MUNICH (Germany) - The winners of the inaugural FIBA EuroBasket back in 1935, Latvia are still the smallest country in population size to win the event.

It was a different sport and a completely different format of the competition 85 years ago. Switzerland played host to the first ever FIBA EuroBasket, and among the ten teams, Latvia emerged victorious with wins over Hungary in the Preliminary Round, Switzerland in the Semi-Finals and Spain in the Final, which ended 24-18. Latvia also won bronze in 1939.

Fast forward to the modern ages and the Three Stars are on the rise again. The team has not missed a single FIBA EuroBasket event in this millennium and has been on a strong charge since finishing a disappointing 21st in 2011. An improvement was already evident with an 11th place finish in Slovenia in 2013, and 2015 saw Latvia reach the Quarter-Finals for the first time since 2001.

But the Final Round in 2017 took it a step further and brought Latvia back into the contenders' conversation. A stellar performance with Kristaps Porzingis in the leading role was good enough for a fifth place finish, behind only Slovenia, Serbia, Spain and Russia.

Hopefully, they will be a part of the debate in 2022, too.

FIBA