went through pre-qualifiers in order to reach EuroBasket 2022. However, the team would only compile a (2–8) record during the pre-qualifying process to be unable to advance.[9]
Competitive record
FIBA World Cup
Olympic Games
|
EuroBasket
|
Results and fixtures
Win Loss
2023
19 July | Kosovo | 76–49 | Switzerland | Prizren, Kosovo |
---|---|---|---|---|
20:45 (UTC+2) | Scoring by quarter: 18–16, 23–8, 27–14, 8–11 | |||
Pts: Berisha 20 Rebs: Hajrizi 12 Asts: Artis 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Rocak 12 Rebs: Tutonda 7 Asts: Fofana 3 |
Arena: Sezai Surroi Sports Hall Attendance: 1,700 Referees: Paulo Marques (POR), Beniamino Attard (ITA), Franko Gracin (CRO) |
26 July | Denmark | 82–75 | Kosovo | Næstved, Denmark |
---|---|---|---|---|
18:00 (UTC+2) | Scoring by quarter: 27–16, 17–27, 25–22, 13–10 | |||
Pts: Lundberg 20 Rebs: Dibba 9 Asts: Jukić 7 |
Boxscore | Pts: Artis 23 Rebs: Berisha, Shoshi 6 Asts: Artis 4 |
Arena: Næstved Arena Attendance: 930 Referees: Geert Jacobs (BEL), Sergii Zashchuk (UKR), Javier Torres (ESP) |
29 July | Switzerland | 72–76 | Kosovo | Fribourg, Switzerland |
---|---|---|---|---|
17:30 (UTC+2) | Scoring by quarter: 21–20, 18–15, 22–21, 11–20 | |||
Pts: Tutonda 15 Rebs: Fofana 10 Asts: Fofana 7 |
Boxscore | Pts: Artis 22 Rebs: Hajrizi 8 Asts: Artis 4 |
Arena: Salle Saint-Lèonard Attendance: 840 Referees: Gintaras Vitkauskas (LTU), Alexandre Deman (FRA), Valentin Oliot (FRA) |
5 August | Kosovo | 63–88 | Denmark | Prizren, Kosovo |
---|---|---|---|---|
20:45 (UTC+2) | Scoring by quarter: 17–24, 11–23, 17–21, 18–20 | |||
Pts: Artis, Janjeva 11 Rebs: Hajrizi 6 Asts: Hajrizi 3 |
Boxscore | Pts: Lundberg 28 Rebs: Zohore 9 Asts: Lundberg 5 |
Arena: Sezai Surroi Sports Hall Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Yener Yılmaz (TUR), Gellért Kapitány (HUN), Mehmet Şahin (TUR) |
2024
22 February | Kosovo | 83–76 | Ireland | Pristina, Kosovo |
---|---|---|---|---|
19:00 (UTC+1) | Scoring by quarter: 22–17, 23–21, 20–19, 18–19 | |||
Pts: Hajrizi 20 Rebs: Hajrizi 9 Asts: Tmušić 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Blount 27 Rebs: Blount 13 Asts: Badmus 4 |
Arena: Palace of Youth and Sports Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Ali Şakacı (TUR), Jan Baloun (CZE), Edgard Ceccarelli (FRA) |
25 February | Azerbaijan | 87–77 | Kosovo | Baku, Azerbaijan |
---|---|---|---|---|
14:00 (UTC+4) | Scoring by quarter: 19–19, 24–25, 16–16, 28–17 | |||
Pts: Aydın 27 Rebs: Hall 14 Asts: Shirzadov 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Berisha 20 Rebs: Kapiti 6 Asts: Mala 6 |
Arena: Sarkhadchi Sport Center Referees: Andžej Urbanovič (LTU), Ritvars Helmšteins (LAT), Viktor Nagy (HUN) |
21 November | Switzerland | vs. | Kosovo | Switzerland |
---|---|---|---|---|
Boxscore |
2025
20 February | Kosovo | vs. | Azerbaijan | Kosovo |
---|---|---|---|---|
Boxscore |
23 February | Kosovo | vs. | Switzerland | Kosovo |
---|---|---|---|---|
Boxscore |
Team
Current roster
The following is the Kosovo roster called up for the 2027 FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers first round matches against Ireland and Azerbaijan, on 22 and 25 February 2024.[10]