The Switzerland men's national basketball team (, , , ) represents
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
in international
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
. The managing body for the national team is
Swiss Basketball
Swiss Basketball is the governing sports body of the top-tier level professional basketball leagues in Switzerland. Established in 1929, the organization has its headquarters in Fribourg. Swiss Basketball also manages the Swiss national teams, t ...
.
Switzerland has competed at five
EuroBasket
EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...
tournaments (
1935
Events
January
* January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims.
* January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...
,
1946
1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...
,
1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...
,
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
,
1955
Events January
* January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama.
* January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut.
* January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...
) in their history. The national team has also made three appearances at the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
(
1936
Events January–February
* January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House.
* January 28 – Death and state funer ...
,
1948
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
,
1952
Events January–February
* January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
* February 6
** Princess Elizabeth, ...
). However, Switzerland has struggled over the past decades to once again qualify to international competitions. They also continue their pursuit to clinch their debut trip to the
FIBA World Cup
The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition between the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's global governing body. It takes place every four ye ...
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
at
EuroBasket 1935
The 1935 FIBA European Championship, commonly called EuroBasket 1935, was the first FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA, as well as a test event preceding the first Olympic basketball tournament at the 1936 Summer Olym ...
. The national team finished fourth in the ten team tournament, defeating
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
and
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
in the preliminary round to advance to the semifinals. There they lost to
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
, resulting in a playoff for third place against
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
which the Swiss lost 25–23.
EuroBasket 1946
Switzerland did not play in the European championship again until the post-war, at
EuroBasket 1946
The 1946 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1946, was the fourth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA and the first since 1939 due to World War II. Ten national teams affiliated with the Internat ...
, which they hosted. There, they placed second in their three-team preliminary group after losing to the eventual champions Czechoslovakia 20–17, but defeating
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
38–33. That preliminary round finish put the Swiss into a 5th/6th place playoff against the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, which Switzerland won 36–25.
EuroBasket 1951
The next Swiss entry into the European Basketball Championship was at the
EuroBasket 1951
The 1951 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1951, was the seventh FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Eighteen national teams affiliated with FIBA e ...
tournament in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. Switzerland finished the preliminary round with a 1–3 record, 4th in their group. They fared little better in the first classification, taking 3rd in the group with a 1–2 record. In the second classification round, the Swiss won the classification 13-16 and 13/14 games to finish in 13th place of 18 teams, with a 4–5 record.
EuroBasket 1953
EuroBasket 1953
The 1953 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1953, was the eighth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Seventeen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) e ...
in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
was the fourth appearance of the Swiss. The tournament began poorly for the team, as they finished last in their preliminary pool at 0–3. It got somewhat better for them after that, as they took second in their first classification pool with 2 wins and a loss. They dropped their 9-12 semifinal to
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, but defeated
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
in the 11/12 final to take 11th of 17 overall.
EuroBasket 1955
Switzerland competed next at the
EuroBasket 1955
The 1955 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1955, was the ninth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Eighteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) enter ...
tournament in
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
. Their 2–2 record in preliminary round put them in 3rd of the five-team group and relegated them to the classification rounds. They had similar results there, again taking a 2–2 record and 3rd of 5 teams. They won their classification 13-16 semifinal, but lost to
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
in the 13/14 game to finish 14th of 18 teams.
Later years
The
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland.
After Japan declared in ...
and the
1955 EuroBasket
The 1955 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1955, was the ninth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Eighteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) ente ...
are the last major international basketball tournaments that the country qualified for. Since then, it lost its international significance despite occasional strong showings at qualification games. E.g. Switzerland surprisingly beat former European Champion
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
at the qualification for the
2015 EuroBasket
EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 Sept ...
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
and
Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
Petar Aleksić
Petar Aleksić (born 2 November 1968) is a Bosnian–Swiss professional Coach (basketball), basketball coach and former basketball player.
Playing career
As a professional player, he played in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Hungary, Swi ...
– (2013–2017)
*
Gianluca Barilari
Gianluca Barilari (born 14 February 1964) is a Swiss professional basketball coach. He was head coach of the Switzerland national team from 2017 to 2021. Before 2017, Barilari coached club teams in Italy, Turkey and Switzerland
Switz ...
Thabo Sefolosha
Thabo Patrick Sefolosha (; born 2 May 1984) is a Swiss former professional basketball player. He played in the NBA, the Turkish Basketball League, LNB Pro A, and Lega Basket Serie A. In 2006, he became the first player from Switzerland to play i ...
– First Swiss-born player to get drafted and play in the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
.
*
Clint Capela
Clint N'Dumba Capela (born May 18, 1994) is a Swiss professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Known for his rebounding and shot-blocking abilities, he was selected with the 25th overall p ...
René Karlen
René Karlen (born 18 April 1907, date of death unknown) was a Swiss basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially ...
Jean Pare
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* Jean ...
1936 Olympic Games 1936 Olympics may refer to:
*The 1936 Winter Olympics, which were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
*The 1936 Summer Olympics, which were held in Berlin, Germany
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