Jordan hosts Philippines in basketball’s World Cup 2023 qualifiers

AMMAN — Jordan hosts the Philippines on Thursday in Round 2 Asian qualifiers for the 2023 FIBA World Cup with 12 teams fighting for 6 remaining slots from the continent.

The match, set for 7 pm at Prince Hamza Arena, is a must win for Jordan before it faces New Zealand on November 13 with the qualifiers running up to February 2023. 

Playing in Group E, which also includes Lebanon and Saudi Arabia,Jordan so far beat India 80-64 and lost 100-72 to New Zealand as Round 2 kicked off in August. Group F includes Australia, Kazakhstan, China, Iran, Japan and Bahrain.

Eight nations from Asia and Oceania will join the 32-country FIBA World Cup 2023 field that will take place from August 25 to September 10, 2023. Japan and the Philippines qualify as hosts while third host Indonesia did not make it to the FIBA Asia Cup quarters and failed to qualify.  

The tournament serves as a qualifier for the 2024 Summer Olympics, where the top two teams from each of the Americas and Europe, and the top team from each of Africa, Asia and Oceania, will qualify alongside the tournament›s host France.

In Round 1 of the qualifiers, Jordan finished second after Lebanon in Group C.  In window 3, Jordan lost 89-70 to Lebanon in an under-par performance before they beat Indonesia 77-52. In Window 2, Jordan beat Lebanon 74-63 and Indonesia 94-64 and in Window 1, they beat Saudi 68-61 and lost 72-64.

Jordan is led by coach Wisam Al Sous, a star of the 2010 World Cup qualifying squad. The lineup has jumped back from inconsistent results in Round 1 to a  winning spirit of a team that finished 4th at the FIBA Asia Cup in summer. 

Sous told the media this week that injures continue to be an obstacle and that the team’s preparations were not as he would have wished. However, he added there were “no excuses. The team has to do its job regardless.”