MIES (Switzerland) - It's all about a quick turnaround for Group C and D teams as Window 3 action commences on July 2.
Having already played a set of holdover games on June 29, the eight national teams are primed and ready.
Expect fireworks when the First Round's finale week tips off.
Barring Syria and Iraq in Group C battling for the final qualification spot, all other entrants to the Second Round of the World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers are already confirmed.
From Group C, Jordan and Iran are progressing, while from Group D, it will be Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Meanwhile, India is the first side to be eliminated and will be competing for pride in their two upcoming home games.
Game Day 5 commences with World Cup 2027 hosts Qatar facing India in Ahmedabad. That will soon be followed by a high stakes matchup between Syria and Iraq in Amman. A second win for Syria over Iraq will seal their third position in Group C and eliminate Iraq from the competition.
Thereafter, Iran and Jordan will battle for top honours. Team Melli, in particular, will still be smarting from the 73-60 loss to the Falcons in the second window. But having barely survived Syria on June 29, Iran will start off as clear underdogs against a 4-0 Jordan.
Concluding the day's action will be an electrifying encounter between Group D's top two squads in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Lebanon will be coming in after a 99-56 drubbing of India, and will be itching for a more evenly matched rival.
The last time Lebanon and Saudi Arabia met in Window 2, the Cedars had prevailed 94-64. But Saudi Arabia will be buoyed by their recent impressive 86-80 away victory over Qatar and will be hoping to continue the same form against Cedars, especially since they will now be playing at home in Jeddah.
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India have lost each of their 20 games played in World Cup Qualifiers and held a lead of more than five points in only three of those games; they have conceded 90+ points in each of their last two games, including 99 points against Qatar in the reverse fixture, but have never endured a longer such run.
Alen Hadzibegovic had 25 points against Saudi Arabia on Monday, the joint-second most for a player for Qatar in a World Cup qualification game. He is averaging 15.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in the competition but had his lowest totals in both stats during the reverse fixture against India (4 points, 6 rebounds in 19 minutes).
Syria have only won one of their last seven games in World Cup qualification, but it was against Iraq (78-70, February 2026); they have held a lead of at least 10 points in each of their last two games after failing to lead at any point in their previous four games in the competition.
Syria and Iraq are the only two teams in the Asian Qualifiers to have never made at least 10 3-pointers in a game in World Cup qualification. Syria have the lowest 3P% in the region (24%) while Iraq have the 4th lowest (26%).
Jordan are one of the two teams in the Asian Qualifiers, alongside New Zealand, to have grabbed 45+ rebounds in each of their four games in the World Cup 2027 Qualifiers. On the other side, Iran have grabbed fewer than 40 rebounds in seven of their last eight games in the Qualifiers.
Saif Al-Deen Saleh (20 points, 11 rebounds versus Iraq) became on Monday the first Jordan player to combine 20+ points and 10+ rebounds during his first appearance in the World Cup Qualifiers.
Saudi Arabia have won four of their last five games in the World Cup Qualifiers after winning only one of their previous six; their only defeat in this campaign came against Lebanon however (64-94 in February 2026).
Lebanon have made 25+ assists in each of their last two games, as often as in their previous 26 games in the World Cup Qualifiers; they made 29 assists against Saudi Arabia last February, their best total in the competition.
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