The draw for the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers was held in Munich earlier this week, with Israel set to face France, Latvia and Ireland in Group E.

The Czech Republic, Germany, Greece and Italy have been placed in one group and all automatically qualify as co-hosts of the tournament. From the other eight groups, the group winners and the best four second-placed teams will also participate in the main event.

Israel’s first qualifying games will take place on November 11, 2023 at home against Ireland and on November 12, 2023 away against Latvia. They will then have to wait until November 24 to play away against France and Ireland, with the final qualifiers taking place at home in February 2025 against Latvia and France.

It’s going to be a challenge for the Blue & White, currently ranked 49 in the world and 23 in Europe, to qualify. In the 2023 rendition of the tournament, which was co-hosted by Tel Aviv, Israel finished with an 0-3 record, with losses to eventual champions Belgium (59-108), Italy (68-88) and the Czech Republic (52-61). France (ranked 7 in the world and 3 in Europe) finished the tournament in third place after going down to Belgium 63-67 in the semifinal and defeating Hungary 82-68 in the third-place game.

Latvia (ranked 29 in the world and 17 in Europe) didn’t get past the group stage of the 2023 tournament, however they did claim one more with than Israel, defeating the tournament runner-up Spain 67-63. Ireland (ranked 80 in the world and 36 in Europe) did not participate in the 2023 EuroBasket after failing to win a game in their qualifiers against the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, looks like a winnable game for Israel to get the campaign off to a strong start come November.

The EuroBasket 2025 begins on June 19, 2025, with the final taking place in Greece on June 29, 2025.

Groups for the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers
Group A: Spain, Croatia, Netherlands, Austria
Group B: Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Finland
Group C: Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Azerbaijan
Group D: Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia
Group E: France, Latvia, Israel, Ireland
Group F: Turkey, Slovakia, Romania, Iceland
Group G: Serbia, Ukraine, Portugal, North Macedonia
Group H: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Switzerland, Luxembourg
Group I: Italy, Greece, Czechia, Germany