Nigeria’s men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, have been drawn in Group C for the first phase of the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup African qualifiers. They will face Rwanda, Guinea, and Tunisia.
The draw was held on Tuesday in Doha, Qatar — the city that will host the entire 2027 World Cup, making it the first edition to be staged fully in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Nigeria was seeded in Pot 3 before the draw and must finish among the top three in their group to move on to the next round. From there, the top teams from all groups will be reshuffled into two new groups, carrying over all results from the first phase.
In the second round, each team will play six more games against countries they haven’t yet met. The two best teams from each of the new groups, plus the best third-placed team overall, will qualify for the World Cup.
The qualifiers will take place over five windows, starting in November 2025.
Other groupings are as follows:
- Group A: Cameroon, South Sudan, Cape Verde, Libya
- Group B: Senegal, DR Congo, Madagascar, Ivory Coast
- Group D: Mali, Angola, Uganda, Egypt
This qualifying campaign will determine the five teams that will represent Africa at the 2027 FIBA World Cup, where 32 countries will compete for the prestigious Naismith Trophy in Doha.
The tournament is set to be the biggest basketball event ever held in one city.
