FIBA Asia Cup 2025:
Iran to face Japan, Syria, Guam in group phase
The Iranian national basketball team was drawn against Japan, Syria, and Guam in Group B of the FIBA Asia Cup, starting August 5 in Saudi Arabia.
The draw for the flagship continental event took place in Jeddah on Tuesday, where 16 teams were split into four groups.
Iran will begin its quest for a fourth Asian title with a game against Guam on the opening day of the competition in Jeddah, before taking on Japan on Aug. 7 – in a repeat of a group encounter between the two teams in the 2022 edition, which Iran won 88-76.
The final round of the group fixtures will see Greak head coach Sotirios Manolopoulos’s men play Syria on Aug. 9.
A 5-1 record saw Iran win Group E of the qualifiers – thanks to back-to-back wins over India and Kazakhstan in the final window in February.
Team Melli’s lone defeat came against Qatar, and former Iran coach Hakan Demir, last November.
Elsewhere in the draw, two-time reigning champion Australia was placed in Group A, alongside Qatar, South Korea, and Lebanon, which was beaten by the Aussies in the 2022 final.
Saudi Arabia, 16-time champion China, Jordan, and India are in Group C, with the Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, Iraq, and the Philippines in Group D.
The four group winners in Jeddah will progress to the last eight, with second and third teams in each group playing in a qualification round for to quarterfinals.