Preview: Syria home game against Lebanon demands your attention
BEIRUT (Lebanon) - The second day of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers shifts to the action in Groups D, E, and F.
BEIRUT (Lebanon) - The second day of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers shifts to the action in Groups D, E, and F.
Expect the level of energy to remain at a high as we continue to the first games of these teams.
Here's how each of the Groups looks like.
Group D
| GAMES | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Iraq | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Jordan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Palestine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Group E
| GAMES | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Iran | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Kazakhstan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | India | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Qatar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Group F
| GAMES | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Bahrain | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Syria | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Lebanon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | UAE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
23 February 2023
Iran vs Qatar - 17:00 (GMT +3.5) - Tehran, IRI
Kazakhstan vs India - 20:00 (GMT +6) - Astana, KAZ
Iraq vs Saudi Arabia - 18:00 (GMT +3) - Baghdad, IRQ
Syria vs Lebanon - 18:00 (GMT+3) - Damascus, SYR
Bahrain vs UAE - 19:00 (GMT +3) - Manama, BRN
Jordan vs Palestine - 20:00 (GMT +3) - Amman, JOR
Yeah, the Asia Cup Qualifiers are not going to give you too much of a break after the action in Groups A, B, and C. There will be some competitive games to follow from start to finish, some of which have the potential to be games where teams look back and think of as the game that clinched them a spot in the Asia Cup.
Highlighted in the day by one big-time clash which we'll discuss this game a few paragraphs later.
26 February 2023
India vs Iran - 18:00 (GMT +5.5) - New Dehli, IND
UAE vs Syria - 19:00 (GMT +4) - Dubai, UAE
Qatar vs Kazakhstan - 19:00 (GMT +3) - Doha, QAT
Saudi Arabia vs Jordan - 19:30 (GMT +3) - Jeddah, KSA
Palestine vs Iraq - 20:00 (GMT +3) - Amman, JOR
Lebanon vs Bahrain - 21:00 (GMT +2) - Zouk Mikael, LBN
There are some potential upset alerts mixed in this day of action. One of the bigger games is the one between Saudi Arabia and Jordan, considering they've played against each other in three relatively close games in recent years.
Yeah, don't miss that game.
Game to Watch
Syria hosting Lebanon at the Al Fayhaa Stadium in their opening game is expected to be something else. Lebanon are the favorite on paper, but Syria are one home team that no one wants to face. In any case, just being able to watch the Syrian fans in full effect for this game is already worth it.
Player(s) to Watch
From Asia Cup MVP Wael Arakji (LBN) to World Cup fan favorite Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (JOR) to FIBA OPQT/WASL star Mosti Rashed (BRN) to Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers breakout star Jamal Mayali (PLE), it's tough to choose which player you should focus on watching the most.
So, you know what? Just focus on watching all of them.
Returning Star(s)
It's not like these standouts have gone anywhere and we see them in action from time to time across other competitions. Still, we love to see them back on the Asia Cup Qualifiers setting.
Norvel Pelle hasn't played for Lebanon since Asia Cup 2017, but recently he's been anchoring Iranian club Gorgan in WASL - West Asia and is now back to protecting the paint for the Tall Cedars.
Welcome back!
Debut(s) to Watch
Some heavy hitters are potentially in line to make their first national team appearances.
Syria have a huge game scheduled to tip-off the Qualifiers as mentioned above, so they want as much firepower as they can get. They are hoping Javion Blake is the solution.
Meanwhile, Palestine know that they are capable of making it out of Group D, especially if Calvin Godfrey fits right in with the team once he makes his first FIBA appearance.
Promising Prospects
It's Mohammad Amini's turn to steal the spotlight as a youngster to watch in the Asia Cup Qualifiers, but he's far from the only one in Groups D, E, and F. Iran's World Cup leading scorer is also joined by fellow U18 Asia Cup 2022 standouts Karim Rtail (LBN), Hamad Mousa (QAT), Mohammed Hashim Abbasher (QAT), and Mohamed Ndao (QAT) who could be playing in the first gameday of the window for their teams.
Fun times.
World Ranking
| WORLD RANK |
COUNTRY | CURRENT POINTS | +/- RANK * |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27. | Iran | 427.8 | -4 |
| 28. | Lebanon | 423.3 | +16 |
| 32. | Jordan | 374.6 | +1 |
| 66. | Saudi Arabia | 160.6 | +2 |
| 68. | Kazakhstan | 153.1 | -3 |
| 69. | Bahrain | 150.0 | +15 |
| 71. | Syria | 130.5 | +1 |
| 81. | India | 118.1 | +1 |
| 90. | Iraq | 102.0 | +1 |
| 97. | Palestine | 91.2 | -5 |
| 103. | UAE | 83.5 | +3 |
| 104. | Qatar | 82.0 | -15 |
FIBA