With Poland confirming Iceland as its partner country for EuroBasket 2025 on Wednesday, we now know all four of the teams taking the slots. Emmet Ryan assesses this pairing plus those of Cyprus and Greece, Finland and Lithuania, and Latvia and Estonia
It was the last piece waiting to fall into place. Who would Poland select as its partner country for EuroBasket 2025? Congratulations to Iceland, who will undoubtedly bring some Viking spirit to Katowice this summer. That makes this the perfect time to assess all four of the partnerships.
What even is a partner country?
Since EuroBasket switched to the multi-host model, the goal has been to improve crowds at gyms. Naturally, the host country can be relied upon to bring bodies for its games. It’s the others that bring up questions.
A full barn for all three group games on each gameday is a bit much to ask. Getting one of the two other games to have a solid turnout however is desirable. That’s why the selections for EuroBasket 2025, especially that of Poland, arouse interest.
The obvious one
There was a greater chance of me winning the EuroMillions than Cyprus not picking Greece as its partner country for EuroBasket 2025. In truth, getting Greece as its partner country was either a large or the main motivation behind Cyprus even seeking to be a co-host.
For context, Cyprus has never qualified for EuroBasket before this edition. Furthermore, it played through the full qualification cycle including pre-qualifiers. Over the course of 18 games across three stages, Cyprus had a 1-17 record. The lone win was an upset victory over Switzerland back in June of 2022.
On average, Cyprus lost by 19.9 points per game across the full run of qualifying. When focused on the main qualification spell, the average margin of defeat jumped to 29.3 points per game.
Have no doubt. This is all about Greece and the many fans they will bring.
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The Baltic-Nordic twist
I wasn’t surprised by the choices made by Finland and Latvia for EuroBasket 2025. I just expected each to go with the other’s choice.
Finland went with Lithuania, when I thought they’d opt for Estonia. Still, it’s a solid choice for the Finns. Lithuania, in addition to their well-known basketball heritage, always bring serious support wherever they go. While Tampere isn’t perfect, with no direct flights from Kaunas or Vilnius, it’s still fine. A mix of charter flights coupled with the reasonably priced train from Helsinki to Tampere makes it an easy enough journey.
The main reason I expected Latvia to pick Lithuania was because of just how well their fans seem to get along. For Estonia however this is probably the better spot as they will be eager to bring fans and the land neighbour of Latvia is an obviously easy option for those travelling. Given Estonia was well-represented in Italy last time out, it’s reasonable to expect a greater number of travelling fans.
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Poland play smart
Poland was always the wildcard when it came to selecting a partner country for EuroBasket 2025. Once it was clear that Ukraine wasn’t qualifying, they had to get thinking. Ukraine naturally would have fit due to the sheer number of Ukrainians in Poland right now, the affinity of the two nations, and the willingness of Ukrainians elsewhere in Europe to travel to watch any national team in a major tournament.
Ukraine’s not in EuroBasket 2025 so the obvious choice is off the table. Poland’s response was to make a really smart choice. Iceland may be tiny but, as the video above shows, these Vikings love basketball. They travelled in serious numbers for each of their previous EuroBasket appearances. Now, after an eight year wait and with their football team in decline, the potential for travelling support is enormous.
While neighbours like Germany may be more favoured and downright bigger, they can’t be counted on to bring as many to the group phase as Iceland. That’s quite wild to think considering Germany are (A) the world champions and (B) have a population 221 times that of Iceland’s. That’s not a knock on Deutschland, it shows just how eager Iceland fans will be to attend.
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