African teams eye glory at FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023

African teams eye glory at FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023

Africa’s representatives at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 are eyeing glory at the tournament that tips off on Friday 25 August.

Angola, eleven time African champions will be there alongside continent giants Egypt and Ivory Coast, while debutants Cape Verde and South Sudan will also try to make the continent proud.

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As the tournament draws near, we look at the groups and global ranking of African teams.

The 32 participating nations have been split into eight groups of four teams. The top two will advance to a second group stage. The top two from the second groups of four will advance to the knockout stage consisting of quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final.

GROUP A

1. Angola
2. Dominican Republic
3. Italy
4. Philippines

Angola find themselves in Group A alongside Dominican Republican, Italy and Philippines. The continental record winners have also reached more World Cups than any African side.

They are currently ranked 41st in the world.

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GROUP B

1. South Sudan
2. China
3. Puerto Rico
4. Serbia

The surprise team of the tournament, the Bright Stars of South Sudan made history by becoming the first team to qualify for the World Cup at their first attempt.

Thanks to two-time NBA All-Star Luol Deng, the federation president of South Sudan Basketball Association, who made sure the nation sored higher in the qualifiers.

The Bright Stars are ranked 62nd in the world.

GROUP D

1. Egypt
2. Lithuania
3. Mexico
4. Montenegro

Egypt appointed Roy Rana as coach and the Canadian qualified the Pharaohs with two games to spare.

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The team will hope to improve their run of just two wins from their last 33 World Cup games.

GROUP F

1. Cape Verde
2. Georgia
3. Slovenia
4. Venezuela

Cape Verde will be the smallest nation ever to play at the tournament, with their population of around 600,000 which is smaller than past record holders Montenegro.

Cape Verde earned qualification after coming from 13 points down to beat 2021 Afrobasket runners-up Ivory Coast to secure qualification to the World Cup.

They are ranked 64th in the world.

GROUP G

1. Ivory Coast
2. Brazil
3. Iran
4. Span

Two-time African champions, Ivory Coast, are looking to improve a dismal record of one win from 20 World Cup games.

Ivory Coast will be taking part at their fifth World Cup and will hope to improve on a 13th-place finish they achieved in 1982 and 1986.

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