MIES (Switzerland) - It is now time to meet the six teams in this FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 Spain with the dream of becoming Olympic champions this summer.

Here is the number 28 team in the FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike, the four-time FIBA AsiaCup runners-up Lebanon. The Asians have never played in the Olympics.

How they qualified

Lebanon were competing at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 after missing the previous two FIBA flagship events. In their first game in Group H in Indonesia, Lebanon were beaten 109-70 by Latvia. They suffered an even bigger loss in the second game, falling 128-73 against Canada. The Asians made their compatriots proud in the final group game, giving France a real fight before losing 85-79.

That gave Lebanon more confidence for the 17-32 Classification and they started the Group P with a 94-84 victory over Côte d'Ivoire. Lebanon then grabbed some bragging rights in Asia as they finished the tournament with an 81-73 win over continental rivals Iran.

Lebanon eventually finished in 23rd place at the World Cup. That qualified them for the OQTs as one of the best 16 remaining teams that did not advance directly to the Summer Olympics and were not the highest-ranked team from each Africa, Americas and Asia and Oceania.

Record at the Olympics

Lebanon got a taste of success with two wins at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023

Appearances: 0
Medals: 0

Recent OQT history*

* Since 2008

Lebanon will be playing only their second OQT after they did not qualify for the extra tournaments in 2012, 2016 and 2020.

In their sole OQT appearance in Athens in 2008, Lebanon lost both games against Greece (119-62) and Brazil (94-54). 

Last Olympics appearance

Lebanon have featured in several World Cups, but have yet to make their Olympics debut

Lebanon have never played at the Olympics and would be making their debut in Paris. The Asian side has participated in four World Cups - 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2023. 

The OQT Group Phase

Lebanon will not have an easy time in Group A of the OQT Spain. The strong showing against France in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 might give them some much-needed confidence as they start the campaign against hosts Spain. Lebanon will then take on Angola. 

The two top finishers in each group will move onto the Semi-Finals and should Lebanon advance they will face one of Bahamas, Finland or Poland. The two Semi-Finals winners will then square off for the ticket to the 2024 Olympics.

Lebanon OQT games

vs Spain (July 2)
vs Angola (July 4)

Players to watch

Lebanon's go-to guy remains point guard Wael Arakji, who was second on the team in scoring at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 and tops in assists. The 29-year-old not only can score whenever his team needs a basket but he does a great job setting up his teammates.

Yousef Khayat

Lebanon fans will anxiously be waiting to see if Yousef Khayat shows up. The 21-year-old star small forward is playing college basketball in the USA and has not played for Lebanon since the FIBA Asia Cup 2022. Him playing in Spain would be a major boost for Lebanon's chances.

Sergio El Darwich

Arakji has a solid core around him including shooters Sergio El Darwich and Karim Zeinoun and power forwards Hayk Gyokchyan and Ali Haidar. Omari Spellman was Lebanon's main big man last summer at the World Cup but Norvel Pelle filled that role at the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers. There are also Amir Saoud, Gerard Hadidan and Ali Mansour.

Norvel Pelle at the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers

Don't be surprised if the Lebanese bring a youngster or two to learn from the experience with the top two choices being 20-year-old Europe-based forward Karim Rtail  2004 and 19-year-old center Jean Makhlouf.

Qualified Team Focus series

During coming weeks and months, we will continue to check out all teams ready to step out as part of our Qualified Team Focus series. You can already take a look at Spain, Poland and Finland.

FIBA