The Kosovo men's national basketball team (, ) represents

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 ...

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 ...

. They are controlled by the

Basketball Federation of Kosovo The Basketball Federation of Kosovo ( Albanian: ''Federata e Basketbollit e Kosovës'', /''Košarkaški savez Kosova'') is the governing body of basketball in Kosovo. It organizes the Kosovo Basketball Superleague and the Kosovo Basketball Cup. ...

, the governing body for basketball in Kosovo. Kosovo has been a member of

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

since 13 March 2015.

History

Pre-independence

The

was founded in 1991. During the Yugoslavian era, Kosovo had its own

Superleague Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

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 Kosovo Serbs form the largest ethnic minority group in Kosovo (5–6%). The precise number of Kosovo Serbs is difficult to determine as they have boycotted national censuses. However, it is estimated that there are about 95,000 of them, nearly ...

and Gorani, participated as part of the

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

national teams, while some

Kosovo Albanians The Albanians of Kosovo (, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars (), constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the Albanians, ethnic Albanian sub-group of Ghegs, who inhabit the ...

chose to represent

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

like Florian Miftari and Edmond Azemi. In 2005, the Kosovo national team participated in a friendly tournament in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

where they played against

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

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 ...

. The roster included names like Artan Mehmeti, Edmond Azemi,

Ersid Ljuca Ersid Ljuca () is a former Kosovan-Albanian professional basketball player. He was born in Bijelo Polje in Montenegro into an Albanian family and represented Albania and Kosovo. Professional career In October 2014, Ljuca signed for Jedinstvo ...

, Samir Shaptahu, Florian Miftari, Mujo Thaçi, Naim Haxha, Granit Rugova, Blerim Mazreku, Edis Kuraja and Valdet Grapci. Coached by Bujar Loci and Mark Rodiqi, Kosovo surprisingly won both games. The national team played numerous friendlies with

known as the Brotherly derby.

After independence

Kosovo were not allowed to play international matches, not even

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

by FIBA, until 2015, when the Basketball Federation of Kosovo became an official member of FIBA and

FIBA Europe FIBA Europe is the administrative body for basketball in Europe, within the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA), which includes all List of men's national basketball teams#FIBA Europe, 50 national European basketball federations. ...

. Kosovo took part in

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 ...

qualification for the first time in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. On 31 August 2016, Kosovo played their first official international match against Slovenia during the EuroBasket 2017 qualifiers. A year later, the national team achieved their first ever win on 2 August 2017 by defeating

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

72–68 in their

first match ''First Match'' is a 2018 American drama film written and directed by Olivia Newman, based on her 2010 short film of the same name. The film stars Elvire Emanuelle, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo, Jharrel Jerome, and Jared Kemp. The film p ...

during the 2019 FIBA World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers. After the win, Kosovo would pick up one more victory during the Pre-Qualifiers, against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

75–69 to finish with a (2–2) record to advance to the first round of World Cup qualifying. In the next round, Kosovo would eventually see their World Cup hopes vanish, as the team went winless before being eliminated. 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. After missing out on reaching the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Kosovo went through pre-qualifiers in order to reach

EuroBasket 2022 The EuroBasket 2022 was the 41st edition of the EuroBasket championship organized by FIBA Europe. It was the first since it was agreed it would take place every four years, with a similar system of qualification as for the FIBA Basketball World C ...

. However, the team would only compile a (2–8) record during the pre-qualifying process to be unable to advance.

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup

Olympic Games

EuroBasket

Results and fixtures

2024

2025

Team

Current roster

The following is the Kosovo roster called up for the 2027 FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers first round matches against

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 ...

and

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 ...

, on 21 and 24 February 2024.

Depth chart

Head coach history

Retired numbers

References

External links

Official website

Kosovo FIBA profileKosovo National Team – Men
at Eurobasket.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kosovo men's national basketball team

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 ...

Men's national basketball teams

Senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

2016 establishments in Kosovo National sports teams established in 2016