The Greek national team is ready to take on the challenge of the second qualifying round of the 2027 World Cup, which faces Ukraine tonight (7:00 p.m.) at the “Xiaomi Arena” in Riga, Latvia, in Group 9 of the European zone.
The national team had a disastrous showing in the previous round, finishing in 3rd place in its group with a 3-3 record. During the July “window,” the Greek national team put on a very poor and disheartening performance, suffering painful losses to Romania (73–66 on the road) and Portugal (71–56 at home)—results that significantly hindered its efforts to qualify for the tournament’s final phase.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
During its preparations for the August “window,” Greece secured two wins in as many friendly matches against Poland (89-81) and Cyprus (82-75). Tonight’s game is crucial for the national team, as it aims to get off to a strong start in the second qualifying round, but also to overtake tonight’s opponent for second place in the group and gradually establish itself among the top three teams that advance.
On the other hand, Ukraine finished the first qualifying round in second place in Group 1 with a 4-2 record, trailing only Spain. In fact, its only losses came against Spain, as it did what was expected against Georgia and Denmark, defeating them both at home and on the road. In the two friendly games it played recently, it recorded one victory—against Latvia (84-82), while suffering a very heavy 107-85 loss to the University of Arizona!
On the court, Vassilis Spanoulis will be without Dimitris Flionis, who has not recovered from his injury, while Dimitris Moraitis and Nikos Persidis have been left off the roster. As for the Ukrainians, Ainars Bagatskis will not be able to count on Alex Len.
Greece’s 12-man roster: Kostas Papanikolaou, Nick Calathes, Giannoulis Larentzakis, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Dinos Mitoglou, Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, Kostas Antetokounmpo, Vasilis Toliopoulos, Tyler Dorsey, Nasos Bazinas, Omiros Netzipoglou, and Antonis Karagiannidis.
Ukraine’s 12-man roster: Oleksandr Kovliar (Buducnost), Denis Lukashev (Riga Zele), Yegor Suskin (Kyiv), Maksym Shulga (Real Madrid), Svi Mykhailiuk (Utah Jazz), Ivan Tkachenko (Zadar), Oleksandr Kombzisty (Oregon/NCAA), Andrei Voinalovich (Tauragė), Daniil Selist (Oviedo), Václav Bobrov (Stal Ostrov), Rostislav Novitsky (Dinamo Bucharest), Dmytro Skapintsev (Leima Korunja).
We would like to remind you that our national team will host Spain this coming Monday (August 31) at a packed Telekom Center Athens, while Ukraine will play Montenegro on the same day.
Group Schedule (August 28)
6:30 PM Georgia vs. Montenegro
7:00 PM Ukraine vs. Greece
10:00 PM Spain vs. Portugal
Group
Standings 1. Spain 5–1
2. Ukraine 4–2
3. Montenegro 4–2
4. Portugal 3–3
5. Greece 3–3
6. Georgia 3–3
Next Matchday (9/1)
7:00 p.m. Greece vs. Spain
9:00 p.m. Portugal vs. Georgia
9:30 p.m. Montenegro vs. Ukraine
*Photo source: KYPE
