The FIBA Asia Cup (formerly the FIBA Asia Championship and ABC Championship) is an international basketball tournament which takes place every four years between the men's national teams of Asia and Oceania.
Through the 2015 edition, the tournament took place every two years and was also a qualifying tournament for the FIBA World Cup and the Olympic basketball tournament. Since 2017, however, the tournament was renamed the FIBA Asia Cup and now includes teams from FIBA Oceania. Also, it was the first to be played on a new four-year cycle, and is no longer a part of the qualifying process for the World Cup or the Olympics.
History
Beginnings: Philippines/Japan dominance The Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Championship was inaugurated in Manila in 1960. The championship was held to find Asia's best team and for qualification to the World Championship and the Olympics. On the next four tournaments, the Philippines won 3 with the Japanese beating the Filipinos in 1965. Korea, Japan and the Philippines split the next 3 championships until China debuted in 1975 at Bangkok with the championship, where they have dominated for 40 years.
Chinese dominance Right after the Philippines had started sending amateur players when the Philippine Basketball Association was established in 1975 as the first professional basketball league in Asia and therefore not allowed to lend the country's best players, China emerged as the new dominant country in Asian basketball.
From 1975 to 2007, there were only two instances where China did not win the championship. In 1985, the Philippines defeated a full-strength Chinese team, which were by then five-time defending champions, in the championship round. The Chinese then won every game in the championship until 1997, where they lost to South Korea in the semi-finals when they complained about the climate in Riyadh. The Koreans beat the Japanese in the final, but the Chinese would then start a championship streak of four tournaments, led by Yao Ming.
Renaming By 2005, the tournament had been renamed as the FIBA Asia Championship; in that year's tournament in Doha, the Chinese easily won against the Lebanese in the final. During the 2007 championship, the Chinese did not send their "A" team since they had already qualified to the Olympics by virtue of hosting it. In this championship, West Asian teams started to compete with the traditional East Asian powers, as evidenced of an all-West Asian final when Iran defeated Lebanon. In 2009, Iran defeated the Chinese team A in the 2009 final to become only the 3rd team to successfully defend the championship. The 2009 championship started a streak of finals contested between a team from the Middle East and a team from the Far East; in 2011, Iran was eliminated by Jordan in the quarter-finals, which would then lose to hosts China by one point in the final. The 2013 championship would be the first to be hosted outside East Asia since 2005 in the Philippines, the hosts, emerged as finalists; China had been eliminated by Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals, which were then defeated by the Iranians, who then beat the Filipinos in the Final.
Removal of qualification status As FIBA implemented a new cycle and tournament format, the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship held in Manila and the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship held in Changsha were the last Asian Championships to serve as qualification to either the FIBA Basketball World Cup and the Olympic Games, respectively. The 2017 FIBA Asia Championship marked firsts and lasts for the Asian Championship, as it was the first Asian Championship as a standalone tournament, meaning it did not serve as the qualifier for either the Basketball World Cup or the Olympic Games. The 2017 tournament was the last Asian Championships to be ever held under a 2-year cycle. After 2017, the Asian Championships and the FIBA Oceania Championship merged into a tournament to be known as the FIBA Asia Cup. It is held every four years like the EuroBasket, AfroBasket and AmeriCup, which are held two years before and after the FIBA World Cup.
Qualification Qualification is via the different FIBA Asia subzones. The East, Gulf, Southeast and West subzones receive two berths each, while the Central and South zones get one each. The host and the champion from the preceding FIBA Asia Cup also get a berth each. Each subzone conducts a qualification tournament up to a year before the championship to determine the qualifying teams. The other four berths are distributed to the subzones in reference to their performance in the previous year's FIBA Asia Cup, with the subzone receiving an extra berth for each team in the top four excluding the champion and the host.
Tournament format There had been a variety of tournament formats used before. Most were similar to the format of two group stages and a knockout stage. The current format, as first applied in 2017, is a multistage tournament. The 16 teams are grouped in four groups in the preliminary round. The teams play against each other once; the top team will directly advance to the quarter-finals, and the second placed teams will play an elimination game between the third placed team of another group. The four winning teams of the elimination games will advance to the quarter-finals. After the elimination games, the knock-out phase will follow.
The classification games will be conducted as follows: 13–16th place games are for the teams eliminated from the group phase. The 9th to 12th place games are for the losing teams of the elimination games. The 5–8th place games are for the eliminated teams in the quarter-finals.
Summary #YearHostsFinalThird-place gameTeamsChampionsScoreRunners-upThird placeScoreFourth place11960 DetailsManilaNo playoffsNo playoffs721963 DetailsTaipei91–77No playoffs831965 DetailsKuala LumpurNo playoffsNo playoffs1041967 DetailsSeoulNo playoffsNo playoffs1051969 DetailsBangkokNo playoffsNo playoffs961971 DetailsTokyoNo playoffsNo playoffs971973 DetailsManilaNo playoffsNo playoffs1281975 DetailsBangkokNo playoffsNo playoffs1391977 DetailsKuala LumpurNo playoffsNo playoffs14101979 DetailsNagoyaNo playoffsNo playoffs13111981 DetailsKolkataNo playoffsNo playoffs12121983 DetailsHong Kong95–7183–6015131985 DetailsKuala LumpurNo playoffsNo playoffs15141987 DetailsBangkok86–79OT89–7515151989 DetailsBeijing102–7269–5815161991 DetailsKobe104–8863–6018171993 DetailsJakarta93–7286–7018181995 DetailsSeoul87–7869–6319191997 DetailsRiyadh78–7694–6815201999 DetailsFukuoka63–4593–6715212001 DetailsShanghai97–6395–94OT14222003 DetailsHarbin106–9677–6716232005 DetailsDoha77–6189–7716242007 DetailsTokushima74–6980–7616252009 DetailsTianjin70–5280–6616262011 DetailsWuhan70–6970–6816272013 DetailsManila85–7175–5715282015 DetailsChangsha78–6768–6316292017 DetailsZouk Mikael79–5680–7116302022 DetailsJakarta75–7383–7516312025 DetailsJeddah90–8979–7316322029DetailsTBDTBD––
Medal table
Tournament awards Most recent award winners (2025)
YearPlayerPositionTeam2025Sina VahediGuardJaylin GallowayForwardJack McVeighForwardWang JunjieForwardHu Jinqiu Center
Tournament leaders Minimum of five games played (GP).
All-time Highest scoring averages RankPlayerTeamGPPtsPPG Tournaments1 Michael Madanly 11 314 28.5 2007, 20172 Sani Sakakini 8 179 22.4 20153 Zaid Al-Khas 7 156 22.3 20034 Fadi El Khatib 39 860 22.1 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009, 20175 Jamal Abu-Shamala 8 172 21.5 20156 Wael Arakji 10 212 21.2 2017, 20227 Abdullah Alsarraf 14 290 20.7 2003, 20058 Mohamed Abo Sada 7 139 19.9 20039 Satyaseelan Kuppusamy 7 138 19.7 200310 Rasheim Wright 26 504 19.4 2007, 2009, 2011
Cumulative top scorers RankPlayerTeamGPPtsPPG1 39 860 22.12 60 855 14.33 44 615 14.04 36 551 15.35 43 548 12.76 50 523 10.57 26 504 19.48 45 487 10.89 34 472 13.910 41 467 11.4
Per tournament Points YearPlayerTeamGPPtsPPG2007 Michael Madanly 7 232 33.12007Fadi El Khatib821827.32009 Rasheim Wright 9 186 20.72011 Marcus Douthit 9 197 21.92013 Hamed Haddadi 9 169 18.82017 Fadi El Khatib 7 181 25.92015 Sani Sakakini 8 179 22.4
Rebounds YearPlayerTeamGPRebRPG2007 Wissam Yakoub 7 74 10.62009 Hamed Haddadi 9 118 13.12011 Marcus Douthit 9 110 12.22013 Hamed Haddadi 9 90 10.02015 Sani Sakakini 8 101 12.62017 Hamed Haddadi 6 65 10.8
Assists YearPlayerTeamGPAstAPG2007 Sambhaji Kadam 7 28 4.02009 Samad Nikkhah Bahrami 9 43 4.82011 Mario Wuysang 5 32 6.42013 Mehdi Kamrani 9 59 6.62015 Imad Qahwash 8 48 6.02017 Hamed Haddadi 6 39 6.5
Participating nations 20th century Nation 1960 1963 1965 1967 1969 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 12th 12th 13th 15th 10th 12th 13th 15th 18th 15th 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 3rd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 3rd 1st2nd 2nd 5th 5th 4th 4th 3rd 6th 5th 3rd 4th 5th 4th 6th 4th5th 6th 8th 9th 9th 9th 11th 9th 10th 11th 10th 7th 13th 14th 13th 11th 13th 15th 14th 13th 7th 6th 5th 6th 6th 4th 7th 5th 5th 6th 10th 6th 6th 13th 13th 11th 6th 4th 8th 10th 13th 12th 11th 12th 14th 14th 12th 18th 12th 5th 8th 5th 8th 5th 6th 4th 10th 8th 6th 8th 9th 3rd 1st 3rd 2nd 1st 4th 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 5th 3rd 4th 3rd 7th 3rd 2nd 5th 8th 9th 10th 8th 9th 17th 7th 5th 13th 12th 4th 12th 10th 11th 6th 8th 7th 15th 15th 7th 5th 6th 8th 7th 5th 9th 8th 4th 7th 6th 11th 4th 7th 9th 17th 14th 14th 15th 5th 2nd 8th 12th 11th 9th 6th 9th 13th 14th 10th 17th 1st1st 2nd 1st 3rd 2nd 1st 5th 5th 4th 4th 9th 1st 4th 8th 7th 11th 12th 9th 11th 16th 7th 9th 6th 6th 4th 3rd 7th 9th 10th 8th 10th 7th 11th 10th 11th 14th 12th 11th 11th 10th 16th 4th 3rd 3rd 2nd 1st 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 3rd 2nd 1st 2nd 13th 14th 12th 15th 18th 19th 8th 4th 4th 7th 6th 7th 7th 6th 8th 9th 7th 10th 7th 8th 12th 15th 16th 14th 8th 9th 5th 10th 7th 9th 8th 10th Total7 8 10 10 9 9 12 13 14 13 12 15 15 15 15 18 18 19 15 15
21st century Nation 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2022 2025 TBD2029 Years 1st 1st 1st 3 15th 12th 13th 9 41st 1st 1st 10th 2nd 1st 5th 1st 5th 8th 2nd 24 7th 11th 9th 6th 5th 8th 4th 13th 12th 10th 5th 26 12th 1 11th 13th 15th 13th 10th 12th 15th 27 8th 8th 12th 15th 13th 14th 11th 8th 14th 16th 15th 27 14th 12th 15th 13th 11th 18 5th 6th 1st 1st 5th 1st 3rd 2nd 5th 3rd 19 11th 14th 5 6th 6th 5th 8th 10th 7th 9th 4th 9th 7th 9th 30 10th 7th 5th 3rd 2nd 7th 9th 8th 4th 11th 17 7th 10th 4th 9th 8th 11th 16th 15th 10 12th 12th 13th 14th 11th 14th 12 12nd 4th 2nd 2nd 4th 6th 5th 6th 2nd 8th 11 2 16th 16th 11th 15th 16th 24 4th 3rd 4th 3 2 10 10th 1 15th 9th 8th 4th 2nd 2nd 7th 9th 7th 29 5th 3rd 3rd 7th 6th 16th 6th 7th 13th 13th 11 8th 13th 14th 10th 10 14th 15th 173rd 2nd 4th 3rd 7th 3rd 3rd 6th 3rd 6th 6th 31 16th 7 4th 9th 11th 9th 10th 12th 16th 8 13th 14th 19 10th 16th 12th 10th 8 9th 14th 11th 14th 12th 7 2Total 14 16 16 16 16 16 15 16 16 16 16 16
Debut of teams A total of 34 national teams have appeared in at least one FIBA Asia Cup in the history of the tournament through the 2025 competition. Countries competing in their first Asia Cup are listed below by year.
YearDebutantsNumber1960 , , , , , , 71963 , 101965 111967 None 111969 121971 None 121973 131975 , , 161977 , 181979 191981 None 191983 , 211985 None 211987 None 211989 221991 , 241993 251995 , , 281997 None 281999 , 302001 None 302003 None 302005 None 302007 None 302009 None 302011 None 302013 None 302015 312017 , 332022 None 332025 342029 TBD 34Total 34
General statistics All-time statistics, as of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.
Team Won Lost Pct. 18 18 0 62 20 42 25 0 25 185 168 17 197 118 79 194 53 141 181 71 110 120 33 87 140 95 45 32 14 18 225 148 77 123 64 59 67 28 39 84 29 55 8 3 5 84 51 33 12 0 12 175 59 116 19 12 7 14 10 4 73 21 52 8 4 4 220 143 77 75 36 39 64 31 33 127 36 91 245 188 57 46 0 46 46 17 29 145 57 88 56 22 34 45 17 28 17 1 16
Notes
See also Basketball at the Summer Olympics Basketball at the Asian Games FIBA Basketball World Cup FIBA Asia Challenge FIBA Asia Under-20 Championship FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship