Hungary men's national basketball team

the men's team

The Hungary men's national basketball team (Magyar nemzeti kosárlabda válogatott) represents Hungary in international basketball tournaments. It is governed by the Hungarian Basketball Federation (MKOSZ). Hungary's best period in international basketball competitions came in the 1940s to the 1960s. It was when the national team won several medals at the EuroBasket (1946, 1953, 1955), and reached the Olympic Games on four out of the first six editions of the event overall. However, since 1969, the team has only qualified for the continental showpiece three times (1999, 2017, 2022). Hungary also continues to vie for their debut appearance at the FIBA World Cup.

The Hungarian side came in ninth place at the first European Basketball Championship, the EuroBasket 1935 held by the International Basketball Federation's FIBA Europe continental federation. They faced the eventual champions Latvia in the preliminary round, falling 46–12. In the classification matches, the Hungarians lost to Bulgaria, then defeated Romania to finish ninth with a 1–2 record.

After not competing in the 1937 edition, the Hungarians returned to the EuroBasket 1939. Once again, Hungary was one of eight teams that qualified for the event. Hungary lost its first six games. The biggest defeat was a massive blowout to the host Lithuania 79 15. Although in their last match, Hungary displayed a strong performance as they defeated Finland 45 16 which provided some reconciliation for their loss against Lithuania. Hungary eventually finished the tournament seventh in the eight team field.

The next European competition was the EuroBasket 1946. Hungary placed second in their preliminary round group of four, losing to Italy but defeating Luxembourg and Poland. This qualified the Hungarians for the semi finals, which they lost to Czechoslovakia. In the bronze medal match, Hungary defeated France 38–32.

Hungary competed at the EuroBasket 1947 the next year. Their 1–1 record in the preliminary phase was sufficient for them to advance to the semifinal groups; However, they lost all three games there. In the 7th/8th place classification match, they defeated Bulgaria 59–29 to finish seventh of the fourteen teams.

Hungary's next appearance at the EuroBasket 1953 in Moscow, resulted in the team's second EuroBasket medal. Their preliminary group adversaries included hosts and defending champions Soviet Union, who gave Hungary their only loss in the pool. Their 2–1 record put Hungary in second place in the pool and advanced them to the final round. There, they lost again to the Soviets as well as fellow perennial powers Czechoslovakia and France. Hungary defeated the other four teams in the round, however, their 4–3 record put them in a tie with Czechoslovakia, France, and Israel. The Hungarians came out on top of the tie breaker, as they finished in second place overall behind the Soviet Union to take the silver medal.

The Hungarian capital Budapest gained the hosting rights for the EuroBasket 1955. The results of the preliminary round were hardly surprising for the Hungarians, as they won all three of their games to proceed to the final round. Their first match in that round was against Czechoslovakia, and the Hungarians quickly found themselves in the bottom half of the final round group with a 75–65 loss. Their next four games, however, were much different and Hungary defeated Poland, Italy, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia to rise to a 4–1 record. This put them in a tie for the lead of the group with the Soviet Union, which had lost to Czechoslovakia. In a game that was never particularly close, the Hungarians handed the Soviets only their second loss, 82–68, in 34 games and four EuroBasket tournaments. Hungary advanced to 5–1, in sole lead of the pool, which they never relinquished. Hungary then finished it all off in victorious fashion over Romania to win the gold medal at the Euros for the first time.

At the EuroBasket 1957 Hungary cruised to a 3 0 record in their preliminary phase group, with their only true test coming in a narrow 66 65 victory over Romania. It was enough for national team to advance to the final round of the competition. There, they lost in turn to each of the other three preliminary pool winners, finishing at 4–3 in the round to take fourth place overall.

EuroBasket 2017 marked the first EuroBasket appearance for the national team since 1999. With no real expectations heading into it, Hungary surprised many with their performance in the preliminary stage getting their first EuroBasket victory since 1969. They finished with a 2 3 record, with wins over the Czech Republic, and Romania. It was enough for the national team to advance to the knockout stage. There they matched up against Serbia, where they put up an valiant effort in defeat against the eventual runners up 86 78.

At the EuroBasket 2022 qualification, Hungary surprisingly defeated defending Champion Slovenia 77 75. Benedek Váradi labelled the victory as "among the most important" in his career.

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers matches on 22 and 25 February 2024 against Iceland and Italy.

Hungary v Great Britain Highlights FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers Youtube. com video