Chinese Taipei vs Iran – Preview & Prediction (Sep. 12, 2026)

Despite missing a couple of key pieces, Chinese Taipei were excellent in their opening game and managed to stun one of the favourites for the medals, Jordan. Jordan paraded two high-quality imports in that game and had their strongest domestic cast, but Taipei managed to extend their lead to double-digits and held on in the end with a narrow 83:80 victory. This is a huge achievement as Jordan and their team had some memorable and exciting matchups in the past – Jordan are considered the better team, especially with their star-studded roster in this tournament, so with them losing now there is heavy pressure on their shoulders and to make matters worse, they most probably lost their main center Ahmad Al Dwairi to injury. Under head coach Gianluca Tucci, Chinese Taipei are relying on strong defense and the offensive production of currently their three best players: naturalized center Brandon Gilbeck and dangerous shooters Lin Tingqian and Ray Chen. They have more than enough quality to progress from the group and they have made a huge leap towards the knockout stage with their massive upset victory over Jordan. Overall, we think they don´t have enough at disposal to walk away with a medal, but they are definitely a very talented and well-organized team.

After upsetting Jordan, Chinese Taipei are now facing another very tough test against one of the heavyweights of Asian basketball, the always mighty Iranian team. It will be tough for Taipei players, especially against head coach Sotirios Manolopoulos and his gritty defensive style. Iran are slightly better on paper, but since Taiwan won their opener, this is a wide-open game with both teams having chances of winning.

As expected, Iran entered the Asian Games as one of the favourites for the medals including gold. They are without a couple of key names like Mohammed Amini, who played in the NBA Summer League and then led Iran in the previous FIBA World Cup qualifying window, and Sina Vahedi, a star scorer that is now out due to injury for some time. However, they still possess excellent quality on their roster with players like Mohammad Jamshidi, Arsalan Kazemi and Mobin Sheikhi. They have the size, shooting and slashing along with excellent team chemistry and defense, but they lack a bit of athleticism, which they compensate with grit and emotions under their Greek coach Sotirios Manolopoulos, who has transformed them into serious contenders in Asian basketball. They suffered a shocking 59:53 loss in their opener as they were stunned by Qatar. That loss sent shockwaves through Asia as Iran are still better than Qatar even without those players we mentioned. The Iranian side will definitely want to make amends for that shocking loss and they also desperately need to win today because they have only two games remaining in the group.

Another loss today to a very awkward Chinese Taipei side would put Iran in a very difficult position following their faltering against Qatar. Usually, when Iran are under pressure, their main stars step up and win, but today, it will be a very tough task against an unpredictable Taipei team that can always shoot the lights out from the three-point range.