Vienna, July 04, 2026
Austria's men's national team was chanceless on Friday in the penultimate match of the first qualifying round for the 2027 Basketball World Cup, losing 77:123 at home in Vienna to group leader Poland.
The squad coached by team captain Aramis Naglic already trailed significantly at halftime, down 28:53, and found no answer against the Polish favorites throughout the game. The ÖBV selection, which had taken the court with seven debutants, had little to counter the physical and athletic level of the opponent.
There had already been a heavy defeat against the same opponent in the first leg in August 2022, 55:91 at the time. In the current qualifying campaign, the away match against Poland had been lost 78:90, which in retrospect appears as a comparatively close result.
Background: Heavily Negative Record Against Poland
Naglic analyzed the game with a view toward his squad's lack of physicality: „Meine junge, unerfahrene Mannschaft konnte auf diesem physischen Level nicht dagegenhalten“, the team captain summed up after the game. He nevertheless tried to highlight positive aspects: „Immerhin „ein paar gute Momente“ habe sein Team gehabt.
Before the sporting action, there had also been incidents in the vicinity of the arena that triggered a major security operation. As Basketball Austria Secretary General Aldin Saracevic explained, „zwei Viertel lang diverse deeskalierende Maßnahmen unternommen und an die Vernunft appelliert“ had been carried out. The goal was to offer fans „ein sicheres Spielerlebnis“, which is why „der Schritt, die Halle zu räumen, aus Sicherheitsbedenken schlussendlich unausweichlich“ had been.