Basketball: Nigeria’s D’Tigers to face Tunisia in 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup African qualifiers opener
D’Tigers “locked and loaded” for first window of World Cup Qualifiers
The Nigerian national basketball team have touched down in Rades and are putting the final touches on their preparation for their opening match of the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup African qualifiers against host nation Tunisia.
D’Tigers will be competing in Group C in the African region, along with Tunisia, Rwanda and Guinea. Africa has four qualifying groups comprising four teams each, and by the end of the qualifiers, five nations will represent the continent at the tournament proper.
Nigeria’s head coach, Abdulrahman Mohammed, has taken a 12-man squad with him to Tunisia this month, with his team scheduled to play their opener on November 27, their second match on November 29 (Guinea), and their final game on November 30 (Rwanda).
Leading D’Tigers into these qualifiers is former Afrobasket captain Ike Nwamu, and he is joined by three other big-name players in former Afrobasket champion Stanley Okoye, Mike Nuga and Simon Ugochukwu. Don’t forget to check out our basketball predictions ahead of tip-off.
The roster for Nigeria features three locally based players as well, including Chinkpa Garba (Lagos Legends), Christopher Obekpa (Lagos Legends) and Paul Dibal (Gboko City Chiefs).
The Nigeria Basketball Federation said that the team is “locked and loaded” for this opening window. D’Tigers last reached the finals of this event in 2019 when they were eliminated in the first round, while they failed to qualify for the 2023 edition.
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2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifying Format
This week marks the first of six qualification windows in the lead-up to the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup, and it will feature 80 national teams from the four FIBA regions of Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
A total of 32 teams will eventually qualify for the showpiece event, which takes place in Doha, Qatar, in 2027. Slots allocated by region include five teams from Africa, seven from the Americas and Asia, and 12 from Europe. Qatar automatically qualify as the host nation.
The first three windows of qualifying are scheduled for November, February and July, respectively. Thereafter, the fields from each region will begin to reduce until the final quota of teams is met.
Beyond this competition, the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup also offers as many as seven direct qualification berths for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. A total of 12 teams will compete at LA28, with the USA assured a spot as the hosts.
