Afrobasket 2025 (Q): Mali and DR Congo drawn with South Sudan

16 nations, joined by the winners of the pre-qualifying tournaments, will make up the field for the Afrobasket 2025 qualifiers, which will be played across the continent from February to November 2024. On the sidelines of the Basketball Africa League's Elite 16 East Division games, FIBA Africa held the draw for the qualifying groups. The teams have been split into five groups of four.

Tunisia get a favourable draw

Tunisia, the reigning African champions after their triumph in Kigali in 2021, have been placed in Group E alongside Angola, Guinea and Kenya. The Eagles of Carthage and the Palancas Negras will start as favourites in the group, but will need to be wary of two serious outsiders.

Read also: Afrobasket U16: tournament MVP Nour Gassim Touré on the road to the top

The draw, by contrast, was unkind to Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The two nations were placed in Group A, the group of top seeds South Sudan, who will take part in the Paris 2024 Olympics. A rising force in the sport and tipped for continental glory in the years to come, the South Sudanese are aiming to shine at Afrobasket 2025. The group will be completed by a 4th team, to be decided between the winner of the Zone 6 qualifiers, Mauritius or the Comoros.

Host nation still unknown

In Group B, Cape Verde, the surprise package of 2021 with their 4th-place finish, will have to prove their new status against Nigeria and Uganda. The group will be completed by the winner of the tie between the top teams from the pre-qualifying tournaments of zones 1 and 2. Senegal, Cameroon, Rwanda and the winner of the pre-qualifying games between zones 3 and 4 will battle it out in Group C. Runners-up, and so heartbreakingly beaten, in the last edition, Ivory Coast land in Group D, alongside Egypt, the Central African Republic and the winner of the tie between Djibouti and Madagascar.

The teams in groups B, D and E will get the qualifiers under way on 19 February 2024, while those in groups A and C will play in the November qualifying window. The top three in each group will qualify for Afrobasket 2025, whose host nation has yet to be named.

The Afrobasket 2025 qualifying groups

Group A: South Sudan, DR Congo, Mali, Mauritius or Comoros

Group B: Cape Verde, Nigeria, Zone 1 vs Zone 2 qualifier, Uganda

Group C: Senegal, Cameroon, Zone 3 vs Zone 4 qualifier, Rwanda

Group D: Ivory Coast, Egypt, Central African Republic, Madagascar or Djibouti

Group E: Tunisia, Angola, Guinea, Kenya