2027 FIBA World Cup Jordan Tips Off Round 2 Qualifiers

(MENAFN- Jordan Times) AMMAN – Jordan faces hosts the Philippines in Manila on Friday as Round 2 Asian qualifiers for the 2027 FIBA World Cuptip off with teams contesting 8 Asian slots set for the continent.

The Kingdom will play Australia on Sunday in the challenging Group E which includes New Zealand, Iran and Syria while Group F includes Lebanon, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and China.

Jordan had relatively easy matches in Round 1 finishing second after Iran in Group C with Syria third and Iraq failingto advance. The top three teams from each of the four groupsmoved to Round 2 where they were pooled into two groups of six: teams from Groups A and Group C converged to form Group E, while teams from Groups B and D formed Group F.Now, each team will play home-and-away against the three coming from the other group over three windows (August and November 2026, and February 2027) with two games per team being played in each window.

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

The seven best ranked Asian teams from this round, as well asQatar qualify automatically as host. If Qatar is not ranked among the top four in their group the fourth place teams from groups 'E' and 'F' will be ranked against each other to decidethe final qualifier.

At the 31st FIBA Asia Cup 2025, Jordan's squad failed to keep up the nation's impressive record finishing 11th among 16 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 and4th in 2022.

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

As the competition enters its more challenging stages, fans and observers are concerned the lineup is not in its best form afterjust wrapping up participation at the 45th William Jones Cup in Taiwan where they finished 6th in the competition they won the in 2007 and 2008.

After most of the federation members submitting their resignations and a temporary committee named earlier this month to run the affairs of the game, the squad regrouped lateand former national team star and coach Wisam Sous was recalled to oversee the team in Round 1 matches. Now, Spaniard Luis Guil Torres was contracted in the week preceding the William Jones competition with hopes of taking Jordan to their third consecutive and fourth overall World Cup after first qualifying in 2010. The coach did not have time to assess or revamp the team as observers hoped younger additions who had powered Jordan into their second U19World Cup since 1995 would be a key turning point for a future competitive team, replacing the now ageing lineupwhich is led by pro Jalen Harris and Abdullah Olajuwoncombining with veteran Ahmad Duweiri, Ahmad Hamarsheh, Amin Abu Hawas and Freddie Ibrahim.

With Jordan previously at the forefront of Asian teams, the coach and team have the challenge of attaining advanced positions in the upcoming tournaments. Apart from qualifying to the World Cup three times, the squad was the first Arab team to win the William Jones Cup in 2007. They later won the 17thArab Basketball Championship for the first time and finishedrunner-up to Egypt at the Pan-Arab Games. At the last Asian Games, Jordan finished third in 2023. For next month's Nagoya Games, Jordan was drawn in Group B alongside Iran, Qatar and Taiwan while Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Indonesiaplay in Group A and China, Philippines, Bahrain and Kazakhstan in Group C.

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