The draw in the German capital Berlin and for the European Championship of 2022 brought an attractive but especially tough group for the Belgian Lions. The selection of national coach Dario Gjergja is in group A, including Spain (number 2 in the world) and Russia (number 9).
The draw, including European Championship ambassador and NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki, thus brought a tough group for the Belgian Lions. In addition to Russia and Spain, Retin Obasohan, Sam Van Rossom and co. it still competes with Turkey (number 15 in the world), host country Georgia (number 36) and Bulgaria (number 49 in the world). The top four of the four groups have been qualified for the 1 / 8th finals. The ambition of the Belgian Lions is to reach the last sixteen.
The European Championship will be played from 1 to 18 September 2022. Due to the corona pandemic, FIBA decided to postpone the European Championship by one year. The European Championship takes place in four different countries. In Germany (Cologne), the Czech Republic (Prague), Italy (Milan) and Georgia (Tbilisi). The final phase is played in the German capital Berlin.
“Heavy group”
“It is a heavy group. But there are no weak groups on a Eurobasket. Spain is the favorite and when Turkey and Russia come with their NBA players, they will of course also be great teams. Georgia is the home team and could be a surprise and Bulgaria is the outsider. However, we are going for qualification, ”said national coach Dario Gjergja.
“We are ambitious and when we reach the 1 / 8th finals we are looking for a surprise,” added sports director Jacques Stas.
In the past two years, the Belgian Lions have qualified for the European Championship with, among other things, handsome victories against world leaders Lithuania and the Czech Republic. It is the fifth consecutive time that the Lions have qualified for the European Championship. The best result was in 2013 when it finished ninth in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana.
Pool A (Tbilisi): Belgium, Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Georgia, Spain
Pool B (Keulen): Hungary, Germany, France, Lithuania, Slovenia, Bosnia
Pool C (Milaan): Ukraine, Italy, Estonia, Croatia, England, Greece
Group D (Prague): Czech Republic, Finland, Poland, Israel, Netherlands
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