Iraq notched the biggest upset of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers so far after shocking Iran, 74-66, on November 24 at the Prince Hamza Arena in Amman, Jordan.
According to FIBA website, Iraq’s monumental upset of powerhouse Iran was propped up by the productivity of naturalized player Demario Mayfield. The 1.96m wingman registered 24 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals in a scintillating display of skill as the Lions of Mesopotamia recorded their first win of the Asian Qualifiers.
Hassan Abdullah and Ali Ismael also impressed coach Mustafa Derin, tossing in 15 and 11 points respectively.
Iran and Iraq battled in a nip-and-tuck affair all throughout until the Iraqis used a late fourth quarter run to pull away for the unexpected triumph. Farid Aslani had 16 points to lead Iran, which was missing key players Hamed Haddadi and Behnam Yakhchali.
Iraq’s next assignment is Kazakhstan on November 27 in Astana, while Iran coached by Mehran Hatami, will try to bounce back when they host Qatar at the Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran.
Iran has been seeded in Group D of Asian Qualifiers against Iraq, Qatar and Kazakhstan.
The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup will be hosted in China. Rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, the upcoming edition will be the first FIBA Basketball World Cup since 1967 that will not occur in the same year as the FIFA World Cup, but a year after that.
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