Georgia men's national basketball team
Men's national basketball team representing the country of Georgia
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The Georgia men's national basketball team (Georgian: საქართველოს ეროვნული საკალათბურთო ნაკრები) represents the country of Georgia in international basketball matches, and is controlled by the Georgian Basketball Federation. Georgia became a member of FIBA in 1992, after they gained independence from the Soviet Union. The national team played their first official match against Poland in 1995.
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| FIBA ranking | 20  (13 July 2026)[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Joined FIBA | 1992 | ||
| FIBA zone | FIBA Europe | ||
| National federation | GBF | ||
| Coach | Aleksandar Džikić | ||
| Nickname(s) | ჯვაროსნები jvarosnebi (Crusaders) | ||
| FIBA World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 1 | ||
| Medals | None | ||
| EuroBasket | |||
| Appearances | 6 | ||
| Medals | None | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 Poland 91–68 Georgia  (Birmingham, England; 24 May 1995) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Georgia 103–43 Azerbaijan  (Tbilisi, Georgia; 2 September 2001) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Italy 90–43 Georgia (Siena, Italy; 28 February 1998) | |||
Georgia's accomplishments on the international level have been clinching qualification to the European Basketball Championship six times. Their best result came at their sixth trip to the tournament in 2025. In 2023, Georgia achieved their first qualification on to the global stage at the FIBA World Cup.
Since 2023, Georgia has had the highest FIBA World Ranking among Caucasus countries.
History
Soviet era
Until 1991, Georgia was a part of the Soviet Union, with players born in Georgia playing for the Soviet Union national team. Notable players born in Georgia who played for the Soviet Union and won medals at the Olympic Games, FIBA World Cup and EuroBasket include: Nodar Dzhordzhikiya, Otar Korkia, Guram Minashvili, Vladimer Ugrekhelidze, Levan Moseshvili, Zurab Sakandelidze, Mikheil Korkia and Nikolay Deryugin.
Independent Georgia
After gaining independence from the Soviet Union, on several occasions the Georgian national team unsuccessfully tried to qualify for the EuroBasket, Europe's biggest basketball competition and major tournament. Although the national team did play on the EuroBasket Division B level three times and gained promotion in 2009 after defeating Belarus in play-offs.[2] However, after the expansion of the EuroBasket in 2011 from 16 to 24 teams, Georgia qualified to the competition for the first time.
EuroBasket 2011
The national team played five matches in Group D. They finished their preliminary group with an 2–3 record, with wins against Belgium and Ukraine, to advance. In their second round group phase, Georgia lost all five of their matches to finish their maiden voyage to the EuroBasket in 11th place.[3]
EuroBasket 2013
After finishing second in qualifying group, Georgia qualified for its second EuroBasket tournament. After a comfortable 84–67 victory in the opening match over Poland, Georgia lost their four remaining matches and finished the tournament with an 1–4 record.[4] To that point, the Eurobasket 2013 was the only tournament in which Georgia could not win more than one match.
EuroBasket 2015
Georgia qualified to the EuroBasket for the third successive time in 2015. After three consecutive losses to start the tournament, the national team finally earned their first win in group play against Macedonia 90–75. They followed it up with another victory to end the opening phase of the event against Croatia, 71–58[5] to move on to the knockout stages for the first time. There they suffered a narrow hard fought defeat to the tournament favourites, and eventual silver medalist Lithuania 81–85.[6]
EuroBasket 2017
During the EuroBasket 2017 qualification Georgia topped its group after an 90–84 victory over Montenegro, and qualified to EuroBasket for the fourth successive time.[7] Once the competition began, the national team got off to a quick start, avenging their EuroBasket 2015 knockout stage defeat to Lithuania 79–77.[8] The rest of the group stage didn't go as well for the Georgian side though. As the team could only manage to pullout one more victory against Israel, before falling to Italy to finish the tournament with an 2–3 record and being eliminated.[9]
EuroBasket 2022
Georgia was the co-host the EuroBasket 2022, and they automatically qualified for the 2022 finals tournament. This was the fifth successive time that Georgia qualified for the event overall. Tbilisi was one of the host cities, and was used for Group A matches at the brand new Tbilisi Basketball Arena.[10][11]
2023 FIBA World Cup
In February 2023, Georgia was qualified for the finals tournament of 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup by earning 3rd place in qualifiers. This was the first time that Georgia qualified for the event overall. They lost to Iceland 80-77 in the final Europe Region qualifying game for both teams. However, Iceland needed to win by four points or more to win a tiebreaker over Georgia for the World Cup berth. Both teams finished qualifying with 5-5 records, with the tiebreaker going to Georgia by the slimmest of margins.[12] “Amazing. I’m so happy, man,” said Georgia’s Thaddus McFadden, a Michigan-born guard.
In August 2023, Georgia kept their dream run alive as the debutants booked a trip to the Second Round of the World Cup by dashing the hopes of Venezuela, 70-59 at the Okinawa Arena, Japan.[13] They lost successive matches to both Germany and Austria and ended the journey in World Cup.
EuroBasket 2025
On 7 September 2025, Georgia advanced to the quarter-finals of EuroBasket 2025 for the first time in history, with an 80-70 win against France in Riga Arena, Latvia. France had been runner-up at EuroBasket 2022 and the 2024 Summer Olympics.[14][15] After the win over France, national team veteran Giorgi Shermadini said, “Unbelievable. I’m really happy, congrats to my teammates, everyone, all our fans in Georgia and here. France are amazing, but today we played better in defense and offense.”[16] On 10 September 2025, Georgia lost to Finland in the quarterfinals.[17]
Competitive record
FIBA World Cup
Olympic Games
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EuroBasket
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Results and fixtures
Win Loss
2025
| 28 August 2025 | Georgia  |
83–69 |  Spain |
Limassol, Cyprus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:00 (UTC+3) | Scoring by quarter: 20–17, 17–18, 20–14, 26–20 | |||
| Pts: Mamukelashvili 19 Rebs: Burjanadze, Mamukelashvili 7 Asts: Mamukelashvili 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: J. Hernangómez 13 Rebs: J. Hernangómez 8 Asts: De Larrea 5 |
Arena: Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center Attendance: 1,520 Referees: Matthew Kallio (CAN), Paulo Marques (POR), Petar Pešić (SRB) |
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| 30 August 2025 | Italy |
78–62 | Georgia |
Limassol, Cyprus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:00 (UTC+3) | Scoring by quarter: 18–10, 14–22, 21–15, 25–15 | |||
| Pts: Niang 15 Rebs: Melli 8 Asts: Pajola, Spissu 5 |
Boxscore | Pts: Bitadze 22 Rebs: Mamukelashvili, Shermadini 5 Asts: Shengelia 5 |
Arena: Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center Attendance: 2,089 Referees: Matthew Kallio (CAN), Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Petar Pešić (SRB) |
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| 31 August 2025 | Georgia |
53–94 |  Greece |
Limassol, Cyprus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:00 (UTC+3) | Scoring by quarter: 13–22, 16–24, 12–23, 12–25 | |||
| Pts: Mamukelashvili 14 Rebs: Shermadini 7 Asts: Baldwin 5 |
Boxscore | Pts: G. Antetokounmpo 27 Rebs: G. Antetokounmpo 8 Asts: Sloukas 6 |
Arena: Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center Attendance: 7,290 Referees: Jorge Vázquez (PUR), Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Ventsislav Velikov (BUL) |
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| 2 September 2025 | Cyprus  |
61–93 | Georgia |
Limassol, Cyprus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:15 (UTC+3) | Scoring by quarter: 13–15, 13–27, 15–26, 20–25 | |||
| Pts: Willis 19 Rebs: Willis 7 Asts: Stylianou 5 |
Boxscore | Pts: Shengelia 27 Rebs: Bitadze 13 Asts: three players 6 |
Arena: Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center Attendance: 3,142 Referees: Gvidas Gedvilas (LTU), Siniša Prpa (SRB), Gintaras Mačiulis (LTU) |
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| 4 September 2025 | Bosnia and Herzegovina  |
84–76 | Georgia |
Limassol, Cyprus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:00 (UTC+3) | Scoring by quarter: 20–15, 27–20, 20–27, 17–14 | |||
| Pts: Nurkić, Roberson 15 Rebs: Nurkić 12 Asts: Atić 8 |
Boxscore | Pts: Mamukelashvili 20 Rebs: Mamukelashvili 8 Asts: Baldwin, Shengelia 4 |
Arena: Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center Attendance: 2,539 Referees: Matthew Kallio (CAN), Gvidas Gedvilas (LTU), Ventsislav Velikov (BUL) |
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| 7 September 2025 | France  |
70–80 | Georgia |
Riga, Latvia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:15 (UTC+3) | Scoring by quarter: 20–24, 17–14, 17–20, 16–22 | |||
| Pts: Francisco 14 Rebs: Jaiteh 7 Asts: Jaiteh 4 |
Boxscore | Pts: Baldwin, Shengelia 24 Rebs: Mamukelashvili 11 Asts: Bitadze 4 |
Arena: Xiaomi Arena Attendance: 1,652 Referees: Jorge Vázquez (PUR), Kerem Baki (TUR), Ventsislav Velikov (BUL) |
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| 10 September 2025 | Finland  |
93–79 | Georgia |
Riga, Latvia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:00 (UTC+3) | Scoring by quarter: 28–15, 29–25, 14–22, 22–17 | |||
| Pts: Jantunen 19 Rebs: Salin 7 Asts: Little 9 |
Boxscore | Pts: Mamukelashvili 22 Rebs: Bitadze 6 Asts: Shengelia 5 |
Arena: Xiaomi Arena Attendance: 6,025 Referees: Yohan Rosso (FRA), Julio Anaya (PAN), Gatis Saliņš (LAT) |
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| 27 November 2025 | Georgia |
79–92 |  Ukraine |
Tbilisi, Georgia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:00 (UTC+4) | Scoring by quarter: 23–15, 25–28, 13–23, 18–26 | |||
| Pts: D. Sanadze 22 Rebs: Shengelia, Shermadini 6 Asts: Andronikashvili 5 |
Boxscore | Pts: Kovliar 31 Rebs: Bobrov 15 Asts: Kovliar 6 |
Arena: Tbilisi Arena Attendance: 9,000 Referees: Mihkel Männiste (EST), Çisil Güngör (ROU), Orhan Çağrı Hekimoğlu (TUR) |
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| 30 November 2025 | Spain |
90–61 | Georgia |
La Laguna, Spain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:45 (UTC+0) | Scoring by quarter: 19–22, 28–11, 23–13, 20–15 | |||
| Pts: Yusta 17 Rebs: Almansa 9 Asts: Yusta 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Khatiashvili, Shengelia 10 Rebs: Shengelia 7 Asts: Andronikashvili 4 |
Arena: Pabellón Insular Santiago Martín Attendance: 4,603 Referees: Boris Krejić (SVN), Ventsislav Velikov (BUL), Siniša Prpa (SRB) |
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2026
| 27 February 2026 | Denmark  |
71–89 | Georgia |
Farum, Denmark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:30 (UTC+1) | Scoring by quarter: 12–12, 20–27, 15–38, 24–12 | |||
| Pts: Jensen 15 Rebs: Berg, Knudsen 8 Asts: Knudsen 4 |
Boxscore | Pts: Shengelia 24 Rebs: Shengelia 7 Asts: Reed, Shengelia 5 |
Arena: Farum Arena Attendance: 1,908 Referees: Péter Praksch (HUN), Carsten Straube (GER), Valerio Grigioni (ITA) |
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| 2 March 2026 | Georgia |
89–60 | Denmark |
Tbilisi, Georgia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:00 (UTC+4) | Scoring by quarter: 21–17, 22–14, 30–18, 16–11 | |||
| Pts: Reed 29 Rebs: Shengelia 11 Asts: Reed 8 |
Boxscore | Pts: Klussmann 17 Rebs: Heede-Andersen 9 Asts: Jensen 5 |
Arena: Tbilisi Arena Attendance: 7,100 Referees: Georgios Poursanidis (GRE), Çisil Güngör (TUR), Elvis Binders-Čoders (LAT) |
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| 2 July 2026 | Ukraine |
95–76 | Georgia |
Riga, Latvia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:30 (UTC+3) | Scoring by quarter: 30–27, 19–14, 26–19, 20–16 | |||
| Pts: Mykhailiuk 28 Rebs: Skapintsev 14 Asts: Kovliar 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Reed 18 Rebs: Bitadze 8 Asts: Ochkhikidze 4 |
Arena: Xiaomi Arena Attendance: 600 Referees: Martin Horozov (BUL), Valentin Oliot (FRA), Siniša Prpa (SRB) |
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| 5 July 2026 | Georgia |
91–89(OT) | Spain |
Tbilisi, Georgia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:30 (UTC+4) | Scoring by quarter: 14–32, 24–20, 19–19, 26–12, Overtime: 8–6 | |||
| Pts: Shengelia 37 Rebs: Shengelia 10 Asts: Reed 7 |
Boxscore | Pts: W. Hernangómez 19 Rebs: W. Hernangómez, Pradilla 8 Asts: Brizuela, Cárdenas 4 |
Arena: Tbilisi Arena Attendance: 8,000 Referees: Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Josip Jurčević (CRO), Andrea Bongiorni (ITA) |
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| 28 August 2026 | Georgia |
vs. |  Montenegro |
Tbilisi, Georgia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:30 (UTC+4) | ||||
| Boxscore | Arena: Tbilisi Arena |
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| 31 August 2026 | Portugal  |
vs. | Georgia |
Matosinhos, Portugal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 (UTC+1) | ||||
| Boxscore | Arena: Centro de Desportos e Congressos de Matosinhos |
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2027
| 26 February 2027 | Montenegro |
vs. | Georgia |
Montenegro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| --:-- (UTC+1) | ||||
| Boxscore | ||||
Team
Current roster
Roster for the 2027 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers matches on 2 and 5 July 2026 against Ukraine and Spain.[18]
| Georgia men's national basketball team roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Depth chart
Head coach history
Besik Liparteliani – (1994–1997)[19]- Levan Moseshvili – (1997–1999)
- Zurab Tomaradze – (1999–2001)
Dražen Brajković – (2001–2005)
/
Gordon Herbert – (2005–2007)- Ken Shields – (2007–2008)
Igor Kokoškov – (2008–2015)
Ilias Zouros – (2016–2023)- Aleksandar Džikić – (2024–present)
Past rosters
2011 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 24 teams[20]
4 Giorgi Gamqrelidze, 5 Vladimir Boisa, 6 Anatoli Boisa, 7 Zaza Pachulia (C), 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini,
10 Lasha Parghalava, 11 Manuchar Markoishvili, 12 MarQuez Haynes, 13 Viktor Sanikidze, 14 Tornike Shengelia, 15 Nikoloz Tskitishvili
(Coach: 
Igor Kokoškov)
2013 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 24 teams[21]
4 Nika Metreveli, 5 Otar Pkhakadze, 6 Duda Sanadze, 7 Beka Burjanadze, 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini, 10 Ricky Hickman,
11 Manuchar Markoishvili, 12 Levan Patsatsia, 13 Viktor Sanikidze, 14 Besik Lezhava, 15 Nikoloz Tskitishvili (Coach: Igor Kokoškov)
2015 EuroBasket: finished 15th among 24 teams[22]
0 Jacob Pullen, 4 Nika Metreveli, 7 Zaza Pachulia (C), 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini, 10 Duda Sanadze,
11 Manuchar Markoishvili, 12 Levan Patsatsia, 13 Viktor Sanikidze, 15 Beka Burjanadze, 23 Tornike Shengelia, 25 Besik Lezhava
(Coach: Igor Kokoškov)
2017 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 24 teams[23]
3 Michael Dixon, 4 Giorgi Gamqrelidze, 6 Anatoli Boisa, 7 Zaza Pachulia (C), 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini,
10 Duda Sanadze, 11 Manuchar Markoishvili, 17 Mikheil Berishvili, 23 Tornike Shengelia, 35 Goga Bitadze, 99 Ilia Londaridze
(Coach: Ilias Zouros)
2022 EuroBasket: finished 21st among 24 teams[24]
4 Rati Andronikashvili, 5 Sandro Mamukelashvili, 6 Kakhaber Jintcharadze, 7 Beka Burjanadze, 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze,
9 Giorgi Shermadini (C), 10 Duda Sanadze, 17 Mikheil Berishvili, 18 Merab Bokolishvili, 25 Thad McFadden, 33 Beka Bekauri,
35 Goga Bitadze (Coach: Ilias Zouros)
2023 FIBA World Cup: finished 16th among 32 teams[25]
4 Rati Andronikashvili, 5 Sandro Mamukelashvili, 6 Kakhaber Jintcharadze, 7 Luka Liklikadze, 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini,
10 Duda Sanadze, 11 Giorgi Turdziladze, 17 Mikheil Berishvili, 23 Tornike Shengelia (C), 25 Thad McFadden, 35 Goga Bitadze
(Coach: Ilias Zouros)
2025 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 24 teams[17]
4 Rati Andronikashvili, 5 Sandro Mamukelashvili, 6 Kakhaber Jintcharadze, 7 Beka Burjanadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini, 10 Duda Sanadze, 12 George Korsantia, 15 Aleksandre Phevadze, 23 Tornike Shengelia (C), 35 Goga Bitadze, 44 Kamar Baldwin, 77 Giorgi Ochkhikidze (Coach: Aleksandar Džikić)
Head-to-head record
- Does not include unofficial closed door friendly matches
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As of 5 July 2026
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Record against teams at the EuroBasket
Notable results
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Kit
Manufacturer
Sponsor
- 2015: Natakhtari[26]
- 2019: Georgian Railway
