Ireland to play Switzerland, Kosovo and Azerbaijan in the FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers

FROM DOWN TOWN: Ireland's Sam Alajiki scores three points. Pic Credit ©INPHO/Tom Maher

Ireland will play Switzerland, Kosovo and Azerbaijan in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Pre-Qualifiers first round.

Tuesday’s draw in Munich has pitted Ireland against familiar opponents in Switzerland, who they played in the recent EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers, losing 83-72 in Fribourg and 88-82 in Dublin. They also played the Swiss in two behind closed doors friendlies in July, losing 84-76 and 77-76 in Geneva.

Reacting to the draw, Irish head coach Mark Keenan said: “We know Switzerland pretty well, having played them four times in the last two years and we came close to grabbing some wins against them.

"Kosovo will be tough, they beat the Swiss twice in the last round of FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers. Azerbaijan are bit of an unknown entity, but we have plenty of time to do our research on them, certainly travelling long distance to Baku will bring its own challenges I guess.

"The preparation for these games will start now in earnest. It’s brilliant to see Ireland competing at World Cup level and it’s a chance to build on the positive momentum from the recent FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers, where we picked up four wins.

"Our games have been sold out at the National Basketball Arena, which illustrates the appetite for top level basketball and our supporters have really backed the team.” 

Ireland’s games will be played across three windows; February 19th-27th, 2024; November 18th-26th, 2024 and February 17th-25th 2025, with two fixtures in each window.

The three group winners, alongside the best-ranked second-placed team, will advance to the FIBA Basketball World Cup Pre-Qualifiers Second Round, which is scheduled to take place in summer 2025.

Last week Ireland defeated Luxembourg 79-76 to secure second spot in Group G of FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers Third Round. They also won away against Luxembourg, but lost both their fixtures against group winners Croatia.

FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027

European Pre-Qualifiers Round 1

Group A: Switzerland, Kosovo, Ireland, Azerbaijan.

Group B: Romania, Luxembourg, Norway.

Group C: Austria; Armenia; Albania.