ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - As Group F of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers comes to a close on Sunday, Nigeria and Senegal meet for the third time in less than 15 months. 

And although both teams have already secured their tickets for this summers' World Cup in China, Sunday's clash between these two African heavyweights will either give an exclamation point of Nigeria's African basketball dominance in recent years or indicate if Senegal can still keep up with Nigeria. 

 These two teams have more similarities than differences though.

While Nigeria have won 10 of their 11 African Qualifiers game so far, and lead their group with 21 points, Senegal come in second place with a 9-2 mark and 20 points.

It'll be the fourth matchup between Nigeria and Senegal since the FIBA AfroBasket 2013 held in Abidjan.

Almost six years ago in Abidjan, Senegal denied Nigeria in the Quarter-Finals to eventual finish in third-place of the African Championship and secure a place at FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 in Spain.

However, what happens after that 2013 meeting has been a total dominance from the Nigerians who register a 3-0 head-to-head advantage over Senegal.

D'Tigers recorded a 88-79 overtime Semi-Final win against Senegal en route to their first-ever FIBA AfroBasket title back in 2015.

Two years later, the Nigerians prevailed 76-71 in the semis of the FIBA AfroBasket 2017 in Tunisia. 

At first glance, the 'D'Tigers' of Nigeria look favourite to win their group provided they don't lose by 28 points or more. That was the goal-difference registered last September when Nigeria outclassed Senegal 89-61 in the first-leg of Group F in Lagos.

Following Nigeria's loss to Cote d'Ivoire on Friday, they bounced back with 72-59 win over the Central African Republic on Saturday.

Now, Nigeria head coach Alexander Nwora insists it will be "a tough game against Senegal, hopefully we can bring the same intensity. We’ll make sure we compete, hopefully the outcome will be favourable for us."

In a recent interview with FIBA.basketball, Youssoupha Ndoye, who has been phenomenal for the Senegalese team, acknowledged that  "Lately our games against Nigeria have been tough for us but we learned a lot," adding: "They are a real good team and we are looking forward to playing them again in Cote d'Ivoire."

And the winner of this clash will surely head to China with a sense of authority from Africa's basketball.

FIBA