The Portugal men's national basketball team () represents

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

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 ...

competition. The team is controlled by the

Portuguese Basketball Federation The Portuguese Basketball Federation () is the governing body for basketball in Portugal. Established on 17 August 1927, it became one of the eight founding national member federations of FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ...

. Portugal doesn't have much history on the international stage, although they have qualified for the

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 ...

four times (

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 ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

). While Portugal has made multiple appearances at the continental level, they continue their quest to qualify for the global stage at 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 ...

History

Early years

The

was founded in 1927, with the national team playing in their first match on 24 May 1931, a 9–32 defeat to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Portugal would become a co-founder 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 ...

in 1932. Three years later, in 1935, Portugal played in the only qualifying game for the first European Basketball Championship. The Portuguese lost the game 33–12 against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, which eliminated the team from qualification.

EuroBasket 1951

After Portugal's failed attempt to qualify for the European Championship in 1935, and declining to enter the competition multiple times thereafter, Portugal made their debut at the Euros for

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 ...

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 ...

. The national team got off to a lethargic start to begin the tournament, as they lost 35–81 in their first ever match in the event to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. In Portugal's final two games of the preliminary round, the team would fall once again to

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, but would pick up their first official victory in the competition with a walkover win after

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 ...

withdrew. With a record of (1–2), and sitting in third place in the group, Portugal could not progress any further; and was relegated to the classification rounds. In the classification phase, Portugal lost its first two matches against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and

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 ...

, but would pullout a close win over

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 ...

49–52. Finishing with a duplicate record of (1–2) once again, Portugal was sent to the classification play-offs to determine 13th–16th place. The national team would go on to lose their match to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, before turning around to defeat

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, to end the event placing 15th overall out of the 18 teams.

EuroBasket 2007

At the conclusion of Portugal's first appearance at the European Championship in 1951, the national team would fail to make it back to the competition for the next five decades. However, Portugal would end their drought when they made their second appearance on the continental stage at

EuroBasket 2007 The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – ...

(''first time through qualification'') by finishing first in their group during the qualifiers. Entering the preliminary round, Portugal's first match of the tournament came against the hosts Spain, where the team suffered a heavy defeat 56–82. After dropping their second game of the competition to

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, Portugal earned a crucial victory in their final preliminary phase match against

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 ...

77–67. The important win over Latvia ultimately was enough to propel the team into the second round of the tournament for the first time. Portugal began the second round with a loss against

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 ...

, who eventually went on to become champions of the competition; before picking up a solid victory in their second game of the round versus

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

94–85. Although with an opportunity to advance to the quarter-finals all but gone, Portugal would easily be defeated by

85–67 in their final game of the event. Nevertheless, the performance displayed by Portugal throughout the tournament was their best showing at the Euros ever to that point; which ensured the national team a top ten finish.

EuroBasket 2011

After missing out on

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the EuroBasket in 2009, Portugal was successful during the qualifiers for

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted the 1939 champions ...

. Portugal was placed into

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...

to begin the tournament, where they would meet

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in their first match. However, the team was outplayed from start to finish, in a 79–56 loss. At a record of (0–1), Portugal's task of winning their next match would be even tougher, with a date against Spain. Even with a valiant effort put up by the national team, Spain were just too much to overcome in the 73–87 defeat. For Portugal's final three group stage matches, the team was unable to put together an efficient stretch of basketball for a full game, which resulted in three more losses to prevent the team from advancing.

EuroBasket 2017 qualification

In the attempt for Portugal to reach the European Championship once again, after failed opportunities to qualify in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

; the national team was placed into

Group D Group D may refer to: * FIA Group D - International Formula racing cars: ** Formula Two ** Formula Three ** Formula 3000 * One of six or eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup ** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group D ** 2018 FIFA Worl ...

during the qualifying process. However, Portugal struggled in their first five matches in the qualifiers (0–5), to come away with their only win against

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

77–62 before being eliminated.

2019 World Cup qualification

During qualification for Portugal to advance toward making their first appearance in the

, the team first had to make it through European Pre-Qualifiers in order to realize their chance. Unfortunately, the national team was unable to improve on their performance they would display during qualifying for the prior EuroBasket, and would fail to progress further with a record of (1–3).

2020s–present

After Portugal's failure to qualify for the EuroBasket on multiple occasions after their last appearance in 2011, the team began the procedure to try to qualify for

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 ...

. Portugal began their journey with the Pre-Qualifiers, being drawn into Group C for the first round. In their opening game, the team would lose in a narrow contest to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, before defeating

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. With two games left to go in the first round, Portugal put away Cyprus in the rematch before cruising past Luxembourg once again to advance into the second phase of pre-qualifiers at (3–1). In the second round, however, Portugal's fortunes would completely be reversed as the team went (1–3) in this phase, to need the third and final round to determine their fate. There, Portugal would only manage to achieve slightly better results at (2–2), but still finished at the bottom of their group again to be eliminated.

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup

Olympic Games

Lusofonia Games

EuroBasket

Results and fixtures

2024

2025

2026

Team

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers matches on 21 and 24 February 2025 against

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Depth chart

Head coach position

Notable players

Past rosters

1951 EuroBasket 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 ...

: finished 15th among 18 teams 3 Mário Almeida, 4 Bernardo Leite, 5 Rui Duarte, 6 Avelino Carmo, 7 Máximo Couto, 8 Lenine Santos, 9 José Oliveira,
10 Antonio Cardoso, 11 César Cardoso, 12 Domingos Diogo, 14 José Almeida, 15 João Coutinho (Coach: Fernando Amaral) ----

2007 EuroBasket The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to th ...

: finished 9th among 16 teams 4

Miguel Minhava Miguel António Cabrita Minhava (born 5 November 1983, Lisbon) is a Portuguese former basketball player. He developed his basketball skills from a young age, playing for his hometown and youth basketball club. He later played for CF Belenenses a ...

, 5

Mário Gil Fernandes Mário Gil Andrade Fernandes (born 25 April 1982) is a Portuguese basketball player who has most notably played for Benfica, having also represented his local club CAB Madeira, AAC Coimbra, Swedish side Jämtland Basket, Spanish sides Balneario ...

, 6

Sérgio Ramos Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latin ''gens'' Sergia or Sergii of regal and republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honour of Saint Sergius, or in Kyivan Rus', of Sergius of the Holy Caves ...

, 7 Paulo Cunha, 8

Francisco Jordão Francisco José Coragem Jordão (born 30 December 1979 in Lisbon) is a Portuguese basketball player. He measures 2.00 metres and plays as a forward. External links * EuroBasket 2007 The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA Eu ...

, 9

Filipe da Silva Filipe da Silva (born 30 November 1979 in Guimarães) is a Portuguese-French professional basketball coach and former player. Professional career In his pro career, he played with the Spanish club CB Villa de los Barrios. External links French ...

, 10 João Gomes,
11

Jorge Coelho Jorge Miguel Correia Coelho (born 18 October 1978) is a Portuguese former basketball player. He played at his home country for Portugal Telecom (1999/2000-2002-2003), CF Belenenses (2003/2004-2005/2006) and FC Porto (2006/2007). Coelho was also ...

, 12

Paulo Simão Paulo Simão (born April 27, 1976) is a Portuguese people, Portuguese basketball player, who plays for CF Belenenses (basketball), CF Belenenses. He has played for the Portugal national basketball team.Elvis Évora Elvis Garcia Monteiro Évora (born 4 February 1978) is a Portuguese former basketball player who played as a center. He played for Porto, from 1998/1999 to 2004/2005. After a season at Iberostar Tenerife, he moved back to Portugal, playing for ...

, 14 Miguel Miranda 15 João Santos (Coach: Valentin Melnychuk) ---- 2011 EuroBasket: finished 21st among 24 teams 4 António Tavares, 5 José Costa, 6 Miguel Minhava, 7 Fernando Sousa, 8

Cláudio Fonseca Cláudio dos Santos Fonseca (born January 22, 1989) is a Portuguese professional basketball player who plays as a center for CAB Madeira. Club career Born in Lisbon, Fonseca basketball career started in 2006, when at 17, he joined the junior te ...

, 9

, 10

Carlos Andrade Carlos Eduardo Fernandes Vieira de Andrade (born April 27, 1978) is a former Portuguese basketball player who played as a small forward. Andrade played college basketball in the United States, and had brief spells in Germany and Spain. He is the ...

,
11 José Silva, 12

Elvis Évora Elvis Garcia Monteiro Évora (born 4 February 1978) is a Portuguese former basketball player who played as a center. He played for Porto, from 1998/1999 to 2004/2005. After a season at Iberostar Tenerife, he moved back to Portugal, playing for ...

, 13 Marco Goncalves, 14 Miguel Miranda, 15 João Santos (Coach:

Mário Palma Mário Leonel Faria Borges de Palma (born 27 June 1950) is a Portuguese basketball coach. Career Palma was the coach of Angola at their first appearance at the FIBA Africa Championship, in 1980, finishing in seventh place. He later would be the ...

)

Kit

Manufacturer

*2012:

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2015 Elvis Evora Photos - Standard Life Team GB Men v Portugal - Basketball
Zimbio.com, Retrieved 8 July 2016. *2020–present: Dhika

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