Qatar was drawn with Iraq, Kazakhstan and Iran in Group D of Asian Qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. The draw ceremony, which took place in Guangzhou, China, saw separate draws for Africa, Americas, Asia and Europe.
Out of the 16 Asian teams, eight teams, including hosts China, will make it to what will be the first ever 32-team World Cup. As many as 80 teams will face off in the qualifiers for 32 places at the showpiece event in 2019.
The extravagant Road to China 2019 event was attended by the who’s who of world basketball including FIBA president Horacio Muratore, FIBA secretary general and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Patrick Baumann, and Chinese Basketball Association president Yao Ming.
Also present were members of FIBA’s Central Board and national federation representatives of the teams participating in the qualifiers, which included Qatar Basketball Federation president Ahmed al-Muftah and secretary general Ali al-Malki. “It is great to be here in China, meeting and greeting FIBA officials and other world basketball federation members. We look forward to November and the action getting underway for the World Cup,” al-Muftah said.
“Qatar also welcomes FIBA’s changes to the competition system, which will see Qatar play more international matches at home.”
For his part, al-Malki said, “It’s been a very busy and exciting week in Guangzhou leading up to the draw ceremony. The draw was open, transparent and extremely fair. FIBA and the Chinese federation have been very accommodating and welcoming, and we must thank them for their hospitality.”
Speaking about the draw, al-Malki said, “We have a tough group in Iran, Iraq and Kazakhstan but we are very hopeful to qualify for the next round and to be among the 32 teams that will participate at the World Cup in China.”
The qualifiers will start in November this year. All the teams will play home and away games across six qualifying windows spanning over a 15-month period leading to the World Cup.

Asian Qualifiers
Group A: China, New Zealand, Korea, Hong Kong
Group B: Japan, Chinese Taipei, Australia, Philippines
Group C: Syria, Lebanon, India, Jordan
Group D: Iraq, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Iran