‘Major achievement’: Iranian basketball chief hails World Cup qualifying campaign
Iran Basketball Federation president Javad Davari has praised the national team’s resilience after it topped its group in the first round of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, describing the squad’s three consecutive victories as “a major achievement” amid significant changes to the roster and difficult circumstances in the buildup to the final qualifying window in July.
Iran defeated Syria twice, either side of a revenge victory over Jordan in Amman, to finish atop Group C with a 5-1 record.
“The national team completed this stage despite being deprived of hosting rights because of the regional situation and FIBA’s decisions,” Davari told Mehr News Agency. “In the middle of the campaign, we were also affected by the Ramadan War, which had a significant impact on the team’s progress.”
Davari recalled that Iran held a training camp in Qatar before traveling to Beirut for the second qualifying window in March, where it suffered its only defeat of the campaign against Jordan. He said the circumstances surrounding that game had affected the result, while the escalation of the conflict afterward led to the postponement of Iran’s second fixture of the window against Syria.
Following the end of hostilities, Iran resumed preparations under Greek head coach Sotiris Manolopoulos despite having no opportunity to play warm-up matches.
He described the 72-68 victory over Syria in the rescheduled game in late June as a turning point, saying it helped restore the players’ confidence heading into the decisive double-header.
“Syria has invested heavily in basketball and strengthened its squad with naturalized players,” he said. “Jordan is also an experienced basketball nation with a naturalized player in its lineup and the advantage of hosting us, yet we still beat them. Considering the war, the lack of preparation matches and everything the team went through, the players’ performance was completely satisfactory.”
Davari added that Iran’s recent success was even more impressive because the national team had undergone two separate rebuilding phases.
The first overhaul was part of a planned youth movement aimed at refreshing the squad, while the second came unexpectedly following the departures of experienced players, including Behnam Yakhchali, Mohammad Amini and Sina Vahedi.
“Those departures forced further changes to the squad, but the new group performed very well,” he said.
Iran has been drawn alongside Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Jordan and Syria in second-round Group E, with its opening “home” game against New Zealand scheduled to be played in Pasay after FIBA moved all Group E fixtures in the August window to the Philippine city.
Davari said no decision had yet been made regarding hosting rights for the fifth and sixth qualifying windows and expressed hope that Iran would be allowed to stage those games on home soil.
He confirmed that the national team would reconvene after a short break, with preparations beginning under Iranian assistant coaches before Manolopoulos returns from the FIBA U18 Asia Cup qualifiers, where he is currently overseeing Iran’s junior team. The Greek coach is then expected to take a two-week vacation before rejoining the senior squad.
Davari also stressed the importance of arranging international friendlies ahead of the second round after previous attempts to organize warm-up matches fell through.
“We made serious efforts to secure friendly games before the last three qualifiers, but negotiations with several countries did not produce results,” he said. “This time we will pursue the matter much more strongly because every game in the next stage will be crucial to qualifying for the World Cup.”
The federation chief also revealed that Iran is continuing to identify players of Iranian heritage living abroad following the successful inclusion of Iranian-American Ryan Salehi in the recent qualifiers.
“We are monitoring players with Iranian roots, whether both parents are Iranian or one parent is Iranian,” Davari said. “If they are eligible and willing to represent Iran, they will be introduced to the head coach for technical evaluation. Strengthening the squad remains one of our priorities.”