Jordan plays final friendly ahead of 2023 FIBA World Cup

AMMAN — Jordan’s national men’s basketball team plays South Sudan on Tuesday in the final friendly before heading to Manila for their group matches at the 2023 FIBA World Cup set to be held in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia as of August 25.

Jordan beat Venezuela 89-87 in overtime in a tightly contested match during their current training camp in China, which came after another one in Georgia where they lost to the hosts 86-69 and to Iran 81-73. Earlier, Jordan hosted and won the 11th King Abdullah Cup (The King’s Cup) after they beat Portugal, Angola and Mexico.

Representing Asia, Jordan joins Japan, Iran, New Zealand, Australia, Lebanon and China in the 32-country field. Japan and the Philippines qualified as hosts while third host Indonesia did not make it to the FIBA Asia Cup quarters and failed to qualify.  The tournament serves as a qualifier for the 2024 Summer Olympics, where the top two teams from each of the Americas and Europe, and the top team from each of Africa, Asia and Oceania, will qualify alongside the tournament’s host France.

The Kingdom’s basketball squad has been the only Jordanian team to reach a World Cup in a team sport alongside the junior men’s team in 1995. They have so far qualified to the world’s premier basketball competition three times — 2010, 2019 and 2023. At the 2010 World Cup Jordan finished 23rd among 24 countries after losing five matches. In 2019, Jordan managed a win over Senegal to finish 28th among 32 teams.

Jordan will be playing the FIBA World Cup finals for the second consecutive time and are set to meet Greece on August 26, before playing New Zealand on August 28 and 2010 and 2014 champs, the United States on August 30.

The team’s World Cup qualifying journey included reaching the FIBA Asia Cup semis for the second time, eventually settling for fourth place. 

In 2011, Jordan reached the final for the first time in the country’s history, but lost the chance of qualifying to the 2012 Olympic Games after losing the match 70-69 to China. Jordan then played the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournamen, but lost to Puerto Rico and Greece and was eliminated. 

Jordan’s best showing at the FIBA Asia Cup was third in 2009, followed by  runner-up in 2011 and 4th in 2022. 

This week, Jordan was drawn to play in Group C alongside Thailand, Bahrain and the Philippines at the upcoming 19th Asian Games set for September 23-October 8 in Hangzhou, China.

Women’s team under assessment

Meanwhile, as Jordan’s senior women’s squad returned home after finishing fourth at the Women’s FIBA Asia Cup Division B, the team’s results will be under assessment after a good run in the first round of the event scoring three consecutive wins to top Group B including beating hosts Thailand 74-71, Sri Lanka 82-41 and Kazakhstan 74-65 as naturalised pro Aisha-Marie Sheppard scored 38 points, with six three-pointers and eight assists to set a record total in a women’s Asia Cup game by a player since 2007, regardless of division. 

Jordan seemed within reach of moving to Division A when they played the semis but lost to Iran 72-54 and settled for the third place match but lost 66-52 to Thailand with the team’s powerhouses Sheppard and Maria Al-Hinn missing the match due to injury.

Indonesia won the sole spot promoting them to Division A in 2025. 

In 2021, Jordan hosted the Asia Cup Divisions A & B and with Natasha Cloud, the squad’s first ever naturalised player leading the lineup that finished second after Lebanon in Division B after losing by double score. It was the first time the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup Division A was held in an Arab country.