Star point guard Wael Arakji led his country Lebanon to a deserved win against Iran, 81-73, in their final Classification Round matchup at the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Star point guard Wael Arakji led his country Lebanon to a deserved win against Iran, 81-73, in their final Classification Round matchup at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
After three defeats in the group stage against Latvia, Canada, and France, the Cedars defeated the Ivory Coast on Thursday and Iran on Saturday to keep their Olympic dream alive.
A regular standout performer for club and country, Arakji scored 21 points through an impressive shooting accuracy (6-of-9 field goals and 8-of-9 free throws), and added 7 assists and 3 rebounds, proving his value as the Asian MVP.
This marked a historical achievement for the Cedars as they have secured back-to-back wins in a World Cup for the first time in four participations.
Unfortunately, despite these two Classification Round victories against Cote d’Ivoire and Iran, Lebanon failed to book a direct spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics trailing behind the hosts Japan who punched the qualification ticket after defeating Cape Verde on Sunday with the score of 80-71.
