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Luxembourg men's national basketball team

Men's national basketball team representing Luxembourg From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Luxembourg men's national basketball team (Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuergesch Basketballnationalequipe, French: Équipe du Luxembourg de basketball, German: Luxemburgische Basketballnationalmannschaft) represents Luxembourg in international basketball tournaments. They are controlled by the Luxembourg Basketball Federation.

FIBA ranking 87 Steady (1 September 2026)[1]
Joined FIBA1946
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationLuxembourg Basketball Federation (FLBB)
Quick facts FIBA ranking, Joined FIBA ...
Luxembourg
FIBA ranking 87 Steady (1 September 2026)[1]
Joined FIBA1946
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationLuxembourg Basketball Federation (FLBB)
CoachKen Diederich
FIBA World Cup
AppearancesNone
EuroBasket
Appearances3
MedalsNone
Championship for Small Countries
Appearances5
Medals2nd place, silver medalist(s) Silver: (1992, 2004)
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bronze: (1990)
Games of the Small States of Europe
Appearances17
Medals1st place, gold medalist(s) Gold: (2023)
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Silver: (1985, 1991, 1995, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2019)
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bronze: (1993, 2003, 2005, 2015)
First international
 Poland 45–28 Luxembourg 
(Geneva, Switzerland; 30 April 1946)
Biggest win
 Luxembourg 99–44 San Marino 
(Serravalle, San Marino; 1 June 2017)
Biggest defeat
 Greece 119–46 Luxembourg 
(Vevey, Switzerland; 10 May 1980)
Close

Luxembourg has competed at the EuroBasket three times, in 1946, 1951, and 1955. Their best result was an eighth place finish at their first appearance at the competition in 1946. However, the national team has yet to qualify to compete at the FIBA World Cup.

History

EuroBasket 1946

Luxembourg appeared in their first international event at EuroBasket 1946 in Geneva. After being placed in Group A for the preliminary round, the national team would play in their first ever match against Poland, where the team would lose 45–28.[2] Following the defeat, Luxembourg went on to lose their next two matches against Hungary and Italy, which ultimately dropped the team into the classification phase of the tournament. There, Luxembourg captured their first ever victory against England 27–50.[3] With only one game remaining for Luxembourg, the team would finish out the competition with a loss against Belgium, to end the tournament eighth out of the ten teams overall.[4]

EuroBasket 1951

After not entering the competition in 1947 and 1949, Luxembourg made their way back to the continental stage at EuroBasket 1951 in Paris. Luxembourg's first match of the tournament was against the host France, which resulted in a demoralising defeat for the national team 72–26.[5] Ensuing the tough loss for Luxembourg, were four straight defeats for the team, to relegate them into a must win elimination game for the right to advance into the classification rounds. Luxembourg, however, would lose in a tightly contested match 45–46 against Denmark to be eliminated.[6]

EuroBasket 1955

A match against Netherlands in 1959.

Following Luxembourg's dismal performance at the EuroBasket in 1951, the national team declined to enter the event in 1953, instead looked toward EuroBasket 1955 in Budapest to make amends. After a disastrous first game in the preliminary round, which saw Luxembourg completely dominated by the Soviet Union, the team was narrowly defeated in their second match against Sweden 54–53.[7] However, in Luxembourg's final two matches of the preliminary phase, the team struggled to build upon their game against Sweden; and were relegated toward the classification rounds at a record of (0–5).

Entering the classification round, Luxembourg dropped their first match against Turkey, before earning their first win of the tournament against Denmark 46–31.[8] Luxembourg would eventually go on to pickup two more victories, both against Sweden to end the tournament 15th out of the 18 teams at the event.[9]

Poland v Luxembourg during a EuroBasket 2015 qualifier.

Subsequent years

After Luxembourg's last appearance at the EuroBasket in 1951, the national team endured numerous failed qualifying cycles in order to make it back to the EuroBasket. However, Luxembourg eventually achieved success competing at smaller competitions such as the European Championship for Small Countries and the Games of the Small States of Europe.

Entering qualification for Luxembourg to reach EuroBasket 2017, the team struggled toward a (1–5) record during the process to being eliminated.[10] After Luxembourg's missed opportunity to qualify for the 2017 tournament, the team was tasked with going through Pre-Qualifiers with a chance to qualify for EuroBasket 2022. Luxembourg would get off to a slow start during the first round of pre-qualifiers, losing their first three matches before picking up a needed win on the road against Cyprus 89–76.[11] With a record of (1–3), Luxembourg's path of advancing took a detour, as the team was relegated to the third and final phase of pre-qualifiers. There, Luxembourg would only win one game during that qualifying window (1–3), at home against Kosovo 88–80 and failing to advance.[12]

For Luxembourg's process to qualify for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the national team took part in European Pre-Qualifiers, where they went (2–4) in the first round; and were initially eliminated. Although due to Austria withdrawing from qualification, Luxembourg were next inline to replace them.[13] Entering the second and final phase of World Cup European pre-qualifiers, Luxembourg's qualification campaign officially came to a close, after posting an (0–4) record during the round.[14]

Competitive record

More information World Cup, Qualification ...
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Results and fixtures

  Win   Loss

2025

More information Oslo, Norway ...
20 February 2025 Norway  68–59  Luxembourg Oslo, Norway
19:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 15–21, 15–17, 22–8, 16–13
Pts: Frey 27
Rebs: Ndow 9
Asts: Frey 4
Boxscore Pts: Vujaković 12
Rebs: Rugg 11
Asts: four players 2
Arena: Nordstrand Arena
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Joaquin García (ESP), Ritvars Helmšteins (LAT), Rainis Värv (EST)
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27 November 2025 Luxembourg  89–77  Ireland Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
19:30 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 26–11, 21–26, 17–24, 25–16
Pts: Kovac 38
Rebs: Logelin, Rugg 6
Asts: Gutenkauf 6
Boxscore Pts: Badmus 24
Rebs: Buivydas 10
Asts: Flood 6
Arena: d'Coque
Attendance: 1,200
Referees: Mehmet Karabilecen (TUR), Diogo Martins (POR), Karol Kowalski (POL)
More information Baku, Azerbaijan ...
30 November 2025 Azerbaijan  90–95  Luxembourg Baku, Azerbaijan
18:00 (UTC+4) Scoring by quarter: 18–25, 26–32, 17–25, 29–13
Pts: Van Beck 29
Rebs: Van Beck 8
Asts: Van Beck 7
Boxscore Pts: Kovac 29
Rebs: Kovac 9
Asts: Kovac 5
Arena: Baku Sports Palace
Attendance: 1,235
Referees: Nemanja Ninković (SRB), Ciprian Stoica (ROU), Aleksandar Radonjić (AUT)
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2026

More information Skopje, North Macedonia ...
27 February 2025 North Macedonia  79–70  Luxembourg Skopje, North Macedonia
18:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 25–17, 19–15, 15–17, 20–21
Pts: Jakimovski 17
Rebs: Happ 14
Asts: Petkov 7
Boxscore Pts: Kovac 20
Rebs: Kovac 11
Asts: Gutenkauf 4
Arena: Skopje City Park Sports Hall
Attendance: 1,500
Referees: Peter Ženiš (SVK), Duhan Köyiçi (TUR), Mladen Lučić (MNE)
Close
More information Dublin, Ireland ...
2 March 2026 Ireland  91–85  Luxembourg Dublin, Ireland
19:30 (UTC+0) Scoring by quarter: 22–23, 17–12, 26–21, 26–29
Pts: N. Quinn 22
Rebs: N. Quinn 14
Asts: Fulton 12
Boxscore Pts: Rugg 23
Rebs: Rugg 11
Asts: Gutenkauf 6
Arena: National Basketball Arena
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Viktor Nagy (HUN), Pierre Landy (FRA), José Pedroso (POR)
Close
2 July 2026 Luxembourg  74–76  Azerbaijan Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
19:00 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 18–22, 24–17, 13–18, 19–19
Pts: Kovac 15
Rebs: Kovac 8
Asts: Kovac 4
Boxscore Pts: K. Mammadov 19
Rebs: Aydın 12
Asts: K. Mammadov 3
Arena: d'Coque
Attendance: 1,200
Referees: Jan Baloun (CZE), Nemanja Vlahović (SRB), Jules Gaduel (FRA)
5 July 2026 Luxembourg  66–80  North Macedonia Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
16:00 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 15–23, 12–23, 22–17, 17–17
Pts: Kovac 17
Rebs: Grosber 9
Asts: Gutenkauf, Kovac 4
Boxscore Pts: Sestina 18
Rebs: Gjuroski, Tashovski 7
Asts: Tashovski 7
Arena: d'Coque
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Peter Ženiš (SVK), Diogo Martins (POR), Matteo Lucotti (ITA)

Team

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers matches on 2 and 5 July 2026 against Azerbaijan and North Macedonia.[15][16]

More information Players, Coaches ...
Luxembourg men's national basketball team roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameAge – Date of birthHeightClubCtr.
SG 1 Malcolm Kreps 24 – (2001-10-11)11 October 2001 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Okapi Aalst Belgium
SG 2 Edson de Sousa 19 – (2006-12-15)15 December 2006 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Arantia Larochette Luxembourg
PF 3 Dino Ceman 23 – (2002-09-29)29 September 2002 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) T71 Dudelange Luxembourg
PG 6 Max Logelin 23 – (2003-06-17)17 June 2003 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Sparta Luxembourg
PG 7 Philippe Gutenkauf 31 – (1995-04-11)11 April 1995 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Etzella Luxembourg
G 8 Dorian Grosber 20 – (2006-05-15)15 May 2006 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Northeastern United States
F 11 Alex Laurent (C) 33 – (1993-06-06)6 June 1993 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Amicale Luxembourg
SF 13 Ben Kovac 26 – (2000-02-22)22 February 2000 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Évreux France
C 14 David Rocha 25 – (2001-03-22)22 March 2001 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Mambra Luxembourg
G/F 25 Konan Oth 19 – (2007-06-02)2 June 2007 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Musel Pikes Luxembourg
G/F 27 Yannick Verbeelen 27 – (1998-11-03)3 November 1998 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Sparta Luxembourg
F/C 31 Clancy Rugg 34 – (1991-09-22)22 September 1991 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Esch Luxembourg
SF 77 Ivor Kuresevic 28 – (1998-05-02)2 May 1998 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Amicale Luxembourg
Head coach
  • Luxembourg Ken Diederich
Assistant coach(es)
  • Croatia Denis Toroman
  • Luxembourg Christophe Toussaint
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 2 July 2026
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Depth chart

More information Pos., Starting 5 ...
Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Clancy Rugg David Rocha
PF Alex Laurent Dino Ceman
SF Ben Kovac Yannick Verbeelen Ivor Kuresevic
SG Malcolm Kreps Dorian Grosber Konan Oth
PG Philippe Gutenkauf Max Logelin
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Head coach position

  • Hungary Ferenc Haris – (1989–1991)
  • United States Rick Brooks – (1991–1993)
  • United States Doug Marty – (1993–1996)
  • United States Steve Hebold – (1996–2002)[17]
  • United States Don Beck – (2002)[18]
  • United States Paul Brown – (2002–2003)
  • Germany Hermann Paar – (2003–2005)
  • Croatia Krešimir Bašić – (2005–2007)[19]
  • Germany Carsten Steiner – (2008–2009)[20]
  • Germany Frank Baum – (2010–2013)
  • Germany Karsten Schul – (2013–2014)
  • France Franck Mériguet – (2014–2015)
  • Luxembourg Ken Diederich – (2015–present)

Past rosters

1946 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 10 teams

3 Alfred Achen, 4 René Bicheler, 5 René Colling, 6 Henri Heyart, 7 Pierre Kelsen, 8 Eugene Kohn, 9 Léon Konsbruck, 10 Joseph Linck, 11 Gaston Poncin, 12 Roger Scheuren (Coach: Henri Heyart)


1951 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 18 teams

3 Guy Neumann, 4 Mathias Steffen, 5 Xander Frantz, 6 Fernand Schmalen, 7 Roger Dentzer, 8 Joseph Eyschen, 9 Marcel Gales, 10 Mathias Birel, 11 Jean Guillen, 12 Pierre Steinmetz, 13 Léon Konsbruck, 14 René Haas, 15 Ley, 25 Paul Linster (Coach: Pierrot Conter)


1955 EuroBasket: finished 15th among 18 teams

3 Pierre Steinmetz, 4 Mathias Birel, 5 Fernand Wolter, 6 Joseph Lettal, 7 Paul Kemp, 8 Fernand Schmalen, 9 John Kieffer, 10 Marcel Simon, 11 Florent Lickes, 12 Gust Scharle, 13 Albert Meyers, 14 Jean Christophory (Coach: Pierre Kelsen)

See also

References

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