Sixteen nations are vying for the Africa's five spots in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027. They are Angola, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Guinea, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Tunisia, and Uganda.
Here's how the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 African Qualifiers will play out
16 teams will play the Basketball World Cup 2027 African Qualifiers during five windows to qualify five teams to the World Cup scheduled in 2027 in Doha, Qatar.
In the First Round, the 16 teams will be divided into four groups of four. Each team will face the other three in their group in two tournaments played over the first three windows with six games per team in total.
These windows will be in November 2025, February 2026, and July 2026.
The top three teams in each group will advance to the Second Round of the African Qualifiers where they will join three teams from another group.
All teams will carry over the results from the First Round, ensuring every single game has meaning in the Road to Qatar 2027.
In the Second Round, each team will play the three teams coming from the other group in two more tournaments played over two more windows scheduled in August 2026 and February 2027.
At the end of these additional six games per team, the top two teams in each group along with the best third team will qualify to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027.
The qualification process follows the FIBA Competition System successfully used for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.
1st Window: November 24 - December 2, 2025
2nd Window: February 23 - March 3, 2026
3rd Window: June 29 - July 7, 2026
4th Window: August 24 - September 1, 2026
5th Window: February 22 - March 2, 2027
The windows are where teams will play the qualifying games. Each of the five windows are nine days in length.
The 16 teams participating in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 African Qualifiers are the 16 teams that will compete at the FIBA AfroBasket 2025.
At the end of the third window, the top three teams from each group progress to the Second Round. In the Second Round, the First Round Groups merge as follows to form a new six-team groups:
A and C => E
B and D => F
Yes!
A team's final record after the conclusion of the Second Round includes their win-loss record from the First Round. This helps ensure every game matters throughout the six qualifying windows.
Classification of Teams
For more information, especially regarding tie cases between teams, please refer to the Official Basketball Rules and consult Art. D.1.3 (pages 81-86).