The Ukrainian men's national basketball team has officially started work on the second stage of the qualification for the 2027 World Cup. The training camp for the national team kicked off in the capital of Latvia — Riga, where the basketball players have already held their first training session. The head coach of the team is Ainars Bagatskis, who, together with his staff, is focused on refining game systems and defensive work.
Friendly matches before the start of the official part
Before starting the decisive qualification games, the Ukrainian team is scheduled to play two important friendly matches. The first one is planned for August 20 in the Lithuanian city of Kėdainiai. The opponent of the "blue and yellows" will be the American team from the University of Arizona ("Arizona Wildcats"). This will allow the players to test their readiness against opponents from North America, where the level of basketball is traditionally high.
The second friendly match will take place on August 23 in Riga. In this match, the Ukrainian national team will face the national team of Latvia. The game will be held on the opponent's territory, creating conditions as close as possible to the real qualification matches, which will also take place in Latvia.
Opponents and tournament situation
Ukraine starts the second round of qualification with a record of 4 wins and 2 losses. These results were achieved in matches against Spain, Georgia, and Denmark in the first round (Group A). Now the "blue and yellows" will play against teams that competed in the parallel Group B in the previous round: Montenegro, Portugal, and Greece. All these teams have been united in the second qualification group, named Group I.
The first official match of the second round will be played by Ukraine on August 28 in Riga against Greece. The match will be nominally home for the Ukrainian team. Immediately after this, on August 31, the team will go on an away visit to Montenegro. A total of six teams participate in Group I, and the three best teams will qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Qatar.
Goals and objectives of preparation
The main task of the current training camp is to synchronize the players' actions and repeat the game schemes used in previous camps. The basketball players are working on defense and offense, striving for the team to be ready for any challenges by the start of the official matches. Friendly games against strong opponents will help identify weak points and adjust tactics before the start of the decisive matches.
