Looking back at the big upsets in European Cup history: Doncic and Jokic have suffered, Greece won the championship 38 years ago

On September 7, in the 1/8 final of the European Cup, the Finnish men's basketball team defeated the Serbian men's basketball team 92-86, revealing the biggest upset in this European Cup so far. "We like the situation as the unpopular side," Finnish head coach Tovey said. "The unpopular side should have lofty dreams." The European Cup official website then reviewed some big upsets in the history of the cup -

2022 Italy

For Serbia, all this is a bit like a repeat of history, because their performance in the 2022 group stage is even more impressive than in 2025, but fell in the 1/8 final.

In Berlin, Italy won the game 94-86, Jokic scored 32 points and 13 rebounds in vain, while Spisu led Italy to the victory with 22 points and 6 assists.

Poland in 2022, people have not even had the chance to digest the upset results of Italy in the 8th final, and the quarter-finals have brought another upset.

Poland barely advanced from the group to the knockout stage, but then they moved gears and accelerated in Germany, defeating Ukraine in the quarterfinals, laying the foundation for their generation's biggest victory.

Bonitka performed crazy, scoring 26 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists triple-double, sending Slovenia home 90-87. Until then, Doncic and his teammates seemed to be able to defend their 2017 title.

North Macedonia 2011 14 years ago was one of the strongest events in the history of the European Cup, and the participating teams were so balanced that it was impossible to predict which countries would enter the semi-finals. But it is certain that no one has mentioned North Macedonia. However, McCaleb, Antich, Ilyevsky and others squeezed into the quarter-finals and got the chance to compete with the hosts. It felt like people from the entire Lithuanian country went to Kaunas to watch the game, but it ended up being deafening silence rather than cheers from home fans.

In the quarter-finals, North Macedonia defeated Lithuania 67-65 under McCaleb's 23 points.

2005 France

Speaking of hosts, Serbia and Montenegro were supposed to enjoy home advantage in 2005, they formed an incredible lineup with five NBA players (Milisic, Radmanovic, Jaric, Rebraka, Kostic) and handed the baton to Obradovic.

However, some young people who later became famous around the world ruined the home party.

In 2005, Parker, Dior and others were still young, but they still defeated Serbia and Montenegro 74-71 in the quarter-final play-off. The 2001 Latvia competition was the same as in 2005, which means that the first place in the group went directly to the quarter-finals, while the second and third place competed against each other in the play-offs.

Lithuania feels they have a chance to win medals, especially when the draw results allow them to meet Latvia in the play-offs.

However, they suffered a blow. Latvia won by a huge 94-76 advantage, eliminating the team that will win the European Cup in Sweden in a few years.

But in 2001, they could not do anything about Bagatsky's 25 points, and Latvia achieved the top eight for the first time since 1939. It was not until 2015 that Bagatski served as coach that Latvia entered the quarter-finals again.

1993 Germany

Although the above teams had a single upset, Germany's championship journey in 1993 was one of the most difficult ones.

First, they eliminated Spain 79-77 in the quarter-finals. They then beat Greece 76-73 in the semi-finals, and finally, the late great player Welp completed a 2+1 dunk to beat Russia 71-70.

So, why is this an upset? Until then, Germany never ranked above fifth in the European Cup. In addition, they entered the quarterfinals with a record of 2 wins and 3 losses, while Spain, Greece and Russia all achieved 4 wins and 1 losses in the group stage. A similar story happened in 1987. Greece also happened 38 years ago. Greece hosted the event and witnessed the Soviet team being invincible on the field and entering the finals with a perfect record of 7 wins and 0 losses.

At the same time, Greece was on the verge of elimination in the group stage, but only defeated France 82-69 in the last group stage, and entered the quarter-finals after the life-and-death battle.

As fourth place, they eliminated the top seed Italy in the quarter-finals, then defeated Yugoslavia in the semi-finals, before achieving the biggest upset in European basketball history in the 1980s: defeating the Soviet Union 103-101 through overtime in the final.

On that day, Greek legendary star Galis was unstoppable and he scored 40 points to win the gold medal for Greece at home. That game marked the end of the Soviet Union's rule over European basketball, which won 14 European Cup gold medals between 1947 and 1985.

1985 Czechoslovakia

The last upset we found occurred in the quarter-finals of 1985. The Yugoslavia team led by Petrovic has begun to consider meeting the Soviet team in the final.

Czechoslovakia reached the quarter-finals on the final day of the group stage, ranking fourth in the group, and they looked like outsiders before they played against Yugoslavia.

But on the court, the situation is completely different. Brabenetz scored 32 points, and when facing Yugoslavia's defense, the team scored a total of 102 points, winning by 11 points. Czechoslovakia later reached the final and lost to the Soviet Union 89-120.