1997 FIBA European Championship for Cadettes

19 countries entered the qualification round. They were divided in three groups. The top three teams of each group qualified for the main tournament.

Hungary (as host), Russia (as incumbent champion) and Italy (as incumbent runner-up) received a bye to the main tournament and did not play in the qualification round.

The games were played in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, from August 12 to 16, 1996.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Yugoslavia	5	5	0	299	242	+57	10	Final tournament		—	59–49	54–53	62–53	53–44	71–43
2	Belgium	5	3	2	330	295	+35	8				—	64–56	79–62	60–71	78–47
3	Poland	5	3	2	311	260	+51	8					—	82–50	59–53	61–39
4	Bulgaria (H)	5	2	3	331	350	−19	7						—	72–70	94–57
5	Slovakia	5	2	3	314	285	+29	7							—	76–41
6	Armenia	5	0	5	227	380	−153	5								—

The games were played in Žďár nad Sázavou, the Czech Republic, from August 18 to 24, 1996.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Czech Republic (H)	6	6	0	442	275	+167	12	Final tournament		—	79–60	57–56	81–54	74–46	66–39	85–20
2	Belarus	6	5	1	465	347	+118	11				—	88–81	87–53	85–45	70–50	75–39
3	Croatia	6	3	3	416	326	+90	9					—	73–36	71–45	58–62	77–38
4	Lithuania	6	3	3	337	384	−47	9						—	55–40	70–59	69–44
5	Finland	6	2	4	305	404	−99	8							—	64–58	65–61
6	Israel	6	2	4	331	365	−34	8								—	63–37
7	Portugal	6	0	6	239	434	−195	6									—

The games were played in Timișoara, Romania, from August 13 to 17, 1996.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	5	5	0	363	226	+137	10	Final tournament		—	91–54	66–44	53–47	62–37	91–44
2	Romania (H)	5	3	2	281	320	−39	8				—	65–61	45–41	54–77	63–50
3	France	5	3	2	268	249	+19	8					—	47–43	70–37	46–38
4	Greece	5	2	3	247	234	+13	7						—	48–35	68–54
5	Germany	5	2	3	256	292	−36	7							—	70–58
6	Turkey	5	0	5	244	338	−94	5								—

The following twelve teams qualified for the final tournament.

Team	Method of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance
Hungary	Hosts	10th	1993	Runners-up (1976)
Russia	1995 winners	3rd	1995	Champions (1993, 1995)
Italy	1995 runner-up	12th	1995	Runners-up (1978, 1980, 1985, 1995)
Yugoslavia	Qualification round Group A winners	10th[note 1]	1991	Runners-up (1982, 1991)
Belgium	Qualification round Group A runners-up	7th	1995	3rd (1995)
Poland	Qualification round Group A third place	8th	1995	5th (1976, 1978)
Czech Republic	Qualification round Group B winners	2nd	1995	8th (1995)
Belarus	Qualification round Group B runners-up	2nd	1995	5th (1995)
Croatia	Qualification round Group B third place	2nd	1993	12th (1993)
Spain	Qualification round Group C winners	12th	1995	Runners-up (1993)
Romania	Qualification round Group C runners-up	8th	1991	Runners-up (1989)
France	Qualification round Group C third place	10th	1993	6th (1987, 1993)

In the preliminary round, the twelve teams were allocated in two groups of six teams each. The top four teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals. The last two teams of each group qualified for the 9th-12th playoffs.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Hungary	5	3	2	309	308	+1	8[a]	Advance to quarter-finals		—	58–57	58–56	49–59	66–56	78–80
2	France	5	3	2	280	264	+16	8[a]				—	65–55	53–49	43–50	62–52
3	Croatia	5	3	2	303	284	+19	8[a]					—	59–57	69–53	64–51
4	Czech Republic	5	3	2	294	264	+30	8[a]						—	66–62	63–41
5	Italy	5	2	3	287	302	−15	7	Transfer to 9th–12th playoff						—	66–58
6	Romania	5	1	4	282	333	−51	6								—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	5	5	0	349	271	+78	10	Advance to quarter-finals		—	70–68	74–46	59–56	69–49	77–52
2	Russia	5	4	1	384	288	+96	9				—	67–50	88–56	78–66	83–46
3	Yugoslavia	5	3	2	322	336	−14	8					—	73–70	73–65	80–60
4	Belarus	5	2	3	343	343	0	7						—	77–64	84–59
5	Poland	5	1	4	304	349	−45	6	Transfer to 9th–12th playoff						—	60–52
6	Belgium	5	0	5	269	384	−115	5								—

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