Preview

Shakhtar will face champions of Latvia Riga in the test game. The clash will take place in Antalya, with kickoff scheduled for 16:00 Kyiv time.

All friendlies of the Orange-and-Blacks are streamed on Shakhtar’s YouTube channel and the FC Shakhtar mobile app (App Store and Google Play) in the Live section.

Opponents

Riga FC was founded in 2015, but has already won several domestic trophies: 4 Latvian league titles (2018, 2019, 2020, 2025), 2 Latvian Cups (2018, 2023) and the Latvian Super Cup (2024). The team regularly compete in the qualifying rounds of European competitions, but have not yet reached the main stage.

In the 2025/26 season, the club took part in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers: they eliminated Georgian side Dila (2-1, 3-3) and Israeli club Beitar (3-0, 1-3) in the first two rounds, but were beaten by Czech side Sparta Praha (1-0, 0-2) in the play-off round. This was offset by a successful campaign in the 2025 Latvian Championship (held under the spring–autumn system), where Riga finished one point ahead of RFS and secured the gold medals of the Virsliga.

The return of the title to the capital was guided by 50-year-old Slovak head coach Adrian Gula, who has been in charge of the team since January 2025. Previously, he worked in his homeland with DAC 1904, as well as with Polish side Wisła and Czech club Viktoria Plzeň. The captain is 29-year-old centre-back Antonijs Cernomordijs, who has been playing for the team since 2016 (251 official appearances) and is a true club legend. The squad features 17 foreign players, mainly from South America and Africa. The top scorer of 2025 was Brazilian forward Reginaldo Ramires (20 goals in all competitions).

Riga are currently preparing for the new Latvian league season, which starts in March, and this winter the team have already played three friendlies: they defeated Dubai United (2-1) and Žilina (3-2), and also drew with Armenian side Pyunik (1-1).

Shakhtar and Riga met in a friendly match in February 2022 in Türkiye and played out a draw (0-0).