Beginning The first championships was held three years after the establishment of FIBA, in
1935. Switzerland was chosen as the host country, and ten countries joined. Only one qualifying match was played between Portugal and Spain. With a complicated formula, the final would see
Latvia as champions. According to the rule at the time, the winner had to hold the following games. The following two tournaments would be won by
Lithuania and would see the introduction of
Egypt who would compete in EuroBasket until 1953 winning one championship at home in
1949 along the way. The 1941 edition of the tournament was scheduled be held in Lithuania as well, but was cancelled due to
WWII.
Soviet dominance After the
1946 edition saw the first jump shot performed by Italian player
Giuseppe Stefanini, the following edition would see the
Soviet Union compete in their first edition in the
1947 edition and would see the Soviets win the first of eleven out of the next thirteen European championships. During the 50s, the Soviet Union won four of the five competitions held during the decade with the only tournament that they did not win being the
1955 edition. This was won by
Hungary as they finished top while the Soviets finished in third place. It was also during that edition that the thirty-second shot clock was introduced, which changed the style of basketball. The Soviets would win all championships of the 60s. They had a fifty-five game winning streak which would be broken by
Yugoslavia in
1969. The 1960s would see also a change in how the competition was viewed and run with
FIBA putting a limit on the number of countries that entered to 16 with qualifiers being the way to bring them down to that number as it first appeared in
1963. The
following edition would see the competition not be held in one city with
Tbilisi joining Moscow in hosting games and in
1967 the first modern games were held, because the games were televised and international media were present.
Rise of Yugoslavia The 1970s were the competition between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. During the decade Yugoslavia won three gold medals and the Soviet Union taking out the remaining two. After the Soviets won
1971, the
1973 edition would finally see Yugoslavia win their first championship after
Spain defeated the Soviets in the semi-finals to qualify for their first final since the first edition way back in 1935. Yugoslavia would finally have a chance to defeat the Soviets as at home, they would get the chance to defeat them and they did as they won by six points to take home
1975 edition. After following that up in
1977, the Soviets would get their revenge in the final round at
EuroBasket 1979 when they defeated them 96–77 to qualify through to the final where they would defeat
Israel who shocked the basketball world as they defeated Yugoslavia in the opening round by a point. Brewing under the Soviets and Yugoslavs,
Western Europe was starting to appear with the 1980s seeing the change happen. In
1983, the Western side of Europe tasted success with
Italy defeating
Spain in the final to record their first of two titles. An important development happened in the
following edition which was held in Germany. That edition saw the first three-point arc being used.
New winners emerge and Spanish dominance Greece would win the next edition in
1987 at home after remarkable victory over heavily favored
Soviet Union, with a 103–101 score in a gripping final decided in
overtime. At the
1989 edition, Greece beat the Soviet team again in the semifinals with a one-point margin but then lost to hosts Yugoslavia in the final.
EuroBasket 1991 was the first EuroBasket tournament in which currently active
NBA players, that had also already played in an official NBA regular season game were allowed to participate. It would also be the first edition where the Soviets weren't entered into the competition, as the USSR didn't qualify for the main tournament and afterwards collapsed. Yugoslavia would take the title, but afterwards war would split the country up with
Jure Zdovc being a "casualty" after
Slovenia declared independence, two days into the tournament.
1993 saw a shock winner, with
Germany taking the championship at home with a one-point victory over
Russia. After being suspended in 1993,
FR Yugoslavia came back and took the trophy after defeating Lithuania who was making its first appearance, since it had been a Soviet Republic. But politics came into play with the crowd protesting "Lithuania is the champions", while the Croatian team who had defeated Greece for bronze step down from the podium in protest of the war that was happening at the time. Nevertheless,
FR Yugoslavia managed to repeat their success in
1997 after victory over
Italy in the final match.
Italy managed to win the last title of the 20th century, defeating
Spain in the
1999 final. In
2001,
FR Yugoslavia regained European title but it was their last victory at the EuroBasket. In
2003,
Lithuania defeated Spain in the final match and won their first European trophy since
1939. In
2005,
Greece repeated success of
1987 after beating
Germany in the final match.
2007 saw a shock winner, with
Russia taking their first EuroBasket title since the dissolution of the Soviet Union with a one-point victory over heavily favored Spanish hosts in
Madrid. However, the next tournaments were dominated by
Spain who finally gained their maiden European title in
2009 and then won 3 of 5 next editions. In 2013,
France won their first European title. In 2017,
Slovenia won the trophy, becoming the 14th country to win the EuroBasket. But in general, the first decades of the 21st century have been characterized by the dominance of Spanish team who has reached at least the semifinals of the 11 last tournaments, obtaining at these editions a total of four gold, three silver and three bronze medals, including the current title of
2022. ==Qualification==