GILAS Pilipinas enters the coming international window with a sense of urgency knowing the result of the next two games at home will be crucial to their chances of advancing to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027.
The Nationals play at home at the Mall of Asia Arena with matches against Jordan on August 28 and Iran on August 30 to begin the second round of the qualifiers. After this current window, Gilas will play two more games each in the November 2026 (Syria, Jordan) and February 2027 (Jordan, Iran) windows, respectively.
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How important are those games to Gilas Pilipinas? Here is a rundown.
Where Gilas stands
The Philippines carries over a 2-4 win-loss record from Group A after the first round of the Asian qualifiers. Gilas has now moved to Group E for the second round with Jordan, Iran, and Syria - teams which advanced from Group C - joining them. Counting Group A top finisher Australia and runner-up New Zealand, the Philippines is at fifth place in Group E.
GROUP E |
WINS |
LOSSES |
|
AUSTRALIA |
6 |
0 |
How to qualify
The top three teams in each of the group, the best fourth placer, and host Qatar will clinch spots in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027. Since Qatar is in Group F, the best fourth placer will be picked from Group E.
With Gilas at fifth place, the two games against Jordan and Iran will be important in their bid to at least claim the distinction as the best fourth-placed squad.
Both Jordan and Iran have the inside track on the World Cup spots as they are currently in second position in the group with 5-1 win-loss slates.
Games of other teams
Gilas also needs to monitor the results of the games of New Zealand, which currently stands at fourth place in Group E. The Tall Blacks face Iran on August 28 and Syria on August 30, both of the games at the MOA Arena.
Even the games of Syria should also be crucial to Gilas even though the former is at the bottom of Group E at 2-4, although the Syrians faced a tougher foe in Australia on August 28, also at the MOA Arena, aside from the New Zealand outing on August 30.
Scenarios
Needless to say, the best scenario for Gilas is a sweep of its next two games in the August window to reach the four-win mark, which will put them within striking distance of Jordan, Iran, and New Zealand, which could end up with at least five wins at the end of the window.
One out of two isn’t bad for Gilas either, although they need to cover a lot of ground in the next two FIBA windows.
Two defeats by Gilas in this window will not eliminate them from the World Cup. But in the event that it happens, Gilas will stay at two victories in the standings, making the next four games of Gilas Pilipinas must-wins already especially if Iran, Jordan, and New Zealand all breach the six-win mark after this August window.
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