Jordan 4th in Asia, advances to FIBA U-19World Cup

AMMAN — Jordan finished fourth at theFIBA U18 Asia Cup which ended in Amman on Monday after losing the 3rd place match 84-63 to China as Australia beat New Zealand 96-33 in the title match.

The top four teams advanced to the 2025 U19 World Cup slated for Switzerland with Spain the defending champs among the elite basketball teams of the world. It will be Jordan’s second time at the U-19 World Cup after first qualifying in 1995 finishing 16th. 

The FIBA U-18 Asia Cup was Jordan’s fifth time at the event after previously finishing 3rd in 1995, 9th in 1996, 10th in 2008 and 2014.

The young Jordanian squad had an impressive championship which saw them lose 71-62 to New Zealand before they beat the Philippines 62-56, Indonesia  82-59 and Qatar 91-85. In the quarterfinals, they upstaged title holders South Korea 73-69 to move to the semis where they lost to Australia 94-42.

So far, basketball has been the only Jordanian team to reach a World Cup in a team sport. The senior team so far played at the FIBA World Cup three times– 2010, 2019 and 2023. In 2010, Jordan finished 23rd among 24 countries after losing all 5 matches; In 2019, Jordan managed a win over Senegal  to finish 28th among 32 nations, and in 2023 finished last at 32nd.