ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - On Friday, 19 June, the draw for the FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament 2026 took place at the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland.
This article explores how South Sudan and Senegal teams can stay in contention for the 2028 Women's Olympic Tournament.
What is the FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament 2026?
This qualifying tournament features teams that did not make it to the upcoming FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 in Berlin, Germany.
Participating teams include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, the Philippines, Senegal, South Sudan, and Mexico, who replaced Colombia.
How did they get here?
Both Senegal and South Sudan finished in the top four of the 2025 Women’s AfroBasket tournament, earning them a place in one of the four 2026 Women’s Basketball World Cup qualifying tournaments held in March this year.
The other two Women’s AfroBasket teams to reach the World Cup Qualifying tournaments were African champions Nigeria and runners-up Mali.
Regardless of their results in the qualifying tournaments, Nigeria were assured a place in the 2026 Women’s Basketball World Cup. This opened the door for Africa’s best-placed team in the qualifiers, a place which Mali took advantage of after achieving a 2–3 record.
Meanwhile, Senegal (1–4) and South Sudan (0–5), who finished fifth and sixth in their respective qualifying groups, failed to qualify for the 2026 Berlin showdown, but they still have a chance to reach the 2028 Women’s Olympic Tournament in Los Angeles by competing in the eight-team FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament in 2026.
Which teams will Senegal and South Sudan face?
South Sudan were drawn in Group A alongside Brazil, Argentina and New Zealand, while Senegal will face Canada, Mexico and the Philippines in Group B.
When and where will the Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament 2026 take place?
The competition will take place in Guadalajara, Mexico, from 17–23 August.
Competition system
The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals, with the winner of the subsequent final earning a place at the 2028 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
According to FIBA, for those nations that do not qualify in Guadalajara, they will all remain on the Road to LA 2028. They can still all progress to the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments via next year's respective Women's Continental Cups 2027 (Women’s AfroBasket in Africa).
FIBA