ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - Hosts of the second leg of Group F, which starts Friday and runs until Sunday in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire couldn't face Nigeria in a trickier situation.

As well as Nigeria, they will face Rwanda and Mali - in this order - in an attempt to become one of the five African teams to qualify for the 32-nation FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China.

The 'Elephants' have their backs against the wall, and they must beat Nigeria (preferably by a significant margin) on Friday in order to keep their FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 aspirations alive. Rwanda and Mali no longer have chances to qualify.

The Ivorians would secure a spot in the World Cup as the second-placed team in Group F if they win their last three games and Senegal lose their last three games.

They can also qualify as the best-ranked third-placed team from across Groups E and F if they win their last three games with a combined margin of at least 65 or 66 points, depending on the number of points scored (65 if they score over 294 points, 66 points if they score under 294). 

It might seem mission impossible for Cote d'Ivoire, especially because of Nigeria's dominancy and consistency since the start of the qualifiers.

As Cote d'Ivoire head coach Paolo Povia once said: "it'll be difficult but it won't be impossible." 

Back in June 2018, Nigerians and Ivorians drew a two-game warm-up series in Abidjan ahead of the third window of the African Qualifiers. 

However, when it came to official competitions the D'Tigers have topped the 'Elephants' 2-0 dating back to the FIBA AfroBasket 2017.

For the Ivorians, this could be the most important game of their history in recent years, while the Nigerians will be more concerned about improving  and extending their impressive 9-0 record, which allowed them to become one of the first teams to qualify for the China 2019 showpiece. 

Players to watch

Nigeria have used more than 30 players throughout the qualifiers, and as they head to Abidjan for their final three games, head coach Alex Nwora kept the core of the team, including team captain Ike Diogu and Ikenna Iroegbu. But the return of Michael Umeh and Ekene Ibekwe adds a lot more power-fire to the D'Tigers.

Meanwhile, the Ivorians selected some of their assets for the challenge. Guy Edi, Souleyman Diabate, Mohamed Kone and Herve Lamizana have all featured for Cote d'Ivoire at FIBA Basketball World Cup 2010 in Turkey.  

Number don't lie

Nigeria have scored more points per game than any other African team (99.1) and are the only team to have a FG% of more than 50 percent. (51.7%).

Cote d’Ivoire have made 5.4 three-pointers per game in these qualifiers, less than any other Group F team.

FIBA