The Sweden men's national basketball team () represents

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

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 national team is controlled by the

Swedish Basketball Federation The Swedish Basketball Federation () also known as SBBF is the governing body of basketball in Sweden. It was established on 25 October 1952 out of the Swedish Handball Federation's basketball section, which had been started in 1948. Its headqu ...

. Sweden has 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 ...

11 times throughout their history. Their best tournament result was the 11th place finish at the 1995 edition. The Scandinavian squad has also qualified for 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 ...

once, in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, finishing in 10th place. However, Sweden still seeks qualification for their first appearance 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 ...

History

EuroBasket 1953

Sweden's European Basketball Championship debut came at

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 ...

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 ...

. Although the Swedes did not fare well in their first tournament appearance. As they lost all seven of their matches to finish in last place in the 17 team tournament.

EuroBasket 1955

Sweden's second appearance on the continental level came at

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 ...

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 ...

. The team got off to an demoralizing start by losing to

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 their first match. Although Sweden would achieve their first ever win at the EuroBasket against

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 ...

in their second match of the preliminary phase. However, they followed it by losing their next two matches in the round as well to

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 the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. They finished 4th out of the 5 teams in the group with an (1-3) record, and found themselves in the classification rounds. There, the team once again finished with an (1-3) record in their pool, with their only victory coming against

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 ...

. Two losses in the classification 13th–16th place semifinals and the 15th/16th place final (a rematch against Luxembourg) put Sweden at 16th place of the 18 teams.

Later years

Sweden qualified for the

eight more times with their three best finishes coming in

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

. They also made their lone

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

appearance in

. But overall the national team has struggled to reach an elite level of consistency to become a serious medal contender at major international tournaments. At some events, however, the team displayed potential. E.g. at the

EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France men's national basketball ...

they beat the heavily favored former 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 ...

81-62.

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup

Olympic Games

EuroBasket

Results and fixtures

2024

2025

2026

Team

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers matches on 20 and 23 February 2025 against

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 ...

and

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

Depth chart

Head coach position

* Rolf Nilsson – (1991–1997) * Jan Enjebo – (1998–2004) * Kostas Flevarakis – (2005–2010) * Brad Dean – (2010–2013) * Vedran Bosnić – (2014–2018) * Hugo López – (2018–2021) * Kenneth Grant – (2021, Interim) * Ludwig Degernäs – (2021–2023) */ Mikko Riipinen – (2023–present)

Past rosters

1953 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 17 teams 3 Rune Erkers, 4 Kjell Eliasson, 5 Sture Herrman, 6 Staffan Widén, 7 Bo Widén, 8 Örjan Widén, 9 Åke Larsson, 10 Lars Olsson, 11 Erik Sundell, 12 Bengt Gustafsson, 13 Lars-Erik Keijser, 14 Per-Åke Hallberg (Coach: Lars-Åke Nilsson) ----

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 ...

: finished 16th among 18 teams 3 Staffan Widén, 4 Bo Widén, 5 Örjan Widén, 6 Jan Holmberg, 7 Alvin Tornblom, 8 Lars Helgostam, 9 Sture Herrman, 10 Per-Åke Hallberg, 11 Palle Cardell, 12 Bengt Gustafsson, 13 Jan Oldenmark, 14 Anders Renner, 15 Gustaf Ragge, 16 Nils af Trolle (Coach: Lars-Åke Nilsson) ---- 1961 EuroBasket: finished 18th among 19 teams 4 Svante af Klinteberg, 5 Staffan Widén, 6 Udo Tohver, 7 Bo Widén, 8 Torbjörn Langemar, 9 Alvin Törnblom, 10 Bjorn Lundberg, 11 Lars Andersson, 12 Curt Wennström, 13 Örjan Widén, 14 Gunars Kraulis, 15 Lennart Dahllöf (Coach: Juris Reneslacis) ---- 1965 EuroBasket: finished 16th among 16 teams 4 Hans Albertsson, 5 Jörgen Hansson, 6 Anders Grönlund, 7 Rune Leinas, 8 Per-Olof Svensson, 9 Ulf Lindelöf, 10 Björn Lundberg, 11 Torbjörn Langemar, 12 Lars Cullert, 13 Per-Olof Lefwerth, 14 Kaj Håkansson, 15 Egon Håkanson (Coach: Rolf Nygren) ----

1969 EuroBasket The 1969 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1969, was the sixteenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. First round Group A – Caserta Group B – Naples Knockout stage Pla ...

: finished 12th among 12 teams 4 Kjell Gunna, 5 Bo Lundmark, 6 Anders Grönlund, 7 Ulf Lindelöf, 8 Arturs Veigurs, 9 Ebbe Edström, 10 Janos Fugedi, 11 Jan Hjorth, 12 Per-Olof Lefwerth, 13 Kjell Rannelid, 14 Hans Albertsson, 15 Jörgen Hansson (Coach: Arne Jansson) ---- 1980 Olympic Games: finished 10th among 12 teams 4 Peter Andersson, 5 Thomas Nordgren, 6 Peter Gunterberg, 7

Göran Unger Göran Unger (29 September 1899 – 6 April 1982) was a Swedish athlete. He competed in the men's pentathlon at the 1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded ...

, 8 Torbjörn Taxén, 9 Joon-Olof "Jonte" Karlsson, 10 Jan Enjebo, 11 Bernt Malion, 12 Roland Rahm, 13

Sten Feldreich Sten Feldreich (born 24 July 1955) is a Swedish basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as ...

, 14 Leif Yttergren, 15

Åke Skyttevall Åke Skyttevall (born 28 February 1956) is a Swedish basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially brande ...

(Coach: Mike Perry) ----

1983 EuroBasket The 1983 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1983, was the 23rd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It took place from 26 May to 4 June 1983 in France. Italy defeated Spain in the final ...

: finished 12th among 12 teams 4 Bill Magarity, 5 Bernt Malion, 6 Peter Nyström, 7 Jerry Sehlberg, 8 Thomas Nordgren, 9 Joon-Olof "Jonte" Karlsson, 10 Kenny Grant, 11 Bo Faleström, 12 Roland Rahm, 13

, 14 Göran Eriksson, 15 Åke Skyttevall (Coach: Sven Jensen) ----

1993 EuroBasket The 1993 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1993, was the 28th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Germany between 22 June and 4 July 1993. Sixteen national teams entere ...

: finished 13th among 16 teams 4 Olle Håkanson, 5 Magnus Tegel, 6 Örjan Andersson, 7 Henrik Evers, 8 Henrik Gaddefors, 9 Peter Borg, 10 Martin Jansson, 11 Jens Tillman, 12 Torbjörn Gehrke, 13 Anders Marcus, 14 Per Stümer, 15 Mattias Sahlström (Coach: Rolf Nilsson) ----

1995 EuroBasket The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to e ...

: finished 14th among 14 teams 4 Olle Håkanson, 5 Örjan Andersson, 6 Christian Larsson, 7 Henrik Evers, 8 Henrik Gaddefors, 9 Jonas Larsson, 10 Oscar Lefwerth, 11 Joakim Blom, 12 Torbjörn Gehrke, 13 Anders Marcus, 14 Vincent Lundahl, 15 Mattias Sahlström (Coach: Rolf Nilsson) ----

2003 EuroBasket The 2003 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2003, was the 33rd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as the Europe qualifier for the 2004 Summer Olympics, giving a berth ...

: finished 16th among 16 teams 4 Paul Burke, 5 Hakan Larsson, 6 Jens Stalhandske, 7 Mats Levin, 8 Oluoma Nnamaka, 9 Jonas Larsson, 10 Lesli Myrthil, 11 Joakim Blom, 12 Fredrik Jonzen, 13

Christian Maråker Christian Erik Maråker (born 24 September 1982) is a Swedish basketball player for Borås Basket of the Basketligan. A 6'9" center/power forward, he played college basketball in the United States at the University of the Pacific from 2002 to 2 ...

, 14 John Pettersson, 15 Daniel Dajic (Coach: Jan Enjebo) ---- 2013 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 24 teams 4 Ludvig Håkanson, 5

Jonathan Skjöldebrand Jonathan Skjöldebrand (; born August 2, 1983) is a former Swedish-Israeli professional basketball player. Early life Skjöldebrand was born in Amirim, Israel to Swedish parents, he played for Hapoel Sasa and Hapoel Galil Elyon youth teams. His d ...

, 6

Joakim Kjellbom Joakim Kjellbom (born April 22, 1979) is an American-born Swedish former professional basketball player. Kjellbom plays as center. He is one of the most successful basketball players in the history of Swedish basketball, as he has won three Swed ...

, 7 Dino Pita, 8 Anton Gaddefors, 9 Brice Massamba, 10 Kenny Grant, 11

Jonas Jerebko Jonas Jerebko (; born March 2, 1987) is a Swedish professional basketball player who last played for the Santeros de Aguada of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He was selected as the 39th overall pick in the second round of the 2009 NBA ...

, 12

Thomas Massamba Thomas Kalmeba-Massamba (born March 28, 1985) is a Swedish-Congolese professional basketball player who last played for Tindastóll of the Úrvalsdeild karla. Career Massamba has played for 08 Stockholm, Södertälje Kings, Solna Vikings, Lu ...

, 13 Erik Rush, 14 Jeffery Taylor, 15 Viktor Gaddefors (Coach: Brad Dean)

Kit

Manufacturer

*2018–2020: Spalding *2020–present:

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

References

External links

Official website

Sweden FIBA profileSweden National Team – Men
at Eurobasket.com

at FIBA Archive

Videos

Sweden v Turkey – Full Game – FIBA EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers
Youtube.com video {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweden National Basketball Team Men's national basketball teams 1952 establishments in Sweden National sports teams established in 1952