Slovakia men's national basketball team

Slovakia
FIBA ranking60 Increase (25 February 2025)[1]
Joined FIBA1993
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationSBA
CoachOliver Vidin
Nickname(s)Repre
(The Representatives)
FIBA World Cup
AppearancesNone
EuroBasket
AppearancesNone
Home jersey
Team colours
Home
Away jersey
Team colours
Away
First international
 Bosnia 97–69  
(Wrocław, Poland; 30 May 1993)
Biggest win
  100–39 Malta 
(Levice, Slovakia; 7 September 2005)
Biggest defeat
 Belgium 102–59  
(Mons, Belgium; 30 June 2022)

The Slovakia men's national basketball team (Slovak: Slovenské národné basketbalové mužstvo) represents Slovakia in international basketball competition. The supervising body is the Slovak Basketball Association (SBA).

Slovakia is one of the newest national basketball teams in the world, having split from Czechoslovakia following the dissolution of the unified state in 1993. They joined FIBA later that year, and played in their first international match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Slovakia to date does not have much history on the international level. Although they have attempted to qualify for major tournaments such as EuroBasket and the FIBA World Cup, but have yet to reach qualification.

History

The Czechoslovak era

Until 1993, Slovakia was a part of Czechoslovakia, with Slovak born players taking part on the Czechoslovakia national team. One of the most notable players who was born in Slovakia, and played for the Czechoslovakia national team to achieve success at the international level was Stanislav Kropilák. He helped lead Czechoslovakia to three medal finishes at the EuroBasket, in 1977, 1981, and 1985.

After independence

After gaining independence from Czechoslovakia, the Slovak national team on numerous attempts during their early years strived to qualify for EuroBasket, but ultimately came up short. In qualification to reach EuroBasket 2017, Slovakia was slotted into Group F to begin the qualifiers. Slovakia, however, would go on to struggle to a (1–5) record and missing their chance to qualify.[2]

For qualification to the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Slovakia took part in European Pre-Qualifiers, but were eventually eliminated after amassing a (1–5) record in their group.[3] Slovakia later went through EuroBasket 2022 Pre-Qualifiers, but were once again denied of making it to the continental stage, after finishing with a (3–5) record during pre-qualifying.[4]

Competitive record

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2027 FIBA World Cup Pre-Qualifiers matches in August 2025 against Switzerland and Ukraine.[5][6]

Slovakia men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
PF 1 Jakub Merešš 29 – (1996-07-14)14 July 1996 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Patrioti Slovakia
PG 5 Matej Majerčák 28 – (1996-12-21)21 December 1996 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Slovan Slovakia
SG 9 Matúš Malovec 22 – (2003-01-07)7 January 2003 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Rollins College United States
PF 12 Milán Szabó 26 – (1998-10-21)21 October 1998 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Slovan Slovakia
C 13 Maroš Zelizňák 26 – (1999-02-15)15 February 1999 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Slovan Slovakia
SG 14 Dávid Abrhám 28 – (1996-10-09)9 October 1996 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Patrioti Slovakia
PG 15 Peter Kováčik 20 – (2005-03-15)15 March 2005 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Handlová Slovakia
C 21 Tomáš Pavelka 24 – (2000-09-22)22 September 2000 2.14 m (7 ft 0 in) Neptūnas Lithuania
SG 22 Dalibor Hlivák 30 – (1995-05-25)25 May 1995 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Prievidza Slovakia
SF 24 Samuel Kincel 26 – (1998-09-20)20 September 1998 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Spišskí Rytieri Slovakia
SF 47 Alex Krajčovič 21 – (2004-03-04)4 March 2004 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Patrioti Slovakia
PG 55 Šimon Krajčovič 31 – (1994-02-14)14 February 1994 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Gießen Germany
SG 77 Lukáš Bolek 27 – (1997-08-11)11 August 1997 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Nitra Blue Wings Slovakia
G/F 88 Timotej Malovec 21 – (2004-04-25)25 April 2004 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Miami Hurricanes United States
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 2 August 2025

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3
C Michael Fusek Boris Bojanovský Tomáš Pavelka Jakub Petráš
PF Vladimír Brodziansky Marek Doležaj Jakub Mokráň Martin Bachan
SF Dávid Abrhám Richard Körner Juraj Páleník Matúš Hronský
SG Mário Ihring Róbert Rožánek Timotej Malovec Marcel Bátovský
PG Šimon Krajčovič Andre Jones Matej Majerčák Tomáš Mrviš

Head coach position

  • Slovakia Milan Černický – (2004–2010)
  • Slovakia Peter Bálint – (2011–2012)
  • Slovakia Miroslav Grznár – (2012–2013)
  • Slovakia Milan Černický – (2014–2015)
  • Croatia Ivan Rudež – (2016–2018)
  • Croatia Žan Tabak – (2019–2021)
  • Russia Oleg Meleshchenko – (2021–2022)
  • Croatia Aramis Naglić – (2022–2025)
  • Serbia Oliver Vidin – (2025–present)

Results and fixtures

  Win   Loss

2024

22 February 2024   60–75  Belgium Bratislava, Slovakia
18:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 13–25, 23–15, 18–24, 6–11
Pts: Brodziansky 17
Rebs: Pavelka 9
Asts: Ihring 4
Boxscore Pts: Obasohan 22
Rebs: Delalieux, Tumba 5
Asts: Obasohan 4
Arena: Hala Pasienky
Attendance: 3,068
Referees: Georgios Poursanidis (GRE), Lorenzo Baldini (ITA), Valentin Oliot (FRA)
25 February 2024 Latvia  64–52   Riga, Latvia
17:05 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 15–10, 16–17, 14–11, 19–14
Pts: Gražulis 18
Rebs: Gražulis 9
Asts: Zoriks 4
Boxscore Pts: Krajčovič 12
Rebs: Ihring, Mokráň 5
Asts: Ihring 6
Arena: Arena Riga
Attendance: 10,890
Referees: Saverio Lanzarini (ITA), Viola Györgyi (NOR), Alexandre Deman (FRA)
22 November 2024   72–76(2OT)  Spain Bratislava, Slovakia
18:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 10–14, 15–24, 21–10, 13–11, Overtime: 8–8, 5–9
Pts: Brodziansky 23
Rebs: Brodziansky 10
Asts: Ihring 10
Boxscore Pts: Yusta 21
Rebs: Yusta 10
Asts: Alocén 5
Arena: Tipos aréna
Attendance: 10,046
Referees: Martin Vulić (CRO), Cecília Montgomery-Tóth (HUN), Péter Praksch (HUN)
25 November 2024 Spain  84–71   Ourense, Spain
20:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 22–18, 25–14, 24–25, 13–14
Pts: Yusta 25
Rebs: Pradilla 8
Asts: Alocén 7
Boxscore Pts: Brodziansky 19
Rebs: Malovec 7
Asts: Ihring 8
Arena: Pazo dos Deportes Paco Paz
Attendance: 3,995
Referees: Michał Proc (POL), Igor Mitrovski (MKD), Josip Jurčević (CRO)

2025

20 February 2025 Belgium  93–63   Charleroi, Belgium
20:15 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 21–24, 25–13, 23–10, 24–16
Pts: Obasohan 21
Rebs: Obasohan 8
Asts: Obasohan 8
Boxscore Pts: Brodziansky 19
Rebs: Ihring, Malovec 7
Asts: Ihring 8
Arena: Dôme
Attendance: 2,889
Referees: Marius Ciulin (ROU), Alexandre Deman (FRA), Can Mavisu (TUR)
23 February 2025   68–89  Latvia Bratislava, Slovakia
17:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 15–20, 18–19, 18–30, 17–20
Pts: Ihring, Mokráň 13
Rebs: Malovec 7
Asts: Ihring 7
Boxscore Pts: Šiliņš 19
Rebs: Laksa 5
Asts: A. Kurucs, Zoriks 5
Arena: Gopass Arena
Attendance: 2,460
Referees: Paulo Marques (POR), Viola Györgyi (NOR), Blaž Zupančič (SVN)
2 August 2025   73–60   Switzerland Bratislava, Slovakia
18:00 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 13–17, 28–16, 19–7, 13–20
Pts: Malovec 21
Rebs: Malovec 9
Asts: Krajčovič 5
Boxscore Pts: T. Ročak 13
Rebs: T. Ročak 7
Asts: Fofana 5
Arena: Gopass Arena
Attendance: 1,826
Referees: Ademir Zurapović (BIH), Martin Vulić (CRO), Geert Jacobs (BEL)
9 August 2025 Ukraine  80–71   Riga, Latvia
17:00 (UTC+3) Scoring by quarter: 24–24, 21–14, 17–14, 18–19
Pts: Sanon 23
Rebs: Bobrov, Lypovyy 8
Asts: Sanon 6
Boxscore Pts: Malovec 19
Rebs: Pavelka 9
Asts: Krajčovič 4
Arena: Olympic Sports Centre
Attendance: 500
Referees: Andris Aunkrogers (LAT), Georgios Poursanidis (GRE), Viola Györgyi (NOR)
13 August 2025 Switzerland  85–72   Winterthur, Switzerland
19:00 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 17–21, 28–15, 14–17, 26–19
Pts: Fofana 24
Rebs: three players 6
Asts: Fofana 8
Boxscore Pts: Malovec 22
Rebs: Pavelka 13
Asts: Kováčik 4
Arena: AXA Arena
Attendance: 1,432
Referees: Ariadna Chueca (ESP), Gatis Saliņš (LAT), Alberto Sánchez (ESP)

See also

References

  1. ^ "FIBA World Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 25 February 2025. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  2. ^ "Slovakia during the EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers". Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  3. ^ "Slovakia during the 2019 FIBA World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers". Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  4. ^ "Slovakia during the EuroBasket 2022 Pre-Qualifiers". Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Štartuje éra mužskej reprezentácie s novým trénerom a bez viacerých opôr. Oliver Vidin: Prvoradý je postup do kvalifikácie". slovakbasket.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  6. ^ "Slovakia during the 2027 FIBA World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers in August 2025". Retrieved 2 August 2025.