Serbia Call Up Jokic, Jovic and Vukcevic for World Cup 2027 Qualifiers

Serbia open World Cup 2027 qualifying camp with an NBA-heavy roster

Head coach Dusan Alimpijevic has named an 18-man preliminary roster for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Qualifiers window, and the squad gathers in Belgrade on 22 June 2026 to begin its preparations. The headline news is the presence of three active NBA players, led by Denver Nuggets centre Nikola Jokic, who anchors a list designed to keep Serbia in firm control of its qualifying group.

Joining Jokic from the NBA are Nikola Jovic of the Miami Heat and Tristan Vukcevic of the Washington Wizards. Their inclusion gives Alimpijevic a frontcourt and wing rotation built around proven top-level scoring and size, and it sets the tone for a window in which Serbia want to convert their early group lead into qualification momentum.

Bogdanovic left off the preliminary list

The most notable absence from the preliminary roster is Bogdan Bogdanovic, the long-serving guard who has been a fixture of Serbia's senior teams in recent campaigns. With Bogdanovic not on the list for this window, Alimpijevic will lean on his available group of guards and on the experience that Jokic brings to the floor, while younger players get a clear runway to establish themselves in the rotation.

The 18 names are a starting point rather than a final selection. Alimpijevic will trim the group over the course of the camp, using training sessions and a closed warm-up game to settle on the players who travel for the official fixtures.

The schedule: camp, a closed practice game, then two qualifiers

After the team assembles on 22 June, the centrepiece of the preparation phase is a practice game against the Czech Republic on 27 June in Belgrade. That match is closed to the public, giving the coaching staff a controlled environment to test combinations before the games that count.

From there the window moves to the official qualifiers. Serbia travel to face Switzerland on 2 July before returning home to host Bosnia and Herzegovina in Belgrade on 6 July 2026. The two results will go a long way toward shaping the group, and the home meeting with Bosnia in particular carries weight given how tightly the standings are bunched.

• 22 June 2026 — Squad gathers in Belgrade
• 27 June 2026 — Practice game vs Czech Republic, Belgrade (closed to public)
• 2 July 2026 — Switzerland vs Serbia (away qualifier)
• 6 July 2026 — Serbia vs Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgrade (home qualifier)

How Group C looks heading into the window

The qualifying picture explains why this window matters. After four rounds, Turkey lead the group, with Serbia and Bosnia level just behind and Switzerland chasing. The margins are slim, which raises the stakes for both of Serbia's fixtures, the trip to Switzerland and the home date with their direct rivals from Bosnia.

With Serbia and Bosnia tied on points, the 6 July meeting in Belgrade is effectively a four-point swing in the race for the top places. A win there, paired with a result in Switzerland, would let Serbia tighten their grip on a qualifying spot and apply pressure on Turkey at the front of the group.

A different competition from EuroBasket

It is worth underlining that this is the World Cup 2027 qualifiers window, a separate competition from EuroBasket. The structure of these qualifiers, with national-team windows spread across the calendar, means Serbia must manage availability carefully from one window to the next, and the presence of NBA players such as Jokic, Jovic and Vukcevic for this specific window is a significant boost.

For coverage of Serbia's recent senior-level fixtures across sports, see our reporting on the men's national-team week in Orleans and on the tight contest against the United States, both of which underline how thin the margins can be at this level.

What to watch in Belgrade

The early days of camp will be about chemistry. Alimpijevic has to integrate his NBA contingent with the domestically and European-based players who carried Serbia through the opening rounds, and the closed game against the Czech Republic offers the first real look at how the pieces fit. Rotation questions at guard, in the absence of Bogdanovic, will be among the first to answer.

Serbia's development pipeline has also been busy, with the country's youth teams testing themselves against strong opposition; our look at how Serbia's U20 side edged Slovenia shows the depth feeding into the senior setup. For now, the focus is on the 18 who reported on 22 June, the cut that follows, and two qualifiers that could define how the rest of the campaign unfolds.