France and Slovenia, two of the favourites to be crowned European champions, are due to meet in Group B in Cologne ©Getty Images

Two of the favourites in Olympic silver medallists France and defending champions Slovenia line-up in the same group at the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) EuroBasket 2022, which is set to begin tomorrow.

Group stage matches are due to be held in Georgia, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic, following on from the multi-host format first introduced in 2015 whereby all the matches in each of the four groups are held in the same country.

The European Championship is returning after a five-year absence, with the gap between each tournament increased from two to four years, and this edition delayed by 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic and postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Groups A and B are set to get underway tomorrow.

Spain, world champions and winners of three of the last five editions of the EuroBasket, are set to open the tournament against Bulgaria tomorrow at the Tbilisi Arena.

They are Europe's highest-placed side at second in the FIBA world rankings.

Turkey take on Montenegro, who have replaced Russia due to their ban following the invasion of Ukraine, and hosts Georgia start against Belgium on the opening day in Tbilisi.

Group B looks the strongest of the four, with matches due to be held at the Köln Arena in Cologne.

Bosnia and Herzegovina are set to play Hungary in the opening match of the group tomorrow, followed by the 2017 winners Slovenia against a well-fancied Lithuania side.

Germany have home advantage, and would do so again should they progress to the knockout stages, where all matches are due to be played at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin.

They face a tough opening match against the 2013 EuroBasket winners and Tokyo 2020 silver medallists France.

Matches in Groups C and D are due to start on Friday (September 2).

The Forum di Assago in Milan is set to stage Group C matches featuring Ukraine, Britain, Croatia, Greece, hosts Italy and Estonia.

The Prague Arena is the venue for Group D, which starts with Israel against Finland, and also includes Poland, hosts Czech Republic, 2017 runners-up Serbia and The Netherlands.

Group matches are due to run until September 8, with the top four teams advancing to the knockout stage.

Round of 16 matches are scheduled for September 10 and 11, with quarter-finals set to take place on September 13 and 14, semi-finals due to be held on September 16 and the medal matches set for September 18.