The competitions will determine the 16 teams that will compete in the 20th edition of the Women’s World Cup in Germany, from 4-13 September, 2026.
Four African teams have booked their places in the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup qualifiers, after advancing to the semifinals of the ongoing 2025 Women’s AfroBasket tournament at the Palais de Sports in Treichville, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Women’s AfroBasket defending champions Nigeria’s D’Tigress, Mali, Senegal and surprise package South Sudan joined a group of 24 national teams that will compete in four FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 qualifying tournaments, with each tourney featuring six teams.
According to fiba.basketball, the competitions will determine the 16 teams that will compete in the 20th edition of the Women’s World Cup in Germany, from 4-13 September, 2026.
Brazil, Argentina, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Colombia will represent the Americas in the World Cup Qualifiers while Japan, China, Korea, the Philippines, New Zealand and Australia will represent Asia and Oceania.
The 2026 World Cup hosts Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Turkey will carry the European flag into the qualifiers.
The 2025 Women’s AfroBasket competition tipped off on July 26 in Ivory Coast, with 12 teams; the hosts, Angola, Cameroon, Guinea, Egypt, Mozambique, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan and Uganda vying not only for a podium finish, but a place at the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
Cameroon, Senegal, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Mali, Egypt, Mozambique and Uganda are some of the teams which dominated their opponents during the group phase, before debutants South Sudan – who qualified on wild card stunned heavyweights Egypt 75-65 on the road to the quarterfinals.
The South Sudanese continued their giant killing antics in the quarters, narrowly beating Uganda 69-68. The win against Uganda Gazelles proved a double-edged sword, propelling South Sudan’s Bright Starlets to the Women’s AfroBasket semis and the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling, and I don’t even know what to say. We came into this competition as underdogs, but we gave it our all today. I am thankful for our coaching staff, management, and teammates for their hard work,” South Sudan forward Rose Macuei told fiba.basketball.
“We started the tournament with two losses, which really demoralized us, but we persevered, and here we are: qualified for the World Cup qualifiers. I can’t explain how much this means to us as a group and to South Sudan as a country,” she added.
The two defeats Macuei referenced came against Mali (55-53) and Cameroon (70-63) respectively in the group phase.
Mali beat Mozambique 86-68, Senegal defeated hosts Ivory Coast 66-60, while Nigeria thrashed Cameroon 83-47 in the other quarter final pairings.
Senegal will face Nigeria in the first semifinal match on Saturday, Aug 02, before South Sudan and Mali clash a day later. Winners will meet in the final later on Sunday, Aug 03.
Nigeria are seeking a record 5th title in a row. The current feat of four in a row is only matched by Senegal, which means both teams have everything to play for in their semifinal matchup.
