The history of the national team was not overly impressive until the mid-1980s, when Greece arose as the new power in international basketball spearheaded by elite players Nikos Galis, Panagiotis Giannakis, Panagiotis Fasoulas and Fanis Christodoulou. The beginning was their qualification to the 1986 FIBA World Cup, the first time in their history. The national team went on to finish 10th among the twenty-four nations at the tournament, but it became a catalyst for the future.