ATS
The Swiss team begins the 2nd round of pre-qualifications for the 2027 World Cup on Saturday.
The troop of Coach Ilias Papatheodorou faces Slovakia in Bratislava (from 6 p.m.) at the opening of group D, in which Ukraine also appears.
The data is rather simple for the Swiss team, which had passed the 1st round of these pre-qualifications by winning its six matches between February 2024 and February 2025. She will have to avoid the last place of her hen to win her ticket for real qualifications and challenge the best teams on the continent.
Ukraine, 37th best nation in the world according to the FIBA ranking, is the logical favorite of this hen. But the context of the war with Russia obviously does not promote the designs of the Ukrainians, who had failed in the qualifications of Euro 2025 after finishing 12th in the 2022 edition.
The Swiss team will know more about Ukraine’s potential next Wednesday on the second day, with a game scheduled in Friborg. She will then host Slovakia on Wednesday 13 in Winterthour, before facing Ukraine in Riga in Latvia on Saturday 16 for her last match.