The dark summer of French youth teams: zero titles and worst results in 10 years!
The dark summer of French youth teams: zero titles and worst results in 10 years!
August 23, 2025
Alexandre Lacoste
No titles, only three medals in 14 competitions: the devastating results of French basketball’s catastrophic summer
French National Team - French teams played 14 major international competitions (World Cup or EuroBasket) in summer 2025, securing no titles and only three medals. Here's the final tally.
Photo Credit : Julie Dumélié
The summer of 2025 for the French national team officially ended this Sunday, September 7. While this was expected for 3×3, with the final day of the European Cup finals in Copenhagen, French basketball had hoped the summer season would extend another week in Riga. But this wasn’t the case after the defeat against Georgia in the EuroBasket round of 16 in men’s 5×5. The catastrophic day of September 7 only reinforces the disastrous results of this post-Olympic year.
A beneficial warning ahead of the 2028 Olympics?
The contrast with summer 2024 is striking. The previous campaign was exceptional, with three senior French teams winning silver medals at the Olympics, and youth teams dominating the European scene (39 wins out of 42 EuroBasket youth matches, four gold medals). This year, Les Bleus haven’t won a single title. French basketball must settle for three medals, silver and bronze. While not everything is lost (70% wins in 5×5), and there are explanations, including absences (starting with the senior team, but also U18 and U19), these catastrophic results should serve as a major warning three years before the Los Angeles Olympics. Because unlike the Paris Olympics, national 5×5 teams will need to qualify through performance. And this starts with the next major international men’s competition in 2027 in Qatar.
Alain Contensoux, General Director and National Technical Director of the French Basketball Federation (FFBB), answered our questions about this dark summer during the first round. The interview will be published in about ten days.
5×5
No titles, three medals, 47 wins and 20 losses (70.1% win rate)
- Men’s U16 National Team: fifth at EuroBasket, 6 wins and 1 loss
- Women’s U16 National Team: seventh at EuroBasket, 4 wins and 3 losses, not qualified for U17 World Cup
- Men’s U18 National Team: second at EuroBasket (silver), 6 wins and 1 loss
- Women’s U18 National Team: third at EuroBasket (bronze), 6 wins and 1 loss
- Men’s U19 National Team: tenth at World Cup, 3 wins and 4 losses
- Women’s U19 National Team: fifth at World Cup, 4 wins and 2 losses
- Men’s U20 National Team: third at EuroBasket (bronze), 5 wins and 2 losses
- Women’s U20 National Team: thirteenth at EuroBasket, 5 wins and 2 losses
- Men’s Senior National Team: eliminated in EuroBasket round of 16, 4 wins and 2 losses
- Women’s Senior National Team: fourth at EuroBasket, 4 wins and 2 losses
3×3
No titles, no medals, 9 wins and 8 losses (52.9%)
- Men’s 3×3 World Cup: eliminated in pool phase, 1 win and 3 losses
- Women’s 3×3 World Cup: eliminated in quarter-finals, 4 wins and 1 loss
- Men’s 3×3 European Cup: eliminated in quarter-finals, 2 wins and 1 loss
- Women’s 3×3 European Cup: eliminated in semi-finals, 2 wins and 3 losses
Gabriel Pantel-Jouve est le fondateur et rédacteur en chef de BeBasket, qu’il anime depuis 2010 (sous le nom de Catch & Shoot). Passé par l’Ecole Publique de Journaliste de Tours, puis deux universités en Amérique du Nord, il a pu développer son expertise sur le basket français, de la Ligue Nationale aux divisions amateurs, durant ces 20 dernières années. En parallèle, il est aussi engagé dans le développement de clubs du côté de Montpellier.
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