Weather pdfNewspaper
Jordan Weather
☰ Mobile Logo
Download Our App

Jordan faces Iran in FIBA World Cup qualifiers

Jordan's Saif Al-Deen Saleh, a promising  star in Jordan's national team, highlighted by FIBA as 'born ready'
Jordan's Saif Al-Deen Saleh, a promising  star in Jordan's national team, highlighted by FIBA as 'born ready'
By Aline Bannayan | 18:01 July 1, 2026 |
Share

AMMAN — Jordan plays Iran on Thursday in as Window 3 Round 1 Asian Group C qualifiers for the 2027 FIBA World Cup tip off in Amman.

The national team will face Iraq on July 5, ending Round 1 following which the top three teams from each group will advance to Round 2 of the qualifiers where the 12 teams will be divided into two groups with group leaders advancing to the World Cup alongside the fourth best team.

So far, Jordan lead Group C after an unbeaten run. In postponed Window 2 matches this week, Jordan beat Iraq 108-59 while Iran beat Syria 72-68. Earlier, Jordan beat Iran 73-60 while Syria beat Iraq 78-70. In Window 1, Jordan beat Syria 100-48 and 74-59, Iran overcame Iraq twice 86-71 and 94-68.

There had been concerns over Jordan’s national squad which regrouped only three weeks ago after the game’s governing body, the Jordan basketball Federation, faced admin issues and mass resignations. With coach Roy Rana’s contract ending, former coach Wisam Sous was recalled to oversee the team for the upcoming matches.

The Jordanian squad is led by naturalized pro Jalen Harris who scored 23 points and had 8 rebounds combining with young star Saif Al-Deen Saleh who excelled against Iraq with 20 points and 11 rebounds as young teammates like Rawhi Kilani ,who had powered Jordan into their second U19 World Cup since 1995, also made a promising debut.

"We have a lot of good players. I coached most of them in the U18 when we made it to the World Cup, so I know them well," coach Sous was quoted by FIBA.

"The idea at the moment is to get good results, but at the same time to give the chance to the young players so that we won't have gaps in generations for the future," Sous noted, adding, “we have a responsibility - we cannot make that change in a sudden manner, We need to have that balance," he added.

Veteran Ahmad Duweiri, joined Abdullah Olajuwon, Freddie Ibrahim, Ahmad Hamarsheh and Amin Abu Hawas to continue their squad’s unbeaten run and secure a place in Round 2 with the aim to qualify to the World Cup for the third consecutive and fourth overall time after first qualifying in 2010. The team, now 41stth in FIBA rankings and 8th in Asia, still lacks a solid bench. However, the younger additions to the squad might be the key turning point, as many others who excelled in the league, including Adham Dajani, did not make it on the team this round.

A total of 80 national squads from the four FIBA regions are playing FIBA World Cup qualifiers in six windows from November 2025 to March 2027 following which 5 teams from Africa, 7 from the Americas, 7 from Asia, and 12 from Europe will advance to the 2027 World Cup in Doha, Qatar which is a direct qualifier for 7 national teams to the 2028 Olympic Games.

So far in Asian qualifiers, Group A: Australia, New Zealand, Philippines have advanced with Guam out; Group B: Japan, South Korea and China have advanced with Chinese Taipei out; Group D: Lebanon, Qatar Saudi Arabia have advanced with India out.

At the 31st FIBA Asia Cup 2025, Jordan’s squad failed to keep up the nation’s impressive record and the squad ended up 11th among 16 competing nations after previously reaching the medals podium twice. So far, the squad has played at the FIBA Asia Cup 17th times, with their best position runner-up in 2011, 3rd in 2009 and 4th in 2022.

In 2023, Jordan was Asian Games silver medalist, after qualifying to the FIBA World Cup in 2010, 2019 and 2023.

.col-lg-12.second .opinion-widget{border-top:1px solid #D0D0D0;} #widget_1623 .opinions-title {font-size:32px;} #widget_1623 .opinions-title a{font-size:32px;} .first-author{ background-color:#ecedef; } .first-opinion-author-name{ background-color:white; width:max-content; padding:5px; }

{{articles_filter_1623_widget.title}}

Opinion Author
{{ articles_filter_1623[0]?.author_name }}

{{ articles_filter_1623[0]?.title }}
Opinion Author
{{ articles_filter_1623[1]?.author_name }}

{{ articles_filter_1623[1]?.title }}
.epaper-separator{ height: 1px; width: 100%; background-color: #D0D0D0; margin: 15px 0; }

Today’s Paper

Today's Paper
.related-articles .article-widget-sm .article-title{font-size:16px;-webkit-line-clamp:3;} .related-articles .layout-ratio{padding-bottom:55%;}
Related Articles
.alert-success { color :#A3656F ; } .alert-danger { color : red ; } .footer { font-family:Myriad Pro,Arial; } .newspaper-footer{ visibility:hidden; } .socialFixOuter { position: fixed; top: 50%; margin-top: 40px; right: 0; transition: .2s; z-index: 20; height: 217px; width: 40px; } .socialFix { height: 30px; width: 30px; display: block; position: relative; cursor: pointer; background-size: 18px 18px; transition: .2s; background-position: center; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-radius: 2px; margin-top: 1px; } .socialFix:hover { width: 40px; margin-left: -10px; } .app-badge-img { height: 36px; width: auto; } @media (max-width: 768px) { .app-badge-img { height: 32px; } .app-badges { justify-content: center !important; } }
The Jordan Times Logo
Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store
Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store

The Jordan Times is an independent English-language daily published by the Jordan Press Foundation since October 26, 1975. The Jordan Press Foundation is a shareholding company listed on the Amman Stock Exchange.

Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

Camera Icon Read Today's Newspaper

Copyright © 2025 The Jordan Times. All Rights Reserved.

document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function () { const socialFix = document.querySelector(".socialFixOuter"); if (!socialFix) return; let firstInteraction = false; let hideTimeout = null; function checkMobileScreen() { if (window.innerWidth < 768) { socialFix.style.display = "none"; } else { socialFix.style.display = "block"; } } checkMobileScreen(); window.addEventListener("resize", checkMobileScreen); function handleFirstInteraction() { if (firstInteraction) return; if (window.innerWidth < 768) return; firstInteraction = true; socialFix.style.right = "-25px"; } socialFix.addEventListener("mouseenter", function () { if (window.innerWidth < 768) return; if (hideTimeout) clearTimeout(hideTimeout); socialFix.style.right = "0"; }); socialFix.addEventListener("mouseleave", function () { if (window.innerWidth < 768) return; if (hideTimeout) clearTimeout(hideTimeout); hideTimeout = setTimeout(() => { socialFix.style.right = "-25px"; }, 500); }); ["click", "touchstart"].forEach((evt) => { socialFix.addEventListener(evt, handleFirstInteraction); }); }); function validateEmail(email) { if (email.length > 255) return false; const emailRegex = /^[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}$/; if (!emailRegex.test(email)) return false; if (email.includes('..') || email.startsWith('.') || email.endsWith('.')) return false; return true; } function sanitizeInput(input) { input = input.replace(/<[^>]*>/g, ''); input = input.replace(/javascript:/gi, ''); input = input.replace(/on\w+\s*=/gi, ''); input = input.replace(/[<>"'&(){}[\]]/g, ''); return input.trim(); } document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () { function showModal(message, type) { const messageContainer = document.getElementById("messageContainerFooter"); messageContainer.textContent = message; messageContainer.className = `alert alert-${type} mt-3`; messageContainer.classList.remove("d-none"); setTimeout(() => { messageContainer.classList.add("d-none"); }, 5000); } document.getElementById("emailFormFooter").addEventListener("submit", function(event) { event.preventDefault(); const emailInput = document.getElementById("emailFooter"); const email = sanitizeInput(emailInput.value.trim()); if (!validateEmail(email)) { showModal('Invalid email format', 'danger'); return; } const formData = new FormData(); formData.append('email', email); fetch('/subscribeNewsletter', { method: "POST", body: formData, headers: { "Accept": "application/json", "X-Requested-With": "XMLHttpRequest" } }) .then(response => { if (!response.ok) { showModal("Error submitting email. Try again.", 'danger'); } return response.json(); }) .then(data => { showModal(data.message, 'success'); }) .catch(error => { showModal("Error submitting email. Try again.", 'danger'); }); }); });