PARIS (France) - France basketball fans have to wait no longer as head coach Ruddy Nelhomme ended speculation about who might be included on his team for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025 by announcing the 17 nominated players, including six players back from the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024 team.
Nelhomme, who takes the U19 reins after serving 14 years alongside Vincent Collet as French senior national team assistant coach, will call together the 17 players on June 2 in Vichy for a two-week training camp. After a break, the France team will train in Paris at the INSEP facilities and play an exhibition against Canada before making the trip to Lausanne, Switzerland.
Martin Carrere, Mohamed Diakite, Japhet Moupadele, Mohamed Sankhe, Leon Sifferlin and Yohann Sissoko were all part of the team that finished fifth at the U18 continental competition last summer to qualify for this summer's global showcase.
France's preliminary list for FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025
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Noah Badibanga | Thomas Bassong | Soren Bracq | Martin Carrere | Mohamed Diakite |
Iliam Fevry | Marc-Owen Fodzo Dada | Noa Kouakou Heugue | Gabin Lefort | Sohann Mendy |
Japhet Moupadele | Kany N'Kouka | Timeo Pons | Mohamed Sanke | Leon Sifferlin |
Yohann Sissoko | Talis Soulhac |
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Diakite scored 8.9 points per game as the fourth-leading scorer. Sissoko and Sifferlin are also expected to be integral parts of the team in Lausanne this summer.
Nelhomme nominated exclusively 2006-born players save for forward Noa Kouakou Heugue and point guard Soren Bracq, two 2007-born talents who played last summer at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024.
An interesting name to note on the French list is Thomas Bassong, who played this season at Overtime Elite in the USA.
Bassong has yet to play an international tournament - something he shares in common with seven other nominees - Noah Badibanga, Iliam Fevry, Marc-Owen Fodzo Dada, Gabin Lefort, Sohann Mendy, Kany N'Kouka and Timeo Pons. The guard Pons, however, did play in four games in the Basketball Champions League this season with Nanterre.
Fevry also has experience playing outside France as he was playing with Spanish side Real Betis Sevilla between 2021-22 and 2024. The SLUC Nancy guard left France when he was 13 years old.
France go into the U19 World Cup looking to maintain a strong run of results. The national team finished third in 2019 and then grabbed second place in 2021 and 2023.
Nelhomme's team has been drawn into the strong Group D with USA, Australia and, Cameroon. The competition runs from June 28 to July 6.
FIBA