TEHRAN - Iran lost to China 86-74 but qualified for the 2023 FIBA World Cup thanks to Kazakhstan’s 98-53 loss against Australia.

Iran’s Behnam Yakhchali scored 28 points and leading scorer for China was Qian Wu, scoring 18 points.

Kazakhstan's defeat confirmed that they would not end up having a better record in Group F than Iran, clinching Iran a trip to the World Cup.

This will be Iran’s fourth consecutive appearance at the World Cup in as many total appearances in FIBA’s flagship men’s competition.

 In the last World Cup, Iran were the highest-placed team from Asia at 23rd place. Their best performance was at World Cup 2010 in Turkey where they finished 19th among all teams.

All qualification spots available from the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers are now claimed with Iran joining the co-hosts the Philippines and Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand, Australia, China, and Jordan at the World Cup later this year in Manila, Okinawa, and Jakarta.