Italian
The draw for the groups for the second phase of the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2027 Qualifiers has been made. The Azzurre are in group K
MIES (SWITZERLAND) – The groups for the second phase of the qualifiers for FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2027 have been officially announced. Yesterday in Mies (Switzerland), the draw was held to determine the final phase that will take place between Belgium, Finland, Lithuania, and Sweden.
The 24 national teams have been divided into six groups of four teams and will play three matches in the November 2026 window (11, 14, and 17) and three more in the February 2027 window (10, 13, 16). Italy, thanks to its excellent results in recent months, started from the top seeding and has been placed in Group K along with Slovenia, Latvia, and Austria.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the next European Championship, along with the four National teams already qualified as host countries included in the Group H, which runs parallel to the qualification tournament.
The result of the next European Championship will be important also because the top six teams will qualify automatically for the pre-Olympic tournament that grants access to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
The statements
These are the words of coach Capobianco: “After what was defined by FIBA last summer in Bologna as the ‘group of death’, we have encountered a solid, tough, high-level group in these Qualifiers as well. There are top-tier teams in their respective categories, we are talking about National teams with tradition, high-level naturalized athletes, and they are well-coached. As usual, I say this from the first day I coach these extraordinary girls, we must try to play at our highest level and then see how it goes. This is our commitment, aware that we will face a group where the word respect will be fundamental because we will meet very tough teams.
The Precedents
Group K will feature Italy, Austria, Slovenia, and Latvia. The Azzurre Women’s National Team has faced the former ten times, with a record of nine wins and one loss. The last match between the two teams was on October 15, 1972, at the EuroBasket Women 1972, with Italy winning 63-44.
There are twelve previous encounters with Slovenia, defeated eleven times, the last being on June 19 at PalaDozza in Bologna 77-66 in the second match of the EuroBasket Women 2025.
More balanced is the comparison with Latvia, with two wins and three losses. The last encounter was at EuroBasket Women 2017, where the Azzurre were defeated 67-68 after the controversial unsportsmanlike foul called on Cecilia Zandalasini at the end of the game, leading to their subsequent failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
The qualifying rounds for Women’s EuroBasket 2027
The complete picture of the groups
Group I: Poland, Turkey, Montenegro, Israel
Group J: Croatia, Spain, Czech Republic, Bulgaria
Group K: Italy, Slovenia, Latvia, Austria
Group L: Slovakia, Serbia, Greece, Netherlands
Group M: Ukraine, France, Great Britain, Luxembourg
Group N: Portugal, Germany, Hungary, Denmark
