2027 European Women’s Basketball Championship Qualification Game: Latvia - Italy

The Latvian women’s national basketball team continues its fight for a spot in the final tournament of the European Championship.

The Latvian women’s national team is ranked 37th in the FIBA rankings (18th in Europe). Since 2005, the Latvian women have played in the final tournament of the European Championship nine times and reached the quarterfinals five times (best results: 4th place in 2007, 6th place in 2005 and 2017).

After the second round, the two best teams in the group, as well as three of the seven third-place teams, will qualify for the next round.

Last year, after a 30-year break, the Italian women’s basketball team won bronze medals at the European Championship and just finished 9th at the World Cup. In Group K of the European Championship qualification tournament, Italy is considered the favorite. However, the Latvian national team has worked hard over the summer to be able to overturn the predictions.

The head-to-head record between the Latvian and Italian women’s national teams is 6-6. In European Championship final tournaments, Latvia has the edge (2-1), in qualification tournaments the record is tied (3-3), while in friendly games the opponents have done better (1-2). In their most recent meeting, in 2017 in Prague in the European Championship semifinal for 5th-8th place, the Latvians won 68-67 and secured a spot in the World Cup.

Against the Italian team, which is ranked 14th in the world, Latvia will not be the favorite, but as has happened more than once before, at home with the support of the