Israel's World Cup Campaign Ends with Loss to Latvia
Israel’s World Cup dream ended with a whimper in Riga on Sunday night, a 85-70 defeat to Latvia sealing an August window that yielded two heavy losses and a harsh reality check.
The blue-and-white, already reeling from a 106-86 collapse against Poland days earlier, briefly looked ready to rip up the script. They built a double-digit lead in the second quarter, moved the ball with purpose, hit their shots and silenced the home crowd.
Then it all unraveled.
Lead built, lead lost
Lior Carrera and Netanel Artzi set the early tone, pushing Israel in front before Latvia found its rhythm inside. An Arturs Strautins triple swung the early advantage toward the hosts, only for Eitan Burg to come off the bench and flip the quarter back Israel’s way. His sharp playmaking and shot-making nudged Israel ahead 22-21 after 10 minutes.
The second period began with a burst that hinted at something bigger. Guy Palatin and Burg drilled back-to-back 3-pointers, forcing a Latvian timeout and injecting belief into Ariel Beit Halachmi’s bench. When Israel strung together a 12-2 run to go up 40-29, the visitors looked in complete control.
That was as good as it got.
Latvia emerged from a timeout with a 12-1 surge of their own. Israel’s offense stalled, the ball stopped moving, and the hosts pounced. The entire lead vanished before the break, the scoreboard locked at 41-41 and the momentum firmly wearing maroon.
Latvia turn the screw
Artzi tried to drag Israel back onto the front foot, opening the third quarter with five straight points. Latvia barely blinked. An 8-2 response flipped the score to 49-48, and from there the hosts never really looked back.
Strautins kept finding daylight and kept making Israel pay. His scoring spree pushed Latvia out to 58-52, forcing Beit Halachmi into another timeout. It didn’t stem the tide. Latvia stretched the gap to 67-58 by the end of the third, Israel increasingly bogged down in half-court possessions and mounting foul trouble.
The final quarter turned into a long goodbye.
Latvia opened with a barrage of three-pointers, three in quick succession, blowing the lead out to 76-62 with seven minutes still to play. Israel had no response. The shots that fell in the first half rimmed out, the defensive intensity dipped, and the hosts calmly closed out a 15-point win.
Yam Madar led Israel with 15 points, Artzi added 11, while Itay Segev and Roman Sorkin finished with 9 apiece. It was nowhere near enough to rescue a campaign already on the brink.
“We don’t have the luxury”
Beit Halachmi did not hide from the problems.
“We started the game well, but toward the end of the second quarter we lost the momentum,” he said. “In the second half, we got into foul trouble, and that changed the momentum of the game. They shot a high percentage from 3-point range and took advantage of the mistakes we made.”
The coach pointed straight at the wider structural issue that has dogged Israel across the qualifying windows.
“I think we don’t have the luxury of showing up for international windows without our leading players. We were missing quite a few players, and that had an impact. Different players have been available for each window, and it’s difficult to implement a style of play. Israeli basketball doesn’t have the option of throwing away games; we need everyone with us.”
He contrasted Israel’s revolving cast with the continuity enjoyed by their rivals.
“Other national teams have been playing with the same roster for a long period of time, but unfortunately, that’s not the case for us,” he said, before taking a moment to thank the Latvian Basketball Association for hosting and support during the window.
Sorkin, one of the few consistent bright spots over the two games, turned the spotlight inward.
“I can say that from the players’ side, which I’m part of, we have to look better. We can’t look like this. We need to play better,” he said. “I’m speaking about myself right now and not criticizing anyone else. I have no excuses; the only thing I know is that we have to play better and show up differently for games.”
Poland set the tone
By the time Latvia delivered the knockout blow, the damage had already been done against Poland.
In the opening game of the second round, also in Riga, Poland jumped on Israel early and never really loosened their grip. Mateusz Ponitka, Jordan Loyd and Aleksander Balcerowski dictated the first quarter, pushing Poland into an eight-point lead and putting Israel on the back foot.
The gap widened before halftime. Loyd found his rhythm, Poland’s offense flowed, and Beit Halachmi’s side trudged into the locker room trailing 55-42, chasing shadows on the perimeter and struggling to contain the size and skill inside.
The pattern held after the break. Sorkin, Madar and Tamir Blatt tried to spark a response, but Andrzej Pluta and Jarosław Zyskowski answered with clinical shooting that stretched the margin again. Israel finally produced an excellent final quarter, briefly threatening to haul itself back into contention, yet the 20-point deficit told its own story in a 106-86 defeat.
Two games. Two heavy losses. A campaign cut short.
The World Cup is gone for this generation of Israel’s national team. The question now is whether the lessons from Riga — about continuity, commitment, and showing up with a full-strength roster — will stick before the next qualifying cycle begins.
