The Latvian national football team will kick off their training camp on Sunday ahead of two pivotal 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixtures. First up, Latvia will host Serbia at the BTA Daugava Stadium on September 6, before traveling to face Albania on September 9.
This camp comes with a few absences. Captain Kristers Tobers is sidelined due to health issues, while Roberts Uldriķis continues to recover from a long-term injury. Additionally, Raimonds Krollis, currently playing in the Czech Republic, is not included in the squad.
Manager Paolo Nicolato has also called up three uncapped players: Frenks Dāvids Orols, Roberts Veips, and Kristaps Grabovskis. Notably, Orols becomes the first player from FK Grobiņa ever to receive a national team call-up, while RFS defender Veips earns his inaugural call-up.
Latvia have started their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with four points from three matches: an away victory over Andorra, a home draw against Albania, and a 3-0 defeat at Wembley against England.
Latvian national team squad for the matches against Serbia and Albania:
Goalkeepers
- Krišjānis Zviedris (Riga FC)
- Rihards Matrevics (Dukla Prague, Czechia)
- Frenks Dāvids Orols (FK Grobiņa)
Defenders
- Roberts Savaļnieks (FC RFS)
- Andrejs Cigaņiks (FC Luzern, Switzerland)
- Raivis Andris Jurkovskis (Riga FC)
- Antonijs Černomordijs (Riga FC)
- Vitālijs Jagodinskis (Visakha FC, Cambodia)
- Daniels Balodis (Tatran Prešov, Slovakia)
- Deniss Meļņiks (FK Auda)
- Maksims Toņiševs (Riga FC)
- Roberts Veips (FC RFS)
Midfielders
- Alvis Jaunzems (Lechia Gdansk, Poland)
- Aleksejs Saveļjevs (FK Liepāja)
- Eduards Dašķevičs (FK Auda)
- Renārs Varslavāns (Riga FC)
- Dmitrijs Zelenkovs (FC RFS)
- Lūkass Vapne (Sogndal IL, Norway)
- Kristers Penkevics (FS Jelgava)
- Kristaps Grabovskis (B.93, Denmark)
Forwards
- Jānis Ikaunieks (FC RFS)
- Vladislavs Gutkovskis (Daejeon Hana Citizen, South Korea)
- Marko Regža (Riga FC)
- Dario Šits (Parma Calcio, Italy)
- Bruno Melnis (FK Liepāja)
World Cup 2026 qualifying Group K
| # | Team | GP | W | D | L | PTS |
| 1 | England | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| 2 | Albania | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
| 3 | Serbia | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 13 |
| 4 | Latvia | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | Andorra | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
Source: https://lff.lv/zinas/18457/nikolato-nosauc-septembra-sastavu-izlase-pirmoreiz-veips/
