Spain women's national basketball team
The Spain women's national basketball team (Spanish: Selección Española de Baloncesto Femenina) represents Spain in international women's basketball competition and are regulated by the Spanish Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Spain. Spain has one of the most successful women's national teams in the world, being the current FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2023 silver medallists.[2]
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FIBA ranking | 4 ![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Joined FIBA | 1934 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FIBA zone | FIBA Europe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National federation | FEB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coach | Miguel Méndez | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Olympic Games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appearances | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals | ![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appearances | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals | ![]() ![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
EuroBasket | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appearances | 22 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals | ![]() ![]() ![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First international | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() ![]() (Malgrat de Mar, Spain; 16 June 1963) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biggest win | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() ![]() (Madrid, Spain; 9 June 2008) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biggest defeat | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() ![]() (Treviso, Italy; 12 September 1985) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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History
Spain women's basketball team played their first official game in Malgrat de Mar, Barcelona, against Switzerland on 16 June 1963, losing 31–40.[3] They won their first game against the same team two days later, 47–39. It would take six years to play another international friendly game, losing to Cuba 50–70 on 28 September 1969.[4]
Their first official games were in March 1970, trying to qualify for the 1970 EuroBasket, winning their first game against Switzerland 61–44 and losing to Hungary and France. The team qualified for their first major international tournament in their next attempt, the 1974 EuroBasket. After losing their three group stage games, they won their first game in a final tournament against Denmark in the placement matches, finishing in 12th position. Rosa Castillo is considered the best player from the mid-70s to the mid-80s.
Until 1985, Spain played most Eurobasket tournaments, usually finishing around 10th. An important year for the evolution of the team was the celebration on home soil of the 1987 EuroBasket, finishing on 6th position. The team entered their first Summer Olympics qualification in 1988, but failed to qualify. Their first Olympic games were also on home soil in the 1992 Summer Olympics, finishing 5th.
After failing to qualify for the two previous Eurobaskets and having never played a knockout game in a major tournament, the gold medal at the 1993 EuroBasket came as a surprise, beating the newly formed Slovakia in the semi-finals 73–55 and France in the final 63–53. With Blanca Ares as their key player (19 PPG), Spain undoubtedly took advantage of the dissolution of the dominant European teams of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and especially the Soviet Union.
The EuroBasket victory gave Spain the right to participate in the 1994 Women's World Cup for the first time, finishing 8th. Since then, the team has qualified for every World Cup -seven in a row-, winning three medals.
From 2001 up to 2009, Spain entered a loop of winning five consecutive medals in the Eurobaskets (1 silver, 4 bronze) and being eliminated in the quarterfinals in Summer Olympics and World Cups, until they finally won bronze in the 2010 Women's World Cup. From her debut in 1995 to her retirement in 2013, forward Amaya Valdemoro became the leader of the Spanish squad, taking part in 13 tournaments, playing 258 games, winning 7 medals and becoming the top scorer with 2,743 points.
The defeat against Croatia on 26 June in Katowice in the second stage of the 2011 EuroBasket and the consequent absence from the 2012 Olympics has been cited by coaches and players[5][6] as a catalyst for a golden period of seven consecutive medals under coach Lucas Mondelo. After playing the qualification matches in the summer of 2012, Spain went on to win the 2013 EuroBasket with a balance of 9–0. Afterwards, they won silver in the 2014 Women's World Cup, bronze in the 2015 EuroBasket, silver in the 2016 Summer Olympics and gold again in the 2017 EuroBasket. Spain also won the bronze medal at the 2018 Women's World Cup held on home soil in September 2018. In July 2019 Spain successfully defended their European crown by beating France 86–66 in the final of the EuroBasket Women 2019. These seven successful tournaments came to a halt in the summer of 2021, when the team finished 7th in the 2021 EuroBasket played on home soil and 6th in the 2020 Olympic Games. These results are quite commendable, considering that Spain have only competed with the world elite for two decades. This series of results took the Spanish team to be ranked No. 2 in the ranking of FIBA. In the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2023, despite a strong performance, they lost to Belgium in the final.[7]
In the senior team for two decades (2002-2021) point guard Laia Palau is the record-holder for most caps (314) and most medals (12) in 19 final tournaments. In the team since 2008, forward Alba Torrens has been regarded as the most talented player of this generation, having won 9 medals in 12 tournaments.
At the Mediterranean Games, Spain won gold in 1991, and bronze in 1993, 2001 and 2005.
Competition record
List of matches 2021–2023, including friendlies and scheduled matches | |||||||||
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M | OPPONENT | F | A | +/- | TOP SCORER | PTS | EVENT | DATE | LOCATION |
764 | ![]() | 58 | 64 | -6 | Queralt Casas | 14 | 2023 EuroBasket F | 2023.06.25 | Ljubljana (SLO) |
763 | ![]() | 69 | 60 | +9 | Alba Torrens | 27 | 2023 EuroBasket SF | 2023.06.24 | Ljubljana (SLO) |
762 | ![]() | 67 | 42 | +25 | Laura Gil | 13 | 2023 EuroBasket QF | 2023.06.22 | Ljubljana (SLO) |
761 | ![]() | 76 | 60 | +16 | Queralt Casas | 16 | 2023 EuroBasket 1R | 2023.06.18 | Tel-Aviv (ISR) |
760 | ![]() | 78 | 57 | +21 | María Conde | 20 | 2023 EuroBasket 1R | 2023.06.16 | Tel-Aviv (ISR) |
759 | ![]() | 63 | 67 | -4 | Laura Gil | 20 | 2023 EuroBasket 1R | 2023.06.15 | Tel-Aviv (ISR) |
758 | ![]() | 65 | 77 | -12 | Leonor Rodríguez | 16 | 2023 Friendly | 2023.06.10 | Sopron (HUN) |
757 | ![]() | 65 | 63 | +2 | Alba Torrens | 23 | 2023 Friendly | 2023.06.09 | Sopron (HUN) |
756 | ![]() | 72 | 54 | +18 | Raquel Carrera | 14 | 2023 Friendly | 2023.06.04 | Córdoba |
755 | ![]() | 76 | 37 | +39 | María Conde | 12 | 2023 Friendly | 2023.06.02 | Córdoba |
754 | ![]() | 76 | 60 | +16 | Raquel Carrera | 21 | 2023 Friendly | 2023.05.26 | Vigo |
753 | ![]() | 55 | 44 | +11 | Paula Ginzo, Raquel Carrera | 10 | 2023 Friendly | 2023.05.25 | Vigo |
752 | ![]() | 88 | 34 | +54 | Paula Ginzo | 13 | 2023 EuroBasket qualification | 2023.02.12 | Reykjavík (ISL) |
751 | ![]() | 75 | 32 | +43 | Ángela Salvadores | 14 | 2023 EuroBasket qualification | 2023.02.09 | Sfântu Gheorghe (ROM) |
750 | ![]() | 77 | 66 | +11 | Astou Ndour | 21 | 2023 EuroBasket qualification | 2022.11.27 | Huelva |
749 | ![]() | 120 | 54 | +66 | María Araújo | 19 | 2023 EuroBasket qualification | 2022.11.24 | Huelva |
748 | ![]() | 54 | 46 | +8 | María Conde | 16 | 2022 Friendly | 2022.06.19 | Cividale del Friuli (ITA) |
747 | ![]() | 60 | 56 | +4 | María Conde | 17 | 2022 Friendly | 2022.06.18 | Cividale del Friuli (ITA) |
746 | ![]() | 79 | 70 | +9 | Astou Ndour | 24 | 2022 Friendly | 2022.06.03 | Melilla |
745 | ![]() | 60 | 49 | +11 | María Conde | 12 | 2022 Friendly | 2022.06.01 | Melilla |
744 | ![]() | 107 | 52 | +55 | Irati Etxarri, María Conde | 21 | 2023 EuroBasket qualification | 2021.11.14 | Almería |
743 | ![]() | 66 | 62 | +4 | Alba Torrens | 19 | 2023 EuroBasket qualification | 2021.11.11 | Szekszárd (HUN) |
742 | ![]() | 64 | 67 | -3 | Astou Ndour | 16 | 2020 Olympics QF | 2021.08.04 | Saitama (JPN) |
741 | ![]() | 76 | 66 | +10 | Astou Ndour | 20 | 2020 Olympics 1R | 2021.08.01 | Saitama (JPN) |
740 | ![]() | 85 | 70 | +15 | Astou Ndour | 20 | 2020 Olympics 1R | 2021.07.29 | Saitama (JPN) |
739 | ![]() | 73 | 69 | +4 | Astou Ndour | 28 | 2020 Olympics 1R | 2021.07.26 | Saitama (JPN) |
738 | ![]() | 75 | 80 | -5 | Alba Torrens | 22 | 2021 Friendly | 2021.07.10 | Paris (FRA) |
737 | ![]() | 72 | 61 | +11 | Alba Torrens | 19 | 2021 Friendly | 2021.07.08 | Málaga |
736 | ![]() | 74 | 78 | -4 | Maite Cazorla | 19 | 2021 EuroBasket CR | 2021.06.26 | Valencia |
735 | ![]() | 64 | 71 | -7 | Cristina Ouviña | 14 | 2021 EuroBasket QF | 2021.06.23 | Valencia |
734 | ![]() | 78 | 51 | +27 | María Conde | 19 | 2021 EuroBasket CR | 2021.06.21 | Valencia |
733 | ![]() | 93 | 61 | +32 | Cristina Ouviña | 17 | 2021 EuroBasket 1R | 2021.06.20 | Valencia |
732 | ![]() | 76 | 55 | +21 | Astou Ndour | 22 | 2021 EuroBasket 1R | 2021.06.18 | Valencia |
731 | ![]() | 51 | 53 | -2 | Astou Ndour | 15 | 2021 EuroBasket 1R | 2021.06.17 | Valencia |
Olympic Games
FIBA Women's World Cup
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EuroBasket Women
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Team
Current roster
Roster for the EuroBasket Women 2023.[8][9]
Spain women's national basketball team roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Individual records
- Bold denotes players still playing international basketball.
- As of 25 June 2023[10]
Most capped players
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Top scorers
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Top highscorers
Top highscorers in official games (friendlies not included).
- As of 25 June 2023
Top medallists
Most medals won with the national team in Olympic Games, Women's World Cups and EuroBaskets:
Player | Medals | Details |
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Laia Palau | 12 | |
Silvia Domínguez | 9 | |
Laura Nicholls | 9 | |
Alba Torrens | 9 | |
Anna Cruz | 8 | |
Laura Gil | 8 | |
Lucila Pascua | 8 |
Head coaches
Timeline of head coaches with games and results in final tournaments at the (EuroBasket, Women's World Cup and Olympics)[11]
(*) Results through 25 June 2023.
Years | M | W | L | % | Name | Competition |
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1963–1971 | 8 | 3 | 5 | .375 | ![]() |
five friendlies, three qualifiers |
1974–1978 | 50 | 20 | 30 | .400 | ![]() |
12th 1974 EuroBasket 10th 1976 EuroBasket 11th 1978 EuroBasket |
1979 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | ![]() |
three friendlies |
1979–1984 | 54 | 24 | 30 | .444 | ![]() |
10th 1980 EuroBasket 11th 1983 EuroBasket |
1985–1992 | 177 | 91 | 86 | .514 | ![]() |
10th 1985 EuroBasket 6th 1987 EuroBasket 5th 1992 Summer Olympics |
1992–1998 | 98 | 65 | 33 | .663 | ![]() |
![]() 8th 1994 Women's World Cup 9th 1995 EuroBasket 5th 1997 EuroBasket 5th 1998 Women's World Cup |
1999–2004 | 79 | 66 | 13 | .835 | ![]() |
![]() 5th 2002 Women's World Cup ![]() 6th 2004 Summer Olympics |
2005–2006 | 33 | 23 | 10 | .697 | ![]() |
![]() 8th 2006 Women's World Cup |
2007–2009 | 53 | 39 | 14 | .736 | ![]() |
![]() 5th 2008 Summer Olympics ![]() |
2010–2011 | 33 | 25 | 8 | .758 | ![]() |
![]() 9th 2011 EuroBasket |
2015 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | ![]() |
two qualifiers |
2012–2021 | 152 | 127 | 25 | .836 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 7th 2021 EuroBasket 6th 2020 Summer Olympics |
2021- | 22 | 19 | 3 | .864 | ![]() |
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- ^A Assistant coach Víctor Lapeña was appointed as head coach for two 2017 EuroBasket qualifiers in November 2015[12]
Youth teams
Europe U-20 |
World U-19 |
Europe U-18 |
World U-17 |
Europe U-16 | |
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2023 | ![]() |
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2022 | ![]() |
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2021 | 7th | ||||
2019 | 5th | ![]() |
5th | ![]() | |
2018 | ![]() |
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6th | ![]() | |
2017 | ![]() |
8th | 6th | 5th | |
2016 | ![]() |
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6th | ![]() | |
2015 | ![]() |
4th | ![]() |
4th | |
2014 | ![]() |
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2013 | ![]() |
4th | ![]() |
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2012 | ![]() |
5th | ![]() |
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2011 | ![]() |
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2010 | ![]() |
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8th | 4th | |
2009 | ![]() |
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2008 | 4th | 5th | ![]() | ||
2007 | ![]() |
4th | ![]() |
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2006 | 4th | ![]() |
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2005 | 8th | 5th | ![]() |
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2004 | 9th | ![]() |
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2003 | 4th | ||||
2002 | 5th | 5th | |||
2001 | DNQ | 7th | |||
2000 | 5th | 6th | |||
1999 | ![]() | ||||
1998 | ![]() |
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1997 | 8th | 5th | |||
1996 | 4th | ||||
1995 | 4th | ||||
1994 | ![]() |
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1993 | DNQ | ![]() | |||
1992 | 5th | ||||
1991 | 9th | ||||
1990 | ![]() |
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1989 | 5th | 4th | |||
1988 | 6th | ||||
1987 | 9th | ||||
1986 | 12th | ||||
1985 | 7th | 9th | |||
1984 | 4th | 7th | |||
1983 | 8th | ||||
1982 | 8th | ||||
1981 | 9th | ||||
1980 | 10th | ||||
1979 | DNQ | ||||
1978 | 11th | ||||
1977 | 11th | ||||
1976 | 10th | ||||
1975 | 6th | ||||
1973 | 8th | ||||
1965–71 | DNQ |
See also
References
- "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
- Spain crowned FIBA EuroBasket Women 2017 champions
- "Selección Española Absoluta Femenina de Baloncesto". seleccionfemenina.feb.es. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
- "Selección Española Absoluta Femenina de Baloncesto". seleccionfemenina.feb.es. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
- "Eurobasket | Selección española de baloncesto femenino | Una selección de leyenda – RTVE.es". RTVE.es (in European Spanish). 26 June 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
- "La dolorosa derrota que cambió para siempre a la selección femenina". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2017.
- FIBA Ranking
- "Definida la lista de 12 jugadoras para el Eurobasket 2023" (in Spanish). feb.es. 11 June 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
- "Team Roster: Spain" (PDF). fiba.basketball. 15 June 2023. p. 11. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- Spanish women's national team website
- All Coaches (1963–2014)
- Marca.com (in Spanish)
External links
![](../I/Commons-logo.svg.png.webp)
- Official website
(in Spanish)
- FIBA profile
- Spain National Team – Women at Eurobasket.com