ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - FIBA Africa on Monday confirmed the three host cities for Window 3 of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers.

The race for the five tickets available for African countries for next year's FIBA Basketball World Cup to be held in Indonesia, Japan and Philippines will take place from July 1-3.

Kigali Arena

The Rwandan capital of Kigali will host Groups A and B. Cote d'Ivoire's largest city Abidjan will host Group C while the third Window of the African Qualifiers Group D will take place in Egypt (Alexandria or Cairo).

Group A comprises of Cape Verde, Mali, Nigeria and Uganda. 

Group B consists of Cameroon, Rwanda, South Sudan and Tunisia. 

Group C includes Angola, Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire and Guinea.

Group D teams are DR Congo, Egypt, Kenya and Senegal.

A panoramic view of Palace de Sports Treichville, Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire

Abidjan returns to the limelight of African basketball for the first time since hosting the fifth and final Window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers in February 2019. The Ivorian coastal city had previously hosted the 2013 edition of the FIBA AfroBasket, where the hosts finished fourth.

Since its unveiling two years ago, the Kigali Arena has become a regular stop to major basketball tournaments on the continent, having hosted the 2021 FIBA AfroBasket and the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League last year.

Both Alexandria and Cairo have hosted several FIBA Africa competitions over the past few years, but only one of the two cities will host the next qualifying Window. The coastal city of Alexandria hosted the First Round of Group E of the 2021 FIBA AfroBasket Qualifiers.

A view of the Itthiad Stadium in Alexandria in November 2020

Only two teams (Cote d'Ivoire and South Sudan) remain undefeated ahead of Window 3 of the African Qualifiers, which marks the end of the First Round of the tournament.

The teams that finish in the top three places from Groups A, B, C and D advance to the Second Round of the competition (Windows 4 and 5 of the African Qualifiers ) where the five best-placed teams earn the right to represent the continent in the 32-nation World Cup while the teams that finish last in their groups will be eliminated.

FIBA