BAMAKO (FIBA U18 African Championship 2018) - The biennial FIBA U18 African Championship starts on Friday in Bamako, Mali, with 12 countries from all corners of the continent competing for the two slots for next year's FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup.

FIBA.basketball compiled a number of questions that you might need to be answered as we gear up for the Mali 2018 showdown.

When and Where 

From Friday, August 24 to Sunday, September 2 in Bamako, Mali.

Participating teams

Angola, Egypt, Mali, Senegal, Tunisia, Libya, Rwanda, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Algeria, and Guinea.

How to watch

All games will be streamed live on youtube.com/fiba.

Reigning champions

Angola won the last edition of the FIBA U18 African Championship after denying favorites Egypt in the Final two years ago in Kigali, Rwanda.

Absence

One of the top basketball nations in Africa, Nigeria have won a record seven #FIBAU18Africa titles. However, they will be a no-show in Bamako. Nigeria last took part in the competition back in 2008 when took home a Third-Place finish.

Egypt

One of the few teams to have won back-to-back championships (2008 and 2010) - along with Angola and Nigeria, the Pharaohs - who won three of the last five editions - are clearly a team to watch out for.

Senegal

After winning the 2012 edition of the Championship in Maputo, Mozambique, the Senegalese pulled out of the 2014 and 2016 editions. With a team that features some of the brightest talents on the continent in Mohamed Tutu and Salli Moye, Senegal emerge as one of the frontrunners.

Mali

A basketball stronghold, Mali is hosting the #FIBAU18Africa for the first time. While Mali women's teams have enjoyed a huge success at the continental level, boys' teams are yet to win the top prize. 

Debutants

Hit by that a social unrest over the past eight years, Libya enter the Bamako showdown looking to relaunch the game of basketball in the country. There is no record of Libya in the history of the competition in the last three decades.

Most successful

Egypt have more continental titles (5) than any participating team in this year's FIBA U18 African Championship.

What’s at stake

The two finalists will earn the right to represent Africa at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019.

Players to watch

Senegal's Amar Sylla has recently made a splash at the 2018 edition of the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Real Madrid forward received the Boys Camp MVP award. 

Youssef Osama Elmadawy is rightly rated as one of Egypt's brightest talents not only for his eye-catching display at 2018 BWB but mainly because of his desire to guide his country to the step of the podium in Bamako. And his numbers in the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2017 in Argentina speak for themselves. The 17-year-old finished with team-highs 13 points, 12 rebounds and three assists per game.

Seventeen-year-old Selton Miguel is said to be one of Angola's key players. A High-School student at Oak Academy in Florida, Miguel is the young man expected to spark Angola's offense. 

One of the two players who registered six double-doubles at this year's U17 World Cup in Argentina goes by the name of Oumar Ballo. And guess what? He too will be Bamako featuring for Mali. 

FIBA