Latvia's basketball team begins preparations for Croatia, Israel matches without Žagars

Latvia's men's national basketball team officially began preparations on Monday for the second round of qualifying for the 2027 Basketball World Cup. In this stage, the team will face Croatia and Israel in matches scheduled for the end of the month.

Preparations started with 15 players, even though the squad announced last week had included 16 names. A day before training began, it became known that Artūrs Žagars would also not be joining the national team.

As a result, the squad has been reduced ahead of the upcoming qualifying matches, and the team will have to prepare without one of the previously announced players.