ENBL sixth Technical meeting to be held in Riga

The 2026 European North Basketball league`s Technical meeting will take place on August 23-24 in the Latvian capital.

The participants will attend a friendly game between Latvia and Ukraine at the Xiaomi Arena.

Eighteen teams from 16 or 17 countries will participate in the 2026-2027 season.

The 18 teams, selected in two pools of nine, will play a round robin tournament with eight games for each team – four at home, four away – against eight opponents from eight different countries.

Eight teams will advance to the 2027 ENBL playoffs.

Quarterfinals offer “best-of-two” home and away series, with winners advancing to the 2027 Final Four.

The full line-up and schedule are to be revealed after the Technical meeting.

Croatian Basketball Federation – Hrvatski košarkaški savez – has joined forces with the European North Basketball league to field two Croatian teams selected in the ENBL Qualifying Tournament on September 17-20, 2026.

Four teams will play a round robin tournament. The two best teams will advance to the 2026-2027 ENBL regular season.

The 2026 ENBL qualifying tournament participants, in alphabetic order

KK Alkar – Sinj based club was founded in 1955 and marked its 70 years anniversary in 2025. Alkar reached the 1984 Yugoslavia Cup final and the 2025 Croatian Cup (also Kresimir Cosic Cup) final. The club is eyeing its European debut.

Famous players and coaches include Goran Sobin, Mladen Pavič Kembo, Davor Vučkovič, Stipe Vrcan (as coach).

KK Dinamo Zagreb – team was founded in 1972 as KK Rudeš Bulldogs and renamed to KK Dinamo Zagreb in 2020. Capital team made it to the 2024 and 2025 Croatian championship semifinals, as well as the 2023 Croatian Cup (also Kresimir Cosic Cup) semifinals.

Dinamo Zagreb has played at the 2023-2024 Alpe Adria Cup and the 2024-2025 FIBA Europe Cup qualifiers.

Famous players and coaches include Damir Markota, Tomislav Zubčič, Filip Krušlin, David Grbešič, Damir Mulaomerovič (as coach), Josip Sesar (as coach), Neven Spahija (club Vice President).

KK Dubrava – team was founded in 1976 and celebrated its 50 years anniversary in 2026. Zagreb team made it to the Croatian championship semifinals in 1997, 1998 and 1999, as well as reached the Croatian Cup (also Kresimir Cosic Cup) semifinals in 2022 and 2024.

KK Dubrava under the name KK Benston played at the FIBA organized Radivoje Korač cup from 1996 until 2002, and the Alpe Adria Cup from 2022 until 2024.

Famous players include Dario Šarič, Zoran Planinič, Dalibor Bagarič, Mate Skelin and Darko Krunič.

KK Zabok – Zabok based team was founded in 1977 as OKK “Ivo Lola Ribar” and renamed to KK Zabok in 1981.

Team has participated at the Alpe Adria Cup in 2016-2017 and 2022-2023. Famous players include Marko Tomas, Dalibor Bagarič, Luka Žorič, Filip Krušlin and Ive Ivanov.

2026 ENBL Qualifying Tournament schedule

Thursday, September 17

Dubrava – Zabok

Dinamo – Alkar

Friday, September 18

Zabok – Dinamo

Alkar – Dubrava

Sunday, September 20

Zabok – Alkar

Dubrava – Dinamo