On the evening of August 28, the Ukrainian national basketball team will play its first match in the second stage of the 2027 FIBA World Cup qualification tournament. The national team's opponent will be Greece, and the game will take place at the Xiaomi Arena in Riga. Tip-off is scheduled for 19:00 Kyiv time. A live broadcast of the match for Ukrainian viewers will be provided by the TV channels "Obshchestvenne Sport" and "Kyivstar TV".
Roster: Who Is in the Squad and Who Will Be Missing
On the eve of the match, the team's roster for the game against the Greeks was published on the official resources of the Ukrainian Basketball Federation. Two players who had been a consistent part of the national team during the first stage of qualification are not on the list — Ilya Turtshnyk and Artem Kovalyov. Thus, head coach Ainars Bagatskis has lost two important performers ahead of the start of the new stretch of the qualifiers. The roster does, however, feature the team's key figures: national team leader Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, as well as Oleksandr Kovaliur, Denys Lukashov, Yehor Sushkin, and Vyacheslav Bobrov.
Preparation: Two Friendly Matches Before Greece
Before the start of the second stage of qualification, the Ukrainian team played two friendly games. On August 20, their opponent was the University of Arizona, and in that match the Ukrainians lost 85:107. Just three days later, on August 23, the Ukrainian national team defeated the Latvian national team — 84:82. In that game, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk stood out, scoring 25 points and becoming one of the main heroes of the match.
Coach's Comment: Why Latvia Is the Ideal Sparring Partner
Ainars Bagatskis emphasized that the game against the Latvians was extremely useful in preparing for the showdown with the Greeks. "I'm glad we had a match against Latvia, because they play in a style similar to the Greeks'. We need to pay attention to turnovers — there should be as few of them as possible — and we also need to control our emotions," the national team coach stated. These remarks indicate that the coaching staff views the Greeks as a team with a tactical model similar to that of the Latvians — with an emphasis on team play, discipline, and tempo control.
Additional Context: Transfer News
Apart from the preparation for the match against Greece, another story is being discussed in Ukrainian basketball circles: it was previously reported that the Ukrainian national team's center has signed a contract with a new club in Romania. The details of the transfer are not disclosed in the provided materials, however, the move of one of the national team's players to a foreign league could affect his availability for subsequent qualifying matches.
What Comes Next in the Qualifiers
The match against Greece opens the second stage of the 2027 World Cup qualification for Ukraine. The result of this game, as well as the subsequent matches in the group, will determine the team's chances of advancing to the next stage of the qualifiers. For fans, the key question remains: will the national team be able to compensate for the absence of Turtshnyk and Kovalyov through the experience of Mykhailiuk, Kovaliur, and Lukashov and through cohesive team play, which Bagatskis intends to refine to perfection throughout the entire qualifying cycle.
