Jordan's national basketball team is looking to secure its spot in the quarterfinals of the "Nagoya 2026" Asian Games, when it faces Iran at 4:00 AM today, Sunday, Amman time, closing out its Group B campaign in a match carrying significant weight for the group standings.
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Jordan enters the match in high spirits, having found its footing again with an important 76-65 win over Qatar yesterday in Round 2, bouncing back from its 80-83 opening-round loss to Chinese Taipei, and renewing its hopes of securing a spot in the next round.
The team is looking to build on the balanced performance it showed against Qatar and seal the win against Iran, which would guarantee direct qualification to the quarterfinals, while results from the group's other matches will still play a role in determining final standings.
Qatar had opened their campaign with a 59-53 win over Iran, before losing to Jordan, while Chinese Taipei beat Jordan in the opening round, keeping competition wide open for the group's two direct qualification spots.
In yesterday's match, naturalized player Peyton Buford led Jordan's scoring with 20 points, followed by Rohi Al-Kilani with 14, while Mohammad Shaher added 12 points and Ahmad Al-Hamarsheh contributed 9.
The win gives Jordan a 2-1 record and puts the team in a strong position to secure either first or second place in the group, guaranteeing direct qualification to the quarterfinals without needing to rely on the best-third-place calculations. Under tournament rules, the top two teams from each group qualify directly, alongside the two best third-place teams across the three groups.
The technical staff, led by Spanish coach Luis Guil Torres, is looking to capitalize on the players' improved morale following the win over Qatar, and continue building on the collective performance that led the team to its first win, hoping to close out the group stage on a positive note and advance toward the knockout rounds.
The match against Iran carries added significance for Jordan, as it represents the last chance to settle its position in the group before moving on to the quarterfinals, with the team looking to repeat its strong showing from the previous edition, where it won silver at the Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China.
A win over Iran would guarantee Jordan direct qualification to the quarterfinals regardless of the result of the Chinese Taipei-Qatar match, while a loss would leave the door open to calculations involving third place and point differentials.
Jordan and Iran met two months ago in Amman during the first round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers, where Iran won by a wide margin, 67-49, making this match a significant opportunity for the players to avenge that loss and punch their ticket to the quarterfinals.
Resource: Al-Ghad. Reporting: Muhannad Jweiles
