MIES (Switzerland) - Already in the spotlight as hosts of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027, Qatar are also proving themselves through sheer on-court merit.
After threatening to upset the much higher-ranked Lebanon twice this year - at the Asia Cup 2025 and in the first game of the recent Window q, the third time proved the charm.
On November 30, 2025, playing in front of a packed away crowd in Zouk Mikael, Qatar held their nerve to pull off a historic 86-83 victory.
For a team ranked 83rd in the world prior to tip-off, the win over a Cedars side placed 53 spots higher has now meant another +5 jump in the latest standings.
This represented the highest rise among all Asian teams.
But Qatar's upward arc began much earlier.
In February 2024, Qatar were 103rd on the global charts. Within Asia, they were at 21, well below their highs of 2013-15 when they were among the top 7 continental sides.
Perhaps being the hosts of the prestigious World Cup next yer was the perfect motivation to begin their long climb back among Asia's best.
As per the latest FIBA World Rankings Presented by NIKE - Men, Qatar are now 78th in the world, and 16th in Asia.
A massive +25 leap from their position in early 2024.
Date | FIBA World Ranking Presented by Nike - Men |
|---|---|
Dec 2, 2025 | 78 |
Sep 15, 2025 | 83 |
Feb 25, 2025 | 87 |
Nov 26, 2024 | 92 |
Aug 10, 2024 | 101 |
Feb 27, 2024 | 103 |
"When we came last year, we are maybe more than 110 [sic] something [in World Rankings]," Qatar Assistant Coach Cengiz Karadag said.
"Right now everybody [is] talk[ing] in Asia, in Europe [about] Qatar national team because... we got really good results [and play] good basketball,"
"I think [from] my eye, our team is [the] most tough team on the defensive side [in] Asia," Coach Karadag said after the Lebanon win.
Qatar are already assured of a berth in the 2027 showpiece, by virtue of being the hosts. This makes their hunger in the ongoing Qualifiers even more commendable.
For Qatar basketball, it's all about the here and now.
"We are not looking [at the fact that] we have already qualified. We are working [on] these games to win. We want to improve as a team. We want to improve as Qatar basketball. Our aim is different than qualification. Our aim is to make Qatar basketball on the top level [in] Asia," Qatar head coach Hakan Demir said.
"As Qatar, we are improving, and to go further we need some wins because for our program, we need energy. For this energy, of course, we are coming here [to these Qualifiers],"
Now that the second window of the Asian Qualifiers are about to tip off in a few days, 'Asia's toughest team' will resume their quest for that 'winning feeling'.
This window, they'll be tested at home in Doha at the Lusail Arena for both games: On February 27 against India and on March 2 against Saudi Arabia, both games at 10:00 PM (local time).
Can they keep it going and continue to rise?
FIBA