The Egypt national basketball team represents Egypt in international basketball competitions. The team is directed by the Egyptian Basketball Federation.FIBA National Federations – Egypt , fiba.com. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
The team's most celebrated achievements include a victory at EuroBasket 1949, becoming the only non-European nation to win the competition, and a 5th-place finish at the 1950 FIBA World Championship, as well as its 9th-place finish at the 1952 Summer Olympics, which as of 2026 are still the best results for an African nation at either tournament. At the FIBA Africa Championship, Egypt holds a record number of 17 medals (alongside Angola). Egypt joined the International Federation of Basketball (FIBA) in 1934 and has Africa's longest basketball tradition.
History EuroBasket 1937
The Egyptians finished last at the second European basketball championship, the EuroBasket 1937 held by FIBA Europe continental federation. They had lost their first two preliminary round games against Estonia and Lithuania before withdrawing from the tournament. Their remaining matches were lost by default, including the final preliminary match, the classification semi-final, and the 7th/8th playoff.
EuroBasket 1947 Egypt was much more successful in their next appearance, the EuroBasket 1947. They won all three of their preliminary group matches and their first semi-final group game. Their only loss of the tournament came to eventual gold medallist Soviet Union in the second semi-final group game, before Egypt won their third. Their 2–1 record in the semi-final group placed them second and set up a bronze medal match against Belgium, whom Egypt had defeated in the preliminary round. Egypt won again in a close 50–48 match, winning their first European medal.
EuroBasket 1949 The following championship was both hosted and won by Egypt. In a relatively small event with seven teams, none of which had placed better than third previously (France and Egypt had both done so), the Egyptians had little trouble winning their first five games. By the luck of the draw, Egypt did not face France until the last game of the tournament, so while the standings were based entirely on the seven-team round robin, the two undefeated teams found themselves facing each other in the last game of the tournament. Dominating 36–16 after the first half, the Egyptians added another point to their lead in the second half to win the game 57–36. The star player and captain was Albert Tadros. Overall, some of the prominent players include winners of the event were Tadros & Hussain Montasser. Later, Tadros was honored as the best player and Montasser was the top-scorer.
EuroBasket 1953 In Moscow, the Egyptian team once again competed. The EuroBasket 1953 saw the Egypt squad win their preliminary group easily, scoring more points in the round than anyone save the Soviet Union and Bulgaria, the latter of which had had one more game than Egypt. The final round was less conducive to Egyptian success, however; they defeated only Italy on their way to a 1–6 record. Their six losses included a forfeit to Israel, whom Egypt refused to play. The squad took 8th place of the 8 teams in the final round and 17 overall.
Later years
In much later years Mohammed Sayed-Soliman Known as Salaawa was the 1984 Olympic Games top-scorer.
In the aftermath of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, several of Egypt's elite players did not compete at the 2011 FIBA Africa Championship. Most notably, Omar Orabi, the Egyptian American Omar Samhan, and Ahmad Ismail all star forward in the Lebanese Basketball League.
Performance table Olympic Games Egypt withdrew from the 1972 tournament following the events of the Munich massacre. At the 1976 Olympics, Egypt withdrew after one game following the boycott of several African countries against New Zealand. Olympic GamesYearRoundPosition 1936Consolation round15th–18th303 1948Classification playoffs19th725 19529th–16th633 1956did not qualify 1960 1964 1968 1972Classification round16th909 1976Preliminary round12th707 1980did not qualify 1984Preliminary round12th707 1988Preliminary round12th707 1992did not qualify 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024Total7/2146541
FIBA World Cup World CupQualificationYearRoundPosition 1950Final round5th743AfroBasket served as qualification 1954Did not qualify 1959Classification round11th615 1963Did not qualify 1967 1970Classification round13th808 1974Did not qualify 1978 1982 1986 1990Classification round16th808 1994Classification round14th817 1998Did not qualify 2002 2006 2010 2014Preliminary round24th505 2019Did not qualify1275 2023Classification round20th5231284 2027To be determinedTo be determined 2031To be determinedTotal7/204783924159
EuroBasket
EuroBasketYearPosition 19378th505 1947651 1949660 19538th1046Total271512
FIBA Africa Championship Egypt has won a record 17 medals at the AfroBasket (formerly the African Championship) and is tied for second for most titles (5), trailing Angola. Egypt hosted the tournament a record six times, winning a medal in each of those tournaments including four gold medals. Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place AfroBasketQualification recordYearRoundPosition– 1962Champions1st440 1964Champions1st550 1965did not enter 1968 1970Champions1st550 1972Runners-up2nd651 1974did not enter 1975Champions1st550 1978Third place3rd651 1980did not enter 1981Runners-up2nd752 1983Champions1st660 1985Third place3rd752 1987Runners-up2nd642 1989Runners-up2nd752 1992Third place3rd651 1993Runners-up2nd651 1995did not enter 1997Fourth place4th523 1999Third place3rd761 2001Third place3rd752 2003Third place3rd752 2005did not enter 2007Fourth place4th633 2009Eightfinal round10th8264312009 2011Round of 1611th523Wild card 2013Runners-up2nd7343302013 2015Quarter-finals5th7614402015 2017Quarter-finals8th4225502017 2021Eightfinals11th4135502021 2025Quarter-finals6th4316332025Total25/311471044327234–
AfroCan 2019 – 9th
African Games 1965 – 1973 – 1991 – 1995 – 1999 – 2007 – 2011 – 5th 2015 – 2019 –
Pan Arab Games 1953 – 1961 – 1965 – 1999 – 2004 – 2007 – 2011 –
Mediterranean Games 1951 Alexandria – 1959 Beirut – 1979 Split – 2005 Almería – 5th 2013 Mersin – 6th 2022 Oran – 9th
Team Current roster Team for the AfroBasket 2025.
Notable players Other current notable players from Egypt:
Head coach history
Past rosters 1947 EuroBasket: finished 3rd among 14 teams
Albert Tadros, Gabriel "Gaby" Catafago, Youssef Abbas, Fouad Abdelmeguid el-Kheir, Abdelrahman Ismail, Hussein Montasser, Wahid Saleh, Zaki Harari, Hassan Moawad, Zaki Yehia, Guido Acher, Maurice Calife
EuroBasket 1949: finished 1st among 7 teams
Gabriel "Gaby" Catafago, Albert Tadros, Youssef Abouaouf, Fouad Abdelmeguid el-Kheir, Abdelrahman Ismail, Hussein Montasser, Nessim Salah el-Dine, Wahid Saleh, Medhat Youssef, Mohammed Soliman, Youssef Abbas, Mohammed Ali el-Rashidi (Coach: Carmine "Nello" Paratore), Team captain: Albert Tadros
Team for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Team for the 2015 FIBA Africa Championship.
See also Egypt men's national under-19 basketball team Egypt men's national under-17 basketball team Egypt women's national basketball team Egypt women's national under-19 basketball team Egypt women's national under-17 basketball team Egypt men's national 3x3 team Egypt women's national 3x3 team Egypt women's national under-18 3x3 team Egypt men's national under-18 3x3 team
References
External links
FIBA profile Egypt Basketball Records at FIBA Archive Afrobasket – Egypt Men National Team