MUNICH (Germany) – The FIBA World Cup 2027 European Pre-Qualifiers return in November with 10 teams continuing their battle to achieve the dream of appearing on the highest stage.

A number of well-known names in the European basketball will take the court and battle it out amongst themselves.

Here is a watchlist of five names who will aim to carry the load of their nations’ hopes and dreams on their own backs.

Sylven Landesberg – Austria

SHOOTING GUARD / SMALL FORWARD

Birth Date: April 10, 1990
Height: 6ft 6in / 1.98 m
Club: None

Six years after his unforgettable 47-point debut and five years after his last Austria game, Sylven Landesberg returns to the national team with Austria eyeing to improve to 3-0. Being unavailable in these last years due to his commitments in China, this 34-year-old veteran is fresh without a club and no doubt full of motive. As we already know from his three games with Austria and a stellar European career, this sharpshooter can fill up anyone’s basket to the brim.

Chris Jones – Armenia

POINT GUARD

Birth Date: April 10, 1993
Height: 6ft 2in / 1.88 m
Club: Valencia Basket Club SAD (ESP)

Named MVP of the FIBA European Championship for Small Countries 2022, Jones has been Armenia’s driving force ever since. This 31-year-old dynamic point guard made his mark in the European Pre-Qualifiers already with 26 points and 9.5 assists on average in February and will look to continue that way with Armenia sitting at 1-1 before a crucial game against Austria.

Harald Frey – Norway

GUARD

Birth Date: May 27, 1997
Height: 6ft 2in / 1.88 m
Club: Bilbao Basket (ESP)

One of the biggest export products of Norwegian basketball in recent years, Frey continues his rise trough the ranks of the top European flights. After two years in the Bundesliga, the sharpshooter inked a deal with Spanish side Bilbao Basket in the summer and will look to lead Norway to their next success after scoring 23 and dishing out 6 assists in their opening February win.

Emanuel Cate – Romania

CENTER

Birth Date: July 30, 1997
Height: 6ft 9in / 2.06 m
Club: BAXI Manresa (ESP)

Can Romania recover from the early shock against Luxembourg and improve on their record? Much of those efforts will fall on the back of Emanuel Cate who was Romania’s top performer in February with 25 points and 8 rebounds. The center will look to improve on that having already made his mark early in the Liga Endesa season, making his return to the Spanish basketball after spending the last two seasons in his homeland.

Selim Fofana – Switzerland

POINT GUARD

Birth Date: July 8, 1999
Height: 6ft 4in / 1.93 m
Club: None

With Anthony Polite being out with a serious injury, Switzerland will now look to Fofana in their hopes of remaining unbeaten after their perfect 2-0 start. Fofana is a pass-first point guard who is proven at the highest European level with a big season in Germany behind him and will again be a great danger to Kosovo and Azerbaijan.

FIBA