Koper, 14 November - Slovenia's basketball team defeated Germany in Koper on Monday 81:75 to qualify for the 2023 FIBA World Cup that will take place in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia between 25 August and 10 September next year. This will be Slovenia's fourth World Cup tournament.

The qualifiers are not yet over, but the matches against Estonia and Israel next year cannot change the fact that Finland, Germany and Slovenia will be travelling to the World Cup. The victory against Germany comes only three days after defeating Israel.

Slovenia qualified without the help of its NBA players, including Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić and veteran player Goran Dragić.

The former is expected to play at the World Cup, while Dončić, who has previously said he is retiring from national team duties, has neither confirmed nor denied that he would join the team next summer.

The match was played in Slovenia's Koper in front of 1,500 spectators. Jordan Morgan scored 22 points for Slovenia, while Žiga Samar, Miha Lapornik and Edo Murič scored 14 each.

"We are very happy to have made the World Cup because we watched the last one ... on TV. Slovenia deserves a place in such a tournament," said Murić, team Slovenia captain and one of the oldest Slovenian players on the court today.

Slovenia first took part in a FIBA World Cup tournament in 2006, in Sapporo and Tokyo. Four years later it played in Turkey, followed by Spain in 2014.

Slovenia's biggest basketball successes include the European championship victory in 2017 and fourth place at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.