Denmark men's national basketball team

Men's national basketball team representing Denmark

Denmark
FIBA ranking55 Increase 3 (1 March 2024)[1]
Joined FIBA1951
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationDBBF
CoachAllan Foss
Nickname(s)De rød-hvide
(The Red and White)
FIBA World Cup
AppearancesNone
EuroBasket
Appearances3
MedalsNone
Championship for Small Countries
Appearances1
MedalsGold Gold: (2010)
Home jersey
Team colours
Home
Away jersey
Team colours
Away
First international
 Denmark 13–109 Soviet Union 
(Paris, France; 3 May 1951)
Biggest win
 Denmark 99–51 Cyprus 
(Copenhagen, Denmark; 26 April 1986)
Biggest defeat
 Soviet Union 118–14 Denmark 
(Moscow, Soviet Union; 25 May 1953)

The Denmark men's national basketball team (Danish: Danmarks landsbasketballhold) represents Denmark in international basketball competition. The national team is controlled by the Danish Basketball Association.

The Denmark national team competed regularly at the EuroBasket in the 1950s, the top European tournament. Their best appearance came in 1951. Although since then, the team has struggled to maintain consistency to challenge the international elites. Denmark also has yet to reach qualification to play on the global stage at the FIBA World Cup.

History

EuroBasket 1951

Denmark debuted in the European championships at the EuroBasket 1951 in Paris. They were defeated in all of their preliminary round games, going 0–4. They ended up in last place in their group. In a direct elimination match against Luxembourg, Denmark took a 46–45 lead with 5 seconds left. A final half-court shot by Luxembourg bounced off the rim, giving Denmark its first ever win at the EuroBasket tournament and advancing the team to the first classification round. They picked up another win there, against Scotland, finishing in third place in the group at 1–2. Their third win of the tournament came against Portugal in the 13th–16th place classification semifinal. Denmark then lost to Switzerland in the 13th/14th place match to finish 14th of the 18 teams with a record of 3–7.

EuroBasket 1953

Two years later, at the EuroBasket 1953 in Moscow, Denmark did not fare as well. They dropped eight of their matches (three in the preliminary round, three in the first classification round, and the two-second-round classification games) on their way to a 16th-place finish out of the 17 teams in the tournament.

EuroBasket 1955

At the EuroBasket 1955 in Budapest, the national team struggled there as well just as they did at the prior EuroBasket. Losing all eight of their matches in non competitive fashion, this time they finished in last place of the 18 teams at the event.

Later years

After the EuroBasket 1955, the Danish national team regressed and never qualified for a major tournament again. Though, they did achieve some success on a lower level, at the European Championship for Small Countries, where they won Gold in 2010.

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup

World Cup Qualification
Year Position Pld W L Pld W L
Brazil 1954 Did not qualify Did not qualify
Chile 1959 Did not enter Did not enter
Brazil 1963
Uruguay 1967
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1970 Did not qualify EuroBasket served
as qualifiers
Puerto Rico 1974
Philippines 1978
Colombia 1982
Spain 1986 Did not enter Did not enter
Argentina 1990 Did not qualify EuroBasket served
as qualifiers
Canada 1994
Greece 1998
United States 2002
Japan 2006
Turkey 2010
Spain 2014 Did not enter Did not enter
China 2019
PhilippinesJapanIndonesia 2023 Did not qualify 4 0 4
Qatar 2027 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/18 4 0 4

Olympic Games

Olympic Games Qualifying
Year Position Pld W L Pld W L
Finland 1952 Did not enter
Australia 1956 Did not qualify
Italy 1960 Did not enter Did not enter
Japan 1964
Mexico 1968
West Germany 1972 Did not qualify 3 0 3
Canada 1976 Did not enter Did not enter
Soviet Union 1980
United States 1984
South Korea 1988 Did not qualify 4 0 4
Spain 1992 Did not enter Did not enter
1996 to 2016
Japan 2020
France 2024 Did not qualify Did not qualify
United States 2028 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/19 7 0 7

Championship for Small Countries

FIBA European Championship for Small Countries
Year Position Pld W L
Malta 2010 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 5 0
Total 5 5 0

EuroBasket

EuroBasket Qualification
Year Position Pld W L Pld W L
France 1951 14th 10 3 7
Soviet Union 1953 16th 8 0 8
Hungary 1955 18th 8 0 8
Bulgaria 1957 Did not enter
Turkey 1959
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1961
Poland 1963 Did not enter
Soviet Union 1965
Finland 1967 Did not qualify 3 1 2
Italy 1969 3 0 3
West Germany 1971 4 1 3
Spain 1973 6 1 5
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1975 Did not enter Did not enter
Belgium 1977 Did not qualify 5 2 3
Italy 1979 4 1 3
Czechoslovakia 1981 4 2 2
France 1983 Did not enter Did not enter
West Germany 1985 Did not qualify 4 3 1
Greece 1987 4 2 2
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1989 3 1 2
Italy 1991 4 1 3
Germany 1993 10 3 7
Greece 1995 Did not enter Did not enter
Spain 1997 Did not qualify 5 2 3
France 1999 15 5 10
Turkey 2001 5 1 4
Sweden 2003 15 4 11
Serbia and Montenegro 2005 Division B 6 4 2
Spain 2007 Did not qualify 14 2 12
Poland 2009 Division B 8 0 8
Lithuania 2011 Did not enter Did not enter
Slovenia 2013
FranceCroatiaGermanyLatvia 2015 Did not qualify 12 2 10
FinlandIsraelRomaniaTurkey 2017 6 2 4
Czech RepublicGeorgia (country)ItalyGermany 2022 18 6 12
CyprusFinlandPolandLatvia 2025 To be determined To be determined
Total 3/35 26 3 23 158 52 106

Results and fixtures

  Win   Loss

2023

Switzerland  v  Denmark
22 July 2023 Switzerland  46–60  Denmark Fribourg, Switzerland
17:30 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 6–18, 17–9, 13–12, 10–21
Pts: three players 7
Rebs: Rocak 5
Asts: Fofana 3 		Boxscore Pts: Lundberg 14
Rebs: Dibba 10
Asts: Lundberg, Zohore 3 		Arena: Salle Saint-Lèonard
Attendance: 540
Referees: Fernando Calatrava (ESP), Lorenzo Baldini (ITA), Łukasz Jankowski (POL)
Denmark  v  Kosovo
26 July 2023 Denmark  82–75  Kosovo Næstved, Denmark
18:00 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 27–16, 17–27, 25–22, 13–10
Pts: Lundberg 20
Rebs: Dibba 9
Asts: Jukić 7 		Boxscore Pts: Artis 23
Rebs: Berisha, Shoshi 6
Asts: Artis 4 		Arena: Næstved Arena
Attendance: 930
Referees: Geert Jacobs (BEL), Sergii Zashchuk (UKR), Javier Torres (ESP)
Denmark  v   Switzerland
2 August 2023 Denmark  94–81   Switzerland Næstved, Denmark
18:00 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 18–25, 26–9, 27–21, 23–26
Pts: Lundberg 22
Rebs: Erikstrup 9
Asts: Jukić 9 		Boxscore Pts: De la Fuente 22
Rebs: Fofana, Martin 5
Asts: Fofana 9 		Arena: Næstved Arena
Attendance: 1,280
Referees: Antonio Conde (ESP), Josip Jurčević (CRO), Juozas Barkauskas (LTU)
Kosovo  v  Denmark
5 August 2023 Kosovo  63–88  Denmark Prizren, Kosovo
20:45 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 17–24, 11–23, 17–21, 18–20
Pts: Artis, Janjeva 11
Rebs: Hajrizi 6
Asts: Hajrizi 3 		Boxscore Pts: Lundberg 28
Rebs: Zohore 9
Asts: Lundberg 5 		Arena: Sezai Surroi Sports Hall
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Yener Yılmaz (TUR), Gellért Kapitány (HUN), Mehmet Şahin (TUR)

2024

Denmark  v  Georgia
23 February 2024 Denmark  75–69  Georgia Næstved, Denmark
18:30 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 12–23, 16–14, 22–16, 25–16
Pts: Lundberg 19
Rebs: Knudsen 6
Asts: Lundberg 7 		Boxscore Pts: Shengelia 27
Rebs: Shermadini 8
Asts: Thomasson,
Tsintsadze 4 		Arena: Næstved Arena
Attendance: 2,153
Referees: Zafer Yılmaz (TUR), Yener Yılmaz (TUR), Juozas Barkauskas (LTU)
Finland  v  Denmark
26 February 2024 Finland  89–85  Denmark Espoo, Finland
18:30 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 23–27, 19–31, 30–14, 17–13
Pts: Jantunen 19
Rebs: Jantunen 7
Asts: Maxhuni 6 		Boxscore Pts: Lundberg 26
Rebs: Dibba 7
Asts: Larsen, Lundberg 6 		Arena: Espoo Metro Areena
Attendance: 5,339
Referees: Fernando Calatrava (ESP), Gintaras Vitkauskas (LTU), Blaž Zupančič (SVN)
Denmark  v  Serbia
21 November 2024 Denmark  vs.  Serbia Denmark
Boxscore
Serbia  v  Denmark
24 November 2024 Serbia  vs.  Denmark Serbia
Boxscore

2025

Georgia  v  Denmark
21 February 2025 Georgia  vs.  Denmark Georgia
Boxscore
Denmark  v  Finland
24 February 2025 Denmark  vs.  Finland Denmark
Boxscore

Team

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers matches on 23 and 26 February 2024 against Georgia and Finland.[2]

Denmark men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
F 0 Bakary Dibba 22 – (2001-10-23)23 October 2001 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Tübingen Germany
G 1 Gabriel Lundberg 29 – (1994-12-04)4 December 1994 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Virtus Bologna Italy
SF 3 Sylvester Berg 25 – (1998-05-27)27 May 1998 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Bakken Bears Denmark
G 4 Sebastian Åris 28 – (1995-12-09)9 December 1995 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Coruña Spain
PG 5 Adam Heede-Andersen 27 – (1996-07-04)4 July 1996 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Værløse Denmark
C 6 Jonas Zohore 32 – (1991-07-06)6 July 1991 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Balkan Bulgaria
SF 8 Darko Jukić 33 – (1990-08-23)23 August 1990 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Bakken Bears Denmark
G/F 11 Mads Bonde 26 – (1997-05-24)24 May 1997 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) Gipuzkoa Spain
C 13 Kevin Larsen 30 – (1993-07-17)17 July 1993 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Estudiantes Spain
F 18 Gustav Knudsen 20 – (2003-04-16)16 April 2003 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Bakken Bears Denmark
PF 41 Morten Bülow 25 – (1999-01-10)10 January 1999 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Randers Denmark
G 71 Jonathan Klussmann 21 – (2002-10-06)6 October 2002 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) La Roda Spain
G/F 77 Tobias Jensen 19 – (2004-05-08)8 May 2004 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Ulm Germany
Head coach
  • Denmark Allan Foss
Assistant coach(es)
  • Republic of Ireland Michael Bree
  • Denmark Jeffrey Jensen
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 23 February 2024

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3
C Jonas Zohore Asbjørn Midtgaard Sami Eleraky Jacob Jensen
PF Kevin Larsen Daniel Mortensen Zarko Jukić Sylvester Berg
SF Darko Jukic Jonathan Gilling Chris Nielsen Morten Sahlertz
SG Shavon Shields Philip Hertz Thomas Laerke David Knudsen
PG Gabriel Lundberg Adama Darboe Frederik Nielsen Chanan Colman

Head coach position

  • Denmark Allan Foss – (2004–2009)
  • United States/Denmark Peter Hoffman – (2010–2011)
  • Finland Pieti Poikola – (2013–2016)
  • Israel Erez Bittman – (2017–2021)
  • Croatia Arnel Dedić – (2021–2022)
  • Denmark Allan Foss – (2022–present)

Past rosters

1951 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 18 teams

3 Knud Lundberg, 4 Knud Norskov, 5 Erik Korsbjerg, 6 Erik Wilbek, 7 Peter Tantholdt, 8 Belger Can, 9 Bent Sondergaard, 10 Erik Melbye, 11 Sven Thomsen, 12 John Christensen, 13 Ove Nielsen, 14 Kai Sogaard, 15 Erik Carlsen, 16 Niels Mygind (Coach: ?)

1953 EuroBasket: finished 16th among 17 teams

3 Kai Sorensen, 4 Knud Norskov, 5 Knud Lundberg, 6 Peter Tantholdt, 7 John Christensen, 8 Erik Madsen, 10 Torben Starup-Hansen, 11 Ivan Rasmussen, 12 Ove Nielsen, 13 Erik Wilbek, 14 Pierre Meilsej, 15 Willi Mouritsen, 16 John Nielsen (Coach: ?)

1955 EuroBasket: finished 18th among 18 teams

3 Kai Sogaard, 4 Erik Korsbjerg, 5 Peter Tantholdt, 6 Pierre Meilsej, 7 An Lillelund, 8 Ivan Rasmussen, 9 Ove Nielsen, 10 T Storup, 11 P Hintz, 12 T Malmquist, 13 Willi Mouritsen, 14 S Sparre (Coach: ?)

Kit

Manufacturer

  • 2018–present: Spalding

See also

  • Sports portal
  • flagDenmark portal

References

  1. ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Denmark during the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers in February 2024". Retrieved 23 February 2024.

External links

  • Official website (in Danish)
  • Denmark FIBA profile
  • Denmark National Team – Men at Eurobasket.com
  • Denmark Basketball Records at FIBA Archive

Videos

  • Denmark v Belarus – Full Game – FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Pre-Qualifiers Youtube.com video