Jordan plays Iraq in last FIBA Asia Cup qualifier

By Aline Bannayan - Feb 23,2025 - Last updated at Feb 23,2025

Freddy Ibrahim goes for the layup against Saudi Arabia on Friday. Jordan beat Saudi Arabia 78-68 and kept the first spot in the group (Photo courtesy Jordan Basketball Federation)

AMMAN — Jordan plays Iraq on Monday in their last match of Window 3, Group D qualifiers for the 31st FIBA Asia Cup 2025.

Jordan has already booked its spot to the 31st FIBA Asia Cup 2025 and their weekend 78-68 win over Saudi Arabia maintained their unbeaten streak in the home game with double doubles by Freddy Ibrahim and Ahmad Duwairi and 22 points by Amin Abu Hawas.

Saudi Arabia maintained second place and booked the second qualifying spot after they beat Palestine 73-66 and Iraq 66-58 in window 2 and a 64-58 win over Iraq in window 1.

On the other hand, Iraq’s 79-59 win over Palestine kept alive their qualifying hopes after and earlier 75-72 win in window 1.

Jordan earlier beat Palestine 87-81 and Iraq 73-64 in Window 2 which came after two earlier wins over Palestine 73-46 and Saudi Arabia 79-64 in Window 1.

A total of 24 teams are playing Round 1 qualification matches for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in three windows, while also battling for qualifying spots for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup alongside hosts Qatar who automatically advanced. The top two teams of each qualifying group move to the FIBA Asia Cup and the six third-placed teams will play another qualifying round for the final four places. The 31st FIBA Asia Cup is set to be held in Saudi Arabia from Aug 5-17.

Qualified teams so far are Australia and Korea (Group A), New Zealand and Philippines (Group B), China and Japan (Group C), Jordan and Saudi (Group D), Iran and Qatar (Group E), and Lebanon (Group F) with Syria and Bahrain fighting for second spot.

Jordan, the 2023 Asian Games silver medalist and three-time qualifier to the World Cup, 2010, 2019 and 2023, will be playing the FIBA Asia Cup for the 17th time, with their best position runner-up in 2011.

The team hopes to build on their feats in 2023, when they won a historic first ever team medal - a silver at the Asian Games. In addition, they played at the FIBA World Cup. Alongside the junior men's team in 1995 and 2025, basketball has been the only Jordanian team to reach a World Cup in a team sport.