« Absences do not weigh down ambitions » for Team France at EuroBasket

For his first major competition as head coach of Team France, Frédéric Fauthoux will have to manage without most of the team’s core players, who are absent from his preliminary selection of 18 players announced two months before the competition. Indeed, the coach won’t be able to count on Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert or Evan Fournier for Euro preparations.

While he had prepared « a list with and without Victor », Frédéric Fauthoux also « anticipated the withdrawal » of Evan Fournier. « We learned later that he underwent additional examinations. He did his best to return, but his ankle hurts too much. He doesn’t feel able to start preparation and be at his best for the Euro, » explained Freddy Fauthoux. The player himself didn’t hide his disappointment about missing the Euro after the list announcement.

It really hurts to miss Eurobasket.
Good luck guys💙🤍❤️ #Kaïra https://t.co/mgfhvre4QZ

— Evan Fournier (@EvanFourmizz) June 27, 2025

Regarding Fournier’s case, as with others, « it’s never pleasant to hear that players can’t come because they’re injured, » admitted the Landais coach. « He’s simply an experienced player, the top scorer of recent competitions, who won’t be there. »

« Leaders who emerge aren’t always

the ones we expected »

But this doesn’t lower the coach’s expectations for the competition. « Absences don’t weigh down our ambitions. While we always need the best players, what we really need is the best team. Title or nothing? No, not nothing (smiles). Today, I want to create team spirit, unite a group and achieve the best possible result, » he explains.

Beyond the quality of those absent, these players were also figureheads within Team France for several campaigns. This doesn’t worry the coach: « It’s the best team that makes the difference, with leaders who will emerge, and they’re not always the ones we expected. Hierarchies will be built throughout preparation. Plus, we have 6 Olympic medalists out of 18, many have experience; we shouldn’t forget that. Experience is still there, » reassures Freddy Fauthoux, confident in his choices and the forces present.