MIES (Switzerland) - Middle Eastern teams Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan and Qatar closed out the opening window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers with impressive victories over India, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, respectively.
Daily highs
Efficiency: Jalen Cole Harris (JOR) - +40 Points: Jalen Cole Harris (JOR) - 42 Rebounds: Alen Hadzibegovic (QAT) - 12 Assists: Seyed Mahdi Jafari (IRI) - 9 Steals: Pranav Prince (IND) - 4 Blocks: Mohammad Alsuwailem (KSA) - 4
Alsuwailem is the Sultan of swat in big win
In a virtual repeat of their opening leg game, Saudi Arabia and India reiterated their respective strengths and weaknesses. Saudi Arabia ended up winning the game 81-57.
Saudi center Mohammad Alsuwailem, in particular, was a beast in the paint, denying India any easy shots at the rim. He had already collected 4 blocks in the first half alone.
Saudi Arabia, as a team, threatened to match the World Cup Qualifiers record for blocks, swatting away 7 shots at halftime, before cooling down with a comfortable lead.
On the other end, Asia Cup 2025 top scorer Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman continued handling business, firing 24 points to go along with 3 assists.
India's shooting struggles continued for the second straight game at 29.0 percent from the field. Shooting guard Kanwar Sandhu was the sole bright spot, and only one to score in double digits, finishing with 19 points, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Saudi Arabia are off to a great start in this Qualifiers cycle, as it is the first time Saudi Arabia has gone 2-0 inside a single window of the World Cup Qualifiers.
Iran survive fighting Alibraheemi-less Iraq
After their record shooting spree in the opening game, Iran may have imagined another lopsided encounter against Iraq. They did end up making a lot of threes again (13 three-pointers made) but Iraq coach Mazen Trakh's men had entirely different ideas. Matching Iran shot for shot, Iraq showed tremendous fighting spirit in the first half, before losing 86-71.
While a typically balanced Iran had multiple scorers stepping up, in this second go-around, Iraq too found heroes beyond point guard Ramon Galloway.
Late in the first quarter, Iraq nosed ahead, 19-18, thanks to an Abdullah Alibraheemi breakaway dunk, and it looked like we had a close one on our hands.
But seconds later, on yet another transition play, Alibraheemi suffered an injury and would not return.
Iraq continued battling on through Galloway and center Ihab Al-Zuhairi, even leading momentarily midway through the second quarter. Post half-time, though, Team Melli began breaking the game open, leading 61-50 going into the final frame.
Iran took the chance to rest Asia Cup 2025 All-Star Five point guard Sina Vahedi for this game. The fourth quarter would see another young Iranian rising star in 23-year-old Piter Girgoorian stepping up, finishing with a game-high 21 points.
Another rising youngster, Seyed Mahdi Jafari also had an impressive game for Iran with 9 points and 9 assists.
Jalen led Falcons soar past Syria
If you thought Jordan already peaked in the initial 74-59 win over Syria, the rematch 72 hours later proved to be an even bigger beatdown. Led by ex-Toronto Raptors guard Jalen Harris's 42 points - Jordan opened with a peerless 15-0 run.
It would be nearly 7 minutes before Syria would finally get on the scoreboard, courtesy of Stanley Davis Jr's jumpshot.
But with Harris nearly outscoring the entire Syrian squad all by himself in the first half - he had 20 points at the break against Syria's 22, there was no coming back from this abyss for Coach Joseph Stiebing's crew. The frustration would soon show with Coach Stiebing being excluded from the game in the third quarter, after receiving two technical fouls.
In case you are wondering, Harris's 42 points included 8 triples, shooting at a 50 percent clip, to end with an overall whopping +40 efficiency.
All in all, it was the perfect way to celebrate veteran small forward Ahmed Alhamarsheh's 100th FIBA game.
Goodwin's Qatar breach Beirut in epic upset
The World Cup 2027 hosts showed they aren't just participating in the Qualifiers as a formality. After pushing Lebanon to the brink earlier this week, Qatar travelled to Lebanon with a historic upset on their minds. Led by fearless point guard Brandon Goodwin, the merry band of brothers displayed nerves of steel to silence the sizeable Cedars supporters inside the Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex.
The 86-83 win was their first over Lebanon in over a decade, in the process also consigning the latter to their maiden home loss in the World Cup Qualifiers.
Results
Group C Iraq 71-86 Iran Syria 48-100 Jordan
Group D India 57-81 Saudi Arabia Lebanon 83-86 Qatar
FIBA