The draw for the EuroBasket women's basketball qualifiers is next week, Montenegro in the first pot, and the system is new

The draw for the first round of qualifications for the European Women's Basketball Championship, to be held in 2027, will be held on July 23 in Munich.

Unlike previous years, FIBA has decided to create a new qualification system, which will allow more national teams to participate and therefore give everyone a chance to reach the continental competition. The new qualification format will take place in four "windows", starting in November this year and ending in February 2027.

The next women's Eurobasket will feature Belgium, Finland, Lithuania and Sweden, who will therefore directly qualify, and for that very reason will be placed in a special group.

How will everything work?

The first round of qualifications will be played by 27 teams, who will seek to advance through two "windows" (from November 9 to 19 and from March 8 to 18).

The first round of qualifiers will feature Montenegro, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Great Britain, Greece, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, North Macedonia. Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine. These teams will be divided into six groups (five groups of four teams and one group of three teams).

The winners and runners-up from each group, as well as the three best third-placed teams (17 teams in total), will continue their qualification in the second round. The remaining teams – Belgium, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Turkey and Hungary – will play in the World Cup qualifiers in March 2026.

Belgium and the other hosts of the championship (Finland, Lithuania and Sweden) will play in Group H, while the remaining seven teams automatically qualify for the second round of qualifying for the European Championship. Teams that do not pass the first round of qualifying continue to compete in the pre-qualifiers for the 2029 European Championship.

FIBA has determined the "pots" according to which the draw for the first round of qualifications will take place on July 23rd at 13 pm - our national team is in the first pot, where Serbia, Great Britain, Slovenia, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovakia are also located, and our selection will not play against them.

Pot 2 consists of Latvia, Portugal, Croatia, Ukraine, Poland, Switzerland and Israel. Pot XNUMX includes Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Bulgaria, Romania, Iceland and Norway, and Pot XNUMX includes Estonia, North Macedonia, Cyprus, Austria, Ireland and Azerbaijan.

The second round of qualifiers will feature 24 teams – 17 from the first round of qualifiers and seven from the World Cup qualifiers. The second round of qualifiers for the European Championship will be played in November 2026 and February 2027, with a draw taking place and six groups of four teams each.

The two best-placed teams from each of the six groups, along with the four hosts, will qualify for the European Championship.