The Portugal men's national basketball team () represents Portugal in international basketball competition. The team is controlled by the Portuguese Basketball Federation. Portugal doesn't have much history on the international stage, although they have qualified for the EuroBasket three times (1951, 2007, 2011). While Portugal has made multiple appearances at the continental level, they continue their quest to qualify for the global stage at the FIBA World Cup. History Early years The Portuguese Basketball Federation was founded in 1927, with the national team playing in their first match on 24 May 1931, a 9–32 defeat to France. Portugal would become a co-founder of FIBA in 1932. Three years later, in 1935, Portugal played in the only qualifying game for the first European Basketball Championship. The Portuguese lost the game 33–12 against Spain, which eliminated the team from qualification. EuroBasket 1951 After Portugal's failed attempt to qualify for the European Championship in 1935, and declining to enter the competition multiple times thereafter, Portugal made their debut at the Euros for EuroBasket 1951 in Paris. The national team got off to a lethargic start to begin the tournament, as they lost 35–81 in their first ever match in the event to Greece. In Portugal's final two games of the preliminary round, the team would fall once again to Bulgaria, but would pick up their first official victory in the competition with a walkover win after Romania withdrew. With a record of (1–2), and sitting in third place in the group, Portugal could not progress any further; and was relegated to the classification rounds. In the classification phase, Portugal lost its first two matches against West Germany and Austria, but would pullout a close win over Switzerland 49–52. Finishing with a duplicate record of (1–2) once again, Portugal was sent to the classification play-offs to determine 13th–16th place. The national team would go on to lose their match to Denmark, before turning around to defeat Scotland, to end the event placing 15th overall out of the 18 teams. EuroBasket 2007 At the conclusion of Portugal's first appearance at the European Championship in 1951, the national team would fail to make it back to the competition for the next five decades. However, Portugal would end their drought when they made their second appearance on the continental stage at EuroBasket 2007 (first time through qualification) by finishing first in their group during the qualifiers. Entering