Israel's under-18 national basketball team has emerged as one of the statistical stories of the group stage at the 2026 FIBA U18 EuroBasket, finishing pool play unbeaten and ranking among the tournament's most productive offensive sides heading into the knockout rounds in Trentino.

The team went 3-0 in Group A, opening with a 93-84 overtime win over Greece, following that with a 91-77 defeat of France, and closing the group with an 84-80 win over Austria to finish top of the pool.

Across those three games Israel are averaging 89.3 points per game, second only to Germany's 96, and their offensive efficiency rating of 94 also ranks second among all teams at the championship - one of the clearest signs yet of a young squad's scoring depth this summer.

The shooting numbers back it up: Israel rank third in two-point percentage at 53% and fourth from three-point range at 30.4%, while their 98 free-throw attempts across three games, converted at 75.5%, are among the heaviest workloads at the rim in the draw. Rebounding is the one area lagging behind, with Israel 12th in the field on the glass.

Guard Aviv Aronov has driven much of it, leading Israel with 26.7 points per game after scoring 30 against Greece and 31 against France, and topping the entire championship in free-throw attempts - the product of an aggressive, downhill style that has repeatedly put opposing defences in foul trouble.

David Musis has been just as central. The forward is averaging 24 points and a tournament-high 12 rebounds per game, and his efficiency rating of 27.3 is the best of any player at this EuroBasket, ahead of teammate Aronov's 22.7 in the same category.

Lior Hershko rounds out the trio of standouts, ranking fourth in the tournament for steals at 2.7 per game, part of an Israeli defence that, while unheralded in the raw team numbers, has done enough to close out three tight victories.

The run has been built under head coach Nadav Zilberstein, a long-serving figure in Israeli youth and senior national team basketball circles, whose side now moves into the round of 16 as Group A winners.

Israel are set to face Denmark, who advanced as the fourth-placed team from Group B, in the round of 16 at the Palasport A. Marchetti in Rovereto, with a place in the quarterfinals on the line.

The 2026 U18 EuroBasket, the 41st edition of the championship, is being staged across Trento and Rovereto through August 2, with the continent's best under-18 talent using the tournament as a springboard toward senior international careers - exactly the stage on which Aronov and Musis are now making their names felt.