Credit: Ali Sahib, Chronicle.lu

On Sunday 5 July 2026, Luxembourg's men's national basketball team suffered their fourth defeat in the 2029 FIBA EuroBasket pre-qualifiers, losing to group leaders North Macedonia in front of 2,000 spectators at the Coque in Luxembourg-Kirchberg and missing out on qualification for the next round.

Luxembourg head coach Ken Diederich named Dorian Grosber, Alex Laurent, Philippe Gutenkauf, Ben Kovac and Clancy Rugg in his starting five.

The hosts lost the opening quarter by eight points and went into the half-time break trailing 27-46 after North Macedonia extended their advantage to nineteen points.

"The first half we played against a very good, strong professional team. We were not ready. Our body language wasn't right and we weren't ready to fight for every possession. I think the guys responded and we were much better in the second half. We really played our basketball, we played faster, we played more physically, we fought harder and we made some shots. Obviously they were the better team, but I'm very happy with our second half," said Ken Diederich.

Luxembourg showed a much-improved performance after the interval. Clancy Rugg and Ben Kovac scored twelve and ten points respectively in the second half after managing just seven and two before the break, while Alex Laurent added six points. The hosts reduced the deficit by five points, but North Macedonia still secured a 80-66 victory. Ben Kovac finished as Luxembourg's top scorer with seventeen points.

In the group's other fixture, Azerbaijan suffered a 76-70 home defeat to Ireland. Luxembourg, Azerbaijan and Ireland all completed the first round of the 2029 FIBA EuroBasket pre-qualifiers with identical records of two wins and four defeats. However, a superior points difference saw Ken Diederich's side finish second in the group, although it was not enough to secure qualification for the next stage.

"Our goal now is to bring the players together, find new players and build a team for next summer. I think we have a very bright future. We had some young guys playing today and I believe that in two or three years we're going to have a very good team,” Ken Diederich told Chronicle.lu after the match.