Kosovo men's national basketball team

Kosovo

FIBA ranking	79 2 (1 March 2024)
Joined FIBA	2015
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	Federata e Basketbollit të Kosovës (FBK)
Coach	Christos Marmarinos
Nickname(s)	Dardanët (Dardanians)
Olympic Games
Appearances	None
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	None
EuroBasket
Appearances	None
Home Away
First international
Slovenia 113–68 Kosovo (Ljubljana, Slovenia; 31 August 2016)
Biggest win
Kosovo 109–88 Luxembourg (Pristina, Kosovo; 14 August 2019)
Biggest defeat
Lithuania 106–50 Kosovo (Klaipėda, Lithuania; 26 February 2018) Records of first international and biggest win/defeat are for competitive matches only

The Kosovo men's national basketball team (Albanian: Kombëtarja e basketbollit të meshkujve të Kosovës, Serbian: Мушкарци кошаркашкa репрезентација Косова, romanized: Muškarci košarkaška reprezentacija Kosova) represents Kosovo in international men's basketball. It is controlled by the Basketball Federation of Kosovo, the governing body for basketball in Kosovo. They have been a member of FIBA since 13 March 2015.

History

The Basketball Federation of Kosovo was founded in 1991. During the Yugoslavian era, Kosovo had its own Superleague and lower divisions, in both genders. In the 1990s, Kosovo declared political and sports independence from the Yugoslav system, organising its own league, based on different teams from seven major cities of Kosovo. Some basketball players from Kosovo, especially Kosovo Serbs, Gorani and other non-Albanians, participated as part of the Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia.

Kosovo was not allowed to play international matches, not even friendlies by FIBA, until 2015, when the Basketball Federation of Kosovo, became an official member of FIBA and FIBA Europe. Kosovo will be part of EuroBasket qualifications for the first time, as they will compete in the EuroBasket 2017 qualification. FIBA is about to allow a lot of Kosovan players, that have already played for other national teams to play for their own country.

On 2 August 2017. Kosovo achieved their first win ever by defeating Macedonia 72–68 in the first match of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup pre-qualifications.

Competitive record

Olympic Games

Olympic Games record
Year	Round	Pos	Pld	W	L	Squad
1936 to 2004	Part of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro
2008 to 2012	Not an IOC member
2016	Could not enter
2020	Did not qualify
2024	To be determined
2028
Total	—	0/22	0	0	0	—

FIBA World Cup

FIBA World Cup record								Qualifications record
Year	Round	Pos	Pld	W	L	Squad		Year	Pld	W	L
1950 to 2006	Part of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro							—
2002 to 2014	Not a FIBA member							Not a FIBA member
2019	Did not qualify							2019	10	2	8
2023	To be determined							2023	2	2	0
Total	—	0/18	0	0	0	—		Total	12	4	8

EuroBasket

EuroBasket record								Qualifications record
Year	Round	Pos	Pld	W	L	Squad		Year	Pld	W	L	Squad
1935 to 2007	Part of Yugoslavia and Serbia							—
2009 to 2013	Not a FIBA Europe member							Not a FIBA Europe member
2015	Could not enter							Could not enter
2017	Did not qualify							2017	6	0	6	Squad
2021	Did not qualify							2021	8	1	7	—
Total	—	0/41	0	0	0	—		Total	14	1	13	—

Fixtures and results

2020

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20 February 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup pre-qualifications first round	Kosovo	80–78	Iceland	Pristina, Kosovo
19:00	Scoring by quarter: 22–13, 13–21, 25–21, 20–21
	Pts: Berisha 18 Rebs: Hajrizi 8 Asts: Hajrizi 6	Boxscore	Pts: Jónsson 21 Rebs: Hlinason 12 Asts: Vilhjálmsson 6	Arena: Palace of Youth and Sports Referees: Ciprian Stoica (ROU), Ivor Matějek (CZE), Mehmet Karabilecen (TUR)

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23 February 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup pre-qualifications first round	Luxembourg	80–84	Kosovo	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
18:00	Scoring by quarter: 20–25, 25–19, 20–16, 15–24
	Pts: Rugg 30 Rebs: Rugg 8 Asts: Grün 9	Boxscore	Pts: Hajrizi 25 Rebs: Hajrizi 7 Asts: Berisha 6	Arena: d'Coque Referees: Paulo Marques (POR), Ilias Kounelles (CYP), Petr Hruša (CZE)

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26 November 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup pre-qualifications first round	Slovakia	91–67	Kosovo	Bratislava, Slovakia
19:00	Scoring by quarter: 21–9, 21–20, 20–13, 29–25
	Pts: Brodziansky 26 Rebs: Brodziansky 12 Asts: Ihring 7	Boxscore	Pts: Hajrizi 17 Rebs: Rugova 7 Asts: Hajrizi 6	Arena: Eurovia Aréna Attendance: 0 Referees: Ciprian Stoica (ROU), Péter Praksch (HUN), Vasileios Pitsilkas (GRE)

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28 November 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup pre-qualifications first round	Iceland	86–62	Kosovo	Bratislava, Slovakia
16:00	Scoring by quarter: 21–17, 24–12, 22–14, 19–19
	Pts: Vilhjálmsson 22 Rebs: Hlinason 9 Asts: Guðmundsson 7	Boxscore	Pts: Bunjaku 12 Rebs: Hajrizi, Zenelaj 6 Asts: Bunjaku 4	Arena: Eurovia Aréna Attendance: 0 Referees: Ciprian Stoica (ROU), Sergiy Chaykovskyy (UKR), Vasileios Pitsilkas (GRE)

2021

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Team

Current roster

The following is the Kosovo roster were called up for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup pre-qualifications first round matches against Slovakia and Iceland, on 26 and 28 November 2020.

Kosovo national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
} Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. PG 1 Musab Mala 24 – (1996-11-17)17 November 1996 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Bashkimi Prizren G/F 4 Edmond Azemi 40 – (1980-09-10)10 September 1980 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Prishtina SG 5 Erjon Kastrati 25 – (1994-12-30)30 December 1994 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Ylli F/C 7 Fisnik Rugova 31 – (1989-08-26)26 August 1989 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Prishtina F 8 Alban Veseli 30 – (1990-01-10)10 January 1990 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Rahoveci F 12 Drilon Hajrizi (C) 29 – (1991-01-17)17 January 1991 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Trepça C 14 Urim Zenelaj 29 – (1991-06-17)17 June 1991 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Ponte Prizreni SG 18 Mikaile Tmušić 27 – (1993-01-06)6 January 1993 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) Podgorica SG 44 Leonard Mekaj 25 – (1995-02-27)27 February 1995 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) Ylli PG 55 Altin Morina 28 – (1992-06-19)19 June 1992 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Prishtina PG 66 Valon Bunjaku 22 – (1998-02-02)2 February 1998 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Ylli G 77 Arian Qallaku 28 – (1992-07-09)9 July 1992 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Prishtina	Head coach Christos Marmarinos Assistant coach(es) Bujar Loci Gyltekin Selimi Dritëro Sefaja Illmen Bajra Legend (C) Team captain Age – describes age, on 23 November 2020

Retired numbers

No.	Player	Position	Tenure	Date of retirement	Ref
15	Gazmend Sinani	Center	2016 2018	25 June 2018 (2018-06-25)

External links

• Official website (in Albanian, English, and Serbian)
• Kosovo at EuroBasket