MIES (Switzerland) – I wasn’t on site for the 3x3 Europe Cup this time around. Instead of co-hosting the games courtside from Groenplaats, I ended up watching most of the FIBA 3x3 Europe Cup 2026 from a hotel room in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, awaiting my trip to China to host the FIBA 3x3 U23 World Cup 2026 in Wuhan, China.
It was an odd sensation. As much as I love being on the ground, able to analyze the game from only a couple of feet away, this setup gave me a chance to zoom out, experience the action from a different perspective and take it all in as a fan of 3x3 basketball. It certainly didn’t stop me from taking notes.
Here are my five takeaways from the FIBA 3x3 Europe Cup 2026.
1. Latvia’s sweep
Going into Antwerp, I don’t think many people had the Latvian men primed to win another gold medal. They were supposed to have had their moment in the spotlight at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup 2026, finally nabbing the one major medal that had evaded them over the years. Surely they wouldn’t arrive in Belgium with that same focus and fire, especially after shifting to a different version of the roster with Rihards Kuksiks and Kristaps Gluditis filling in for Francis Lacis and Karlis Lasmanis.
Turns out most of us were wrong. In hindsight, mixing two of the most dangerous snipers in the game with a revitalized Nauris Miezis and one of the most underrated defensive and screening bigs in 3x3 basketball, Zigmars Raimo, is a pretty good formula.
Now, it’s not like they completely blew the opposition out of the water. Before the Final against the Netherlands, Latvia had won their four contests by an average margin of just four points.
But from the get-go, it was clear other teams would struggle to keep up with the firepower of this unit. It felt like every game produced a different hot hand. Gluditis torched the nets in pool play to the tune of 10 points per game. Miezis almost single-handedly shot Belgium out of the tournament in the Quarter-Finals, hitting four of his five shots from the land of plenty. Then the Kuksimonster drained three long-range bombs in the semifinal against France.
In the Final, it all came together. Latvia drew the Dutch into a gunfight and came out on top, making six of their 19 attempts from far, far away.
That wasn’t an accident either. Latvia attempted a two on almost three out of every five possessions throughout the tournament and drained those shots at a 33% clip. They built their offense around the most valuable shot in 3x3 basketball, had the personnel to make it work and trusted that formula all weekend. If you had told me at the start of the 2026 season that Latvia would bring home both World Cup and Europe Cup gold, I would’ve told you to walk yourself back a couple of years. Yet here we are.
2. Almost Double Dutch
For a minute there, it looked like the Orange Lions were about to completely take over Belgium. The women entered the Final looking ready to live up to their role as favorites, while the men had just pulled off an almost impossible run through the toughest side of the bracket, taking down heavyweights Germany and Serbia while seemingly borrowing a page from the women’s playbook and leaning heavily on their defensive prowess.
Two teams. Two Finals. One win away from a Double Dutch sweep on Belgian soil. The women took care of their end of the bargain. They started their Final with all the intangibles that have fueled the dynasty run they’re currently on. Absolute lockdown defense, constant deflections and takeaways helped put a 14-5 score on the board, and for a while it looked like another comfortable Dutch victory was coming.
Then they took their foot off the gas. Spain mounted a furious comeback behind three deep strokes from Txell Alarcón, suddenly turning what looked like a done deal into a game again. It came too late, though, as the Netherlands hung on to secure their second consecutive Europe Cup gold. With the Dutch fans at Groenplaats now in a frenzy, the men started their quest for a Double Orange win in Belgium.
It only took a couple of minutes to realize it wasn’t to be. Latvia outpaced, outshot and out-executed the Dutch, who visually looked out of gas after a day filled with difficult games. The one player still able to consistently make an impact was Nesta Agasi, who deservedly earned a spot on the Team of the Tournament after another very good showing on the biggest stage.
The double didn’t happen. Still, a gold and a silver from the same Europe Cup is a major achievement for Dutch 3x3, and another reminder of just how strong the program has become across both genders.
3. Hero Ball
We continue to underestimate the French men. Their results in the two major international competitions before arriving in Antwerp read as follows:
Europe Cup 2025: 5th. World Cup 2026: 4th.
Yet I’ll be the first to admit it: I didn’t have them on my radar to medal in Belgium. Not even close.
A flurry of injuries throughout their preparation left France with Emmanuel Monceau, Jules Rambaut, Hugo Suhard and first-timer Lorenzo Thirouard-Samson. They split their two games in the pool before getting through Spain in the Quarter-Finals, then lost a close contest to Latvia in the Semi-Finals.
To make matters worse, they also lost floor general Suhard to what appeared to be a hamstring injury in that game.
That left three Frenchmen to face a pissed-off Serbia that had, once again, failed to reach the gold medal game.
What ensued was the purest form of children’s book hero ball I’ve seen in a minute.
We’ve all been there. Standing on some random court, counting the clock down in our heads.
Three...
Two...
One...
He shoots...
FOR THE GAME!
That’s essentially the situation Thirouard-Samson found himself in, except his childhood fantasy was playing out with a European bronze medal on the line.
And he completed it.
Thirouard-Samson knocked down the two for game to secure bronze for an improbable three-man French roster. It was also his 17th point of the game.
Let that sink in for a second. 3x3 basketball is a game to 21, and this man dropped 17 points by himself. He single-handedly outscored Serbia, who managed only 14 as a team. Sometimes hero ball is exactly what the doctor ordered. Can’t help but love when dreams become reality.
4. Through Adversity
Outside of Dutch gold, the other two medals on the women’s side were earned through a whole lot of adversity. Spain entered the 2026 season facing a short-notice rebuild after legends Sandra Ygueravide and Vega Gimeno decided to retire following the FIBA 3x3 Champions Cup 2026. They brought in a fresh group of players, mixed them with the remaining pieces from the past few seasons and rolled the dice.
The World Cup resulted in a 13th-place finish. It wasn’t working yet. The Women’s Series gave us a larger sample size, and slowly the results started coming. Individual pieces showed real promise throughout the year, but naming this group among the favorites heading into Antwerp still felt like a stretch and a half.
Somehow, it all came together at exactly the right time. Spain almost turned that rebuild into European gold, and along the way we may have watched a star emerge in Txell Alarcón. Her late barrage almost completed an improbable comeback against the Netherlands in the Final, and the more comfortable she has looked in 3x3 basketball, the more dangerous Spain has become. Give these ladies more time together and this could get scary.
Azerbaijan had a very different kind of adversity to deal with. Their established roster continued to be plagued by injuries throughout the 2026 season. From Brianna Fraser’s leg to Arica Carter’s shoulder, we never really saw any continuity during the months between the World Cup and Europe Cup.
But as we’ve learned over recent years, this is one resilient group. They managed to get healthy enough as the pro season wound down, got the reps they needed and showed up ready to compete in Antwerp. There was no silver medal this time around, but Azerbaijan still went home with bronze.
More importantly, they’ve now finished inside the top four at four consecutive major international competitions: Europe Cup 2025, Champions Cup 2026, World Cup 2026 and Europe Cup 2026. At some point, that stops being a run. That’s continued excellence.
5. The Home Teams
Belgium didn’t make a medal run in either competition, but I’m not sure the final standings tell the full story of their weekend.
The women managed to spark something in the home crowd at a packed Groenplaats and went further than I expected them to. Yes, Spain ended their tournament in the Quarter-Finals, but judging by Belgium’s results on the pro circuit this season, simply getting themselves into that position was already an encouraging result. There are pieces here to build around if the investment follows.
The men gave the home fans even more to get excited about. They started red-hot against Switzerland, came up just short against Serbia, then found themselves in an absolute shootout with eventual champions Latvia in the Quarter-Finals.
And they were right there. Belgium eventually lost by three, but what stood out was that the pace, ball movement and shooting of this team looked exactly where it needs to be to compete with the best teams in Europe. A couple more twos drop and we're potentially talking about a Belgian medal run instead. The results might not have been what the home crowd dreamed of, but something else became very clear over the course of the weekend.
Belgium has a true heart for 3x3 basketball. And Antwerp sure knows how to throw a 3x3 party.
Stay Connected
Follow all the latest action from the FIBA 3x3 Cups tournaments throughout the 2026 season by visiting the official FIBA 3x3 website, where you can find the latest news, star players and everything you need to know. Fans can also keep track of the Event Calendar and the latest FIBA 3x3 Individual and Federation Rankings as teams and players continue their push toward the season finale.
Want to learn more about 3x3 basketball? Explore the official FIBA 3x3 Rules to understand the unique fast-paced format of the game, or discover the FIBA 3x3 Competition Structure to see how the discipline’s global pathway connects grassroots events, professional tours and world-class international competitions.
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