EuroBasket 2025 begins: Latvia is the first opponent of the National Team

EuroBasket, the most important event in European basketball, is underway. The 42nd European Basketball Championship, which kicks off today (August 27) and concludes on September 14, will be hosted this year by Southern Cyprus (Limassol), Finland (Tampere), Poland (Katowice), and Latvia (Riga).

The Turkish National Men's Basketball Team will face Latvia tonight in its first match of EuroBasket 2025. The match, which will kick off at 6:00 PM Turkish time, will be broadcast on TRT Spor.

The group stage matches of the tournament will be played at the Spiros Kiprianu Athletic Centre in Limassol, the Nokia Arena in Tampere, the Spodek Arena in Katowice and the Arena Riga in Riga.

This year's hosts, Southern Cyprus, are appearing on the EuroBasket stage for the first time in their history, while Portugal is returning to the championship after a 14-year hiatus.

At the end of the qualifiers, the top four countries in each group of the tournament, which includes 24 teams, will advance to the Round of 16.

The quarter-finals will be played on September 9-10, the semi-finals on September 12 and the grand final on Sunday, September 14.

Türkiye will compete in five matches in the group stage.

The Turkish national team will face Serbia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Estonia, and Portugal in Group A. Turkey will play its first match against Latvia on Wednesday, August 27, and will play a total of five matches in the group stage.

Turkey will face Czech Republic on August 29, Portugal on August 30, Estonia on September 1 and Serbia on September 3.

The EuroBasket 2025 roster of the crescent-star team, under head coach Ergin Ataman, is as follows:

Adem Bona, Alperen Şengün, Cedi Osman, Ercan Osmani, Erkan Yılmaz, Furkan Korkmaz, Kenan Sipahi, Onuralp Bitim, Ömer Faruk Yurtseven, Sertaç Şanlı, Shane Larkin, Şehmus Hazer.

ALPEREN IS IN THE TOP 5 AMONG THE STRONGEST PLAYERS

Alperen Şengün, who made a breakthrough in the NBA with the Houston Rockets, attracted attention by ranking fifth on ESPN's pre-tournament "Top 10 Players" list. Turkey also ranked seventh in FIBA's updated EuroBasket 2025 Power Rankings.

Serbia, Spain, Germany, and France are among the tournament favorites. Other prominent teams include teams with strong basketball traditions, such as Greece and Lithuania.

Türkiye Participates in Eurobasket for the 21st Time

Turkey has participated in the European Championship 20 times before, achieving its greatest success with a silver medal in 2001. In the final, played at the Abdi İpekçi Sports Hall in Istanbul, Turkey lost 78-69 to Yugoslavia, finishing second in Europe. On the global stage, they reached the 2010 FIBA ​​World Cup final, winning the silver medal. The Crescent-Stars have won a total of two gold and four silver medals in international tournaments to date.