ULAANBAATAR (Mongolia) - Australia, New Zealand, China, and Japan will represent Asia in the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2026 in Turkey.
The four proud programs accomplished as much after advancing to the FIBA U16 Asia Cup Semi-Finals by taking care of their own businesses in the Quarter-Finals on Friday at the MBank Arena.
Also the continental tilt's reigning three-time champions, the Crocs booked the first ticket following a 98-70 win over Korea to open the final eight.
The Junior Tall Blacks followed suit after downing Iran, 92-69, with Team China securing the third spot with an 84-69 rout of Bahrain.
Finalizing the envoy were the Japanese after beating Chinese Taipei, 83-72.
All four have previously played in the U17 World Cup, with Australia and New Zealand bound for yet another stint as they have both been a fixture in the biennial global competition since its inception in 2010.
China, on the other hand, are making their seventh appearance while Japan are headed to their second campaign in a row, and their third overall.
For now, the four are focusing on the U16 Asia Cup Semi-Finals on Saturday, September 6, at the MBank Arena.
New Zealand and China will open the said stage at 16:30 local time in a rematch of the 2023 Semi-Finals - and also in a tiebreaker of sorts as both teams have split their first two meetings in the past.
Australia will then take on Japan at 19:00, with much of the attention drawn on the latter as they are shooting for an unprecedented 'four-peat.'
A pair of Classification games will also be held prior to the Semi-Finals. Iran and Bahrain will face one another at 11:30, followed by a tussle between Korea and Chinese Taipei at 14:00 local time.
FIBA