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23 June 2026  5 min read

Great Britain Men Name Squad for Decisive FIBA World Cup 2027 Qualifiers

GB will face Lithuania in Klaipeda on 2 July before returning home to take on Iceland at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Manchester on 5 July, looking to secure the results required to ensure the team’s passage to the next phase of qualification for only the second time in programme history.

Coach Steutel’s side will head to Barcelona this week for an extended preparation period in Catalunya, where GB will take on the Catalan Basketball Federation in a friendly fixture in Manresa on June 28, before travelling to Lithuania to commence the final steps of this phase of World Cup qualifying.

Great Britain’s roster combines experienced internationals with emerging talent, reflecting the depth that has continued to develop within the programme over recent years.

Flynn Boardman-Raffet and Tim Adetukasi feature for the first time, following stellar debut and sophomore professional seasons respectively in Super League Basketball, where the Leicester Riders guard and Manchester Basketball forward were both nominated to the Molten All-British Team of the Year.

Joshua O’Garro and James Okonkwo are selected to the senior long list for the first time, following impressive performances as young British players competing in the NCAA at Cal State Northridge and University of Utah respectively, as Sean Trumper is called up as well following a strong debut professional season in Denmark with Naestved.

Quality and chemistry

Among those selected is veteran centre Gabe Olaseni. The London-born big man believes the group has both the quality and chemistry required to deliver in a demanding window.

“I feel good about the window,” said Olaseni, who spoke in detail about his career and motivation this week. “We have a good group of guys coming in with an established chemistry.

“All our focus is on progressing to the next round. We have the group to do it. We know the last window was very difficult for us, mid-season ones always are, but the summer windows always feel like a fresh start, everybody has had some time off and is feeling good for camp.

“Playing in a great basketball country like Lithuania in a big arena against some of the best players, you live for these moments and I’m excited for us to rise to the occasion and all contribute to bringing out the best in each other.”

Olaseni also welcomed the opportunity to return to Manchester, where Great Britain will play a senior men’s international for the first time in several years.

“It’ll be great to be back in Manchester for the first time since 2019,” he added. “It’s been special to take the team around the country during my career and see how basketball affects people all over Great Britain, especially the kids, seeing their faces light up when we get to play in front of them and interact with them.”

Also included is long-serving guard Luke Nelson, who enters another summer with the national team after helping Great Britain compete strongly throughout the opening phases of qualification.

Having already pushed Lithuania close in the reverse fixture, Nelson believes the group has every reason to be confident heading into the decisive games.

“We’ve seen that we can compete with these teams. We’ve already proven it,” said Nelson, who reflected on his own basketball journey earlier this month. “We know where we’re at and we know what we need to do.

“We’ve just got to build on what we’ve already shown in this campaign and focus on taking steps forward.”

The experienced playmaker is also relishing another opportunity to reunite with a group that has grown together over a number of years.

“I’ve known a lot of these guys for a long time now, so getting back into that environment always really excites me, regardless of who we play or where we’re playing,” he said.

“With Lithuania, we’ve got to take the positives out of the performance in November because we were dominating large portions of the game, so we know we can do it and this time it’s about going that one step further and securing the result we want, before we go back to Manchester and have the opportunity to win in front of our home fans.”

Training Camp Roster for Window Three of FIBA 2027 World Cup Qualifiers:

Staff

Head Coach: Marc Steutel
Assistant Coach: Alberto Lorenzo
Assistant Coach: Jackson Gibbons
Assistant Coach: Matt Pitkin
Asst. Coach/Analyst: Adam Sewell
General Manager: Dan Clark
Team Manager: Josh Merrington
Team Doctor: Markos Reissis
Physiotherapist: Elena Jobson
S&C Coach: Duncan Ogilvie
Media Officer: Jamie Thomas

Tickets are selling at pace for Great Britain’s final home game of this qualification period against Iceland in Manchester on July 5 (3pm tip-off) but you can get yours now to be there and witness GB in action as they look to make history.

Get tickets for GB v Iceland