JORDAN BEAT SYRIA IN FIBA WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS OPENER

Jordan beat neighbouring Syria 74-59 to successfully launch their qualifying campaign for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup (Qatar).
Played at Prince Hamzah Hall in Al-Hussein Youth City, the win secured Jordan’s first points in Group C, which also includes Iran and Iraq.
The two teams will meet again on Sunday, with the rematch also taking place at Prince Hamzah Hall.
The Asian Qualifiers feature 16 national teams, divided into four groups of four teams each. The competition follows a two-phase round-robin format (home and away). The top three teams from each group will advance to the second round, except for Qatar’s group.
Since Qatar is already qualified as the World Cup host, only two teams from its group will move forward. In the second round, the 12 qualified teams will be split into two groups of six. All first-round results carry over, and each team will face the three teams from its new group that it has not yet played, again in home-and-away format.
The top three teams from each second-round group - along with the best fourth-place team - will qualify for the World Cup, joining host nation Qatar.