Australia, New Zealand, China, and Japan have qualified for the Asia in the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2026 in Turkey.
The four booked their berths after advancing to the U16 Asia Cup semi-finals in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Australia, the reigning three-time champions booked the first ticket following a 98-70 win over Korea to open the final eight clash.
The Junior Tall Blacks followed suit after downing Iran, 92-69, with China securing the third spot with an 84-69 rout of Bahrain.
Japanese booked their semi-final slot and a place in the World Cup after beating Chinese Taipei, 83-72.
All four have previously played in the U17 World Cup, with Australia and New Zealand bound for yet another stint as they have both been a fixture in the biennial global competition since its inception in 2010.
China, on the other hand, are making their seventh appearance while Japan are headed to their second campaign in a row, and their third overall.
For now, the four are focusing on the U16 Asia Cup Semi-Finals later today.
New Zealand and China will play against each , in a rematch at the same stage in 2023. It will also be a tiebreaker of sorts as both teams have split their first two meetings in the past.
Australia will then take on Japan with much of the attention drawn on the latter as they are shooting for an unprecedented ‘four-peat.’
