FIBA World Cup Qualifiers: Angola End D'Tigers Qualification Slim Hope

FIBA World Cup Qualifiers: Angola End D'Tigers Qualification Slim Hope

By Niyi Busari

Angola defeated resurgent D'Tigers 65-59 in their group E FIBA African World Cup qualifier played on Sunday night, BSNsports.com.ng can report. 

D'Tigers redeemed the slim hope of picking one of the five African tickets to the World Cup when they defeated group E table toppers, Ivory Coast (72-63) and Guinea (62-59) in their first two games in Window 5 of the qualifier. With slim hope reignited, to pick a ticket, D'Tigers hope of qualifying relied on Ivory Coast handing a defeat to Cape Verde while Nigeria beat Angola.

However, Cape Verde victory over Ivory Coast earlier on Sunday ended Nigeria hope of qualifying for the FIFA men's basketball World Cup. 

Having played 10 games, D'Tigers won 5 and lost 5 matches in the race for the qualification ticket and are placed fourth on the log behind Ivory Coast, Angola and Cape Verde. 

Sixteen African teams competed in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers through five tournament windows over 15 months.

The Qualifiers run from November 2021 to February 2023, with five African national teams earning a spot in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 that's scheduled to take place from August 25th to September 10th, 2023 in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.