MUNICH (Germany) - The first window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup European Qualifiers brought high suspense, drama, and unparalleled excitement.
And, with the highly anticipated second window on the horizon, we've selected five moments that made fans across Europe drop their jaws in disbelief.
Sargiunas activates T-Mac mode in London
Lithuania's Ignas Sarguinas produced nine seconds of unbelievable magic that is still talked about today.
With his side seemingly down and out against Great Britain, who looked set to beat Lithuania for the first time ever, Sargiunas saw hope. His first triple came with 9.9 seconds left and his team down 87-80.
GB could only split their following free throws, and Sargiunas nailed another three-pointer to make Lithuania believe, only down 88-86 with 3.5 seconds to go. Then, after a turnover, Sargiunas zipped up court and buried a dagger three on the buzzer for an 89-88 win to send the heavy Lithuanian crowd in London into raptures.
Sargiunas finished with 27 points and, in the process, created a magic moment in world basketball, along with the likes of Reggie Miller and Tracy McGrady.
Satoransky sets assist mark
Czechia's Tomas Satoransky broke the all-time World Cup Qualifiers assists record, which was set just a few days previously.
Satoransky put his name at the top of the all-time list with 16 assists, along with 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting, securing a 97-92 win and improving his side's record to 2-0 heading into the second window.
The Czech guard has made a name for himself with elite passing and led the World Cup 2019 in assists with 8.5, the most among players who appeared in all eight games.
Hakanson breaks his own record
Before Satoransky set the new assists record, Sweden's Ludde Hakanson had beaten his own personal mark just days prior.
Despite the Swedes losing out to Czechia 97-80 to open up proceedings in Group H, Hakanson pulled the strings offensively, finishing the game with what was a Qualifiers record of 15 assists to go with 15 points.
The guard had also set the previous mark of 14 against Slovenia in 2021, a feat matched by Germany's Justus Hollatz against Finland in 2023; Jordan's Freddy Ibrahim against New Zealand in 2022; and Mexico's Paul Stoll against Puerto Rico in 2021.
Upsets, upsets
Along with individual highlights, the first window also produced some eye-popping results, led by the Netherlands unforgettable away day in Riga. Led by a dominant first half and 17 points from Nathan Kuta, the Dutch stunned Latvia 86-78 to score the win, but the result in the Latvian capital wasn't the only surprise.
Hungary raced to a 31-17 first-quarter lead and never looked back as they beat Finland 89-82 with Nate Reuvers leading the way with 16 points and 6 rebounds. However, Finland bounced back with an 83-76 win over France.
While Serbia edged past Switzerland 90-86 in Belgrade, they had to come back from 23-points down to do so. The Swiss led 57-34 at the half, a shocking score, before the Serbs recovered to outscore their opponents 56-29 for the win.
Elsewhere, other results that turned heads during the first window saw Iceland bag an 81-76 road win over Italy, and Portugal convincingly beat Montenegro 83-62.
Teamwork makes the dream work
Reeling after missing out on qualification for FIBA EuroBasket 2025, Croatia are desperate to bounce back on the global stage, and they have started their path to Qatar unbeaten after two games, with one result in particular standing out.
In an impressive 100-60 success win over Cyprus, Croatia set a new FIBA Basketball World Cup European Qualifiers record after dishing out 32 assists.
Dominik Mavra led the way with 7 assists, while Mario Hezonja and Goran Filipovic both added six apiece. Croatia's effort surpassed the previous high of 31 in the European Qualifiers, set by Poland (2018) and Latvia (2022).
FIBA