PRAIA (Cape Verde) - Recent history has shown that Libyan teams have become dominant forces to be reckoned with in the African basketball landscape.
Libya's most recent participants in the Road to BAL tournament have achieved things that no other African team has ever achieved, far from the days when Al Nasri struggled to progress beyond the group phase when the the tournament first started in 2019.
Libyan teams have reached the Basketball Africa League (BAL) final in the last two editions of the league after starting the season during the Road to BAL.
First, Benghazi caught many by surprise when they finished as runners-up in 2024, and then Al Ahly Tripoli became the first team to win every single Road to BAL game and the BAL title in the same season.
As if that were not enough, Tripoli went on to become the first African team to reach the podium at the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
Is it too early to tip Al Ahly Benghazi as favourites?
Well, their three convincing wins in Bamako suggest they have great potential.
In the Malian capital, they finished with an impressive 3–0, which included wins over the hosts, Centre de Référence de Basketball de Tombouctou, as well as AS Douanes and Centre Federal de Guinee.
Not only did Benghazi sign head coach Ahmed Soliman, who led Egyptian giants Al Ittihad Alexandria to an impressive 2025 BAL season, but they also lured several big names from the African basketball scene, including Mohamed Sadi, Jonathan Jordan and James Chudier Bile.
FIBA