At the 1990 FIBA World Cup, the team would face a new challenge as they would have to compete without their leading scorer Nikos Galis who was injured, but performed better than four years ago and eventually placed 6th in the tournament. For the next two competitions in 1994 and 1998 Greece finished 4th. In 1994, the team reached the semi-finals but were eliminated by the United States and played for the third place against Croatia to which they lost and were placed 4th, a result that was considered to demonstrate the continued prominence of the team. In 1998, the tournament was held in Athens and the Greeks hoped to qualify for the final. Although in the semi-final they were eliminated by FR Yugoslavia in extra time, and their disappointment of missing the chance to reach the final led to an easy defeat to the United States in the bronze medal game, once more leaving Greece 4th.