EuroBasket 2025 Prediction: Turkey – Greece (12-09-2025)

Turkey is one of the biggest surprises of the 2025 European Men’s Basketball Championship. Before the tournament, the team was singled out as a contender for medals, but it did not receive much attention as the focus was on Serbia, Germany, and France. Two of these teams are no longer in the tournament.

Although Germany is considered the favorite, Turkey has a good chance of surprising everyone and returning home not only with a medal, but with gold medals.

Turkey drew attention to itself in the final group stage match, when it defeated Serbia and took first place in the group. This victory gave them a relatively easy path in the playoffs – they beat Sweden in the round of 16 and confidently defeated Poland in the quarterfinals.

Greece is in a similar situation. Before the championship, it was noted that Giannis Antetokounmpo would have enough support this year and that the national team could compete for medals. The Greeks have not lost with Antetokounmpo yet – they lost to Bosnia in the group stage, but the NBA star was rested at that time.

Looking at the results of both teams in this championship, Turkey has so far played against one very serious opponent – Serbia. In other games, the Turks were considered favorites, and their victories are not surprising. Still, from their performance, it is clear that the team has a wide range of weapons at its disposal, enabling it to adapt to its opponents during the game. Meanwhile, Greece is clearly dependent on one player – G. Antetokounmpo.

Basketball bookmakers give Turkey a 2-point advantage over Greece, and this advantage is likely so small because Cedi Osman was injured in the quarterfinal against Poland. The forward is a very important player for the national team, and if he does not play, the Turks will certainly have fewer chances to succeed.

However, C. Osman was brought back onto the court after being injured against Poland. He didn’t play for long, but if he returned, it means that the situation wasn’t too bad. Ergin Ataman says it is unclear whether C. Osman will play, but it seems that this is just a play to conceal the real information. Seeing how C. Osman’s injury was and that he was put back on the court, it is likely that the Panathinaikos forward will be able to play.

Both teams have one bright star and many supporting players around them. Greece won against Lithuania in the quarterfinals precisely because of these supporting players. Kostas Antetokounmpo had 4 blocks in 16 minutes, while Vasileios Toliopoulos scored 17 points on offense. Sehmus Hazer and Kenan Sipahi stand out among Turkey’s supporting players. They scored 13 and 11 points, respectively, in the quarterfinals against Poland.

It will be extremely difficult to stop G. Antetokounmpo, but Turkey has its own trump card – Alperen Şengün. No one has been able to stop the center so far, and Greece’s front line is very weak. Jonas Valančiūnas’ performance clearly demonstrated this – the Lithuanian scored 24 points. Considering that A. Şengün is even more talented in offense and more mobile in defense, the Greeks are likely to face even more problems. Turkey has been playing consistently this year and deserves to advance to the final.