Israel falls to 0-2 with costly Croatia basketball defeat

Israel falls to 0-2 with costly Croatia basketball defeatStory byBAR TIMOR (center) and the Israel national team got off to a terrible start to World Cup qualifying, dropping its record to 0-2 with a 85-71 to Croatia. (photo credit: FIBA/COURTESY)JOSHUA HALICKMANWed, December 3, 2025 at 5:37 AM UTC·4 min read

Beit Halachmi admits the Israeli national basketball team ‘hardly practiced’ in a frustrating start to World Cup qualifying.

Israel fell to Croatia 85-71 late Monday night as Mario Hezonja and Michael Ruzic paced the visitors to the win in World Cup qualifying.

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The blue-and-white fell for the second time in the first window of play to drop its record to 0-2, and will now have a very tough time advancing to the 2027 World Cup slated for Qatar as the results roll over for the teams that advance to the second round of qualifying.

Croatia raced out to a 12-0 lead, but Roman Sorkin was able to tie the contest up for Israel at 25-25 after a rough opening quarter. However, Hezonja, Ruzic, David Skara and Luka Bozic proved to be unstoppable for the Croatians as they cruised to the 14-point victory.

Israel will be in action again in World Cup Qualifying in February with a set of home-and-home games against Cyprus, with the first of two expected to be played back in the Holy Land for the first time since the Israel-Hamas War broke out in 2023.

Against the Croats, Sorkin scored 20 points, and Khadeen Carrington added 11 points in the loss, while Ruzic scored 23 points and Hezonja put in 19 points in the win.

MAKING HIS first national team appearance since 2022, Tamir Blatt reenters the fold at a pivotal moment as Israel begins its push toward the 2027 World Cup. (credit: YEHUDA HALICKMAN)

Team Israel's thoughts on the defeat

Israel coach Ariel Beit Halachmi shared his thoughts on the defeat.

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“We wanted to look different than we did, and it’s a shame. There are still enough games to fix things. There are many reasons why it didn’t happen; I don’t want to get into excuses, but we hardly practiced during this window.

“All of the players are each dealing with their own situations, but they came to play, and it’s not something to take for granted that they made that effort. It just didn’t work out for us, and we’ll move on. It was not a good window for us in terms of basketball, and the defense is part of that. We set ourselves a goa,l and we’ll do everything to meet it. I didn’t know that setting high expectations is considered arrogance. We want to be there.”

Croatia coach Tomislav Mijatovic added, “Every win means so much, and we prepared well. I’m super happy for our guys and staff who prepared for the game we were able to win against a very well-coached team. I have a lot of respect for the coach and the players of Israel, who we know well, and that is why I am so proud of the guys who executed the game plan for 40 minutes. Now we have to continue to go step by step.”

Ruzic, the game’s MVP, also spoke about the win.

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“We started off really well at the beginning of the game with a 12-0 run. They brought it back, and we were equal over the first half, but our good defense turned the game around for us in the third quarter, and we stepped it up.”

Hezonja scored from deep while Ruzic and Skara found points as well to help Croatia take a quick 12-0 lead, but Carrington, Tamir Blatt, and Yovel Zoosman all went from downtown for Israel while Sorkin scored as well to knot the game up after 10 minutes.

Roi Huber and Israeli center Itay Segev were active to begin the second quarter as Toni Nakic, Luka Bozic, and Ruzic responded while Sorkin also put in points, but Croatia took a 47-42 advantage into halftime.

Skara went from deep and Hezonja dunked to get the third quarter underway, while Ruzic and Bozic both scored as well to bump the Croatia lead up to well over double digits. Carrington and Segev tried to keep the blue-and-white in the game, but the Israelis headed into the final frame down 71-56.

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Ruzic got busy early and often to start off the fourth quarter, while Sorkin and Zoosman countered, but it was too little too late as Croatia took the win.

Segev also spoke about the loss.

“Tough game, [however] they played better than us. It feels bad to finish a window like this and it’s part of a process, but I know we will be better.”

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