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•Now 8th in Africa
By JOE APU
Nigeria’s senior men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, has experienced a significant drop in the latest FIBA World Rankings, falling to 53rd place globally.
This marks a further decline for the once top-ranked African side, which now sits at 8th position on the African continent.
The new rankings, released by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), reflect recent performances in international competitions, with Nigeria failing to make a significant impact in regional qualifiers and global tournaments.
The drop highlights growing concerns about the team’s development, consistency, and management issues in recent years.
Despite Nigeria’s slip, the top positions in the FIBA World Rankings remain unchanged. The United States continues to lead the global standings at No. 1, followed by Spain (2nd), Germany (3rd), Canada (4th), and Australia (5th) rounding out the top five.
On the African continent, South Sudan continues its impressive rise and still holds the top spot (1st in Africa, 31st globally), followed by Angola 29th in the world and 2nd in Africa while Côte d’Ivoire is 36th and 3rd on the continent, in the 42nd position is Egypt that stands in 4th place in Africa.
Senegal moved up two spots to place 45th and 5th; and Cape Verde 49th and 6th; just as Tunisia is placed 50th and 7th, all ahead of Nigeria in the African pecking order.
Nigeria’s slide down the rankings is the latest signal that urgent reforms may be needed in the country’s basketball structure to restore its former status as Africa’s leading basketball nation.
D’Tigers finished the FIBA AfroBasket 2025 with a record 3-1 after succumbing to Senegal 91-75 in the Quarter-final stage.
