Nigeria’s men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, have dropped to 53rd in the world following the latest rankings released by FIBA.
2015 African champions suffered a sharp decline of 11 places from their previous 42nd position in March 2025, despite reaching the quarter-finals of the AfroBasket tournament in Angola last month.
On the continental log, D’Tigers also fell from sixth to eighth, amassing 248.7 points compared to 297.8 earlier this year.
Nigeria’s drop places them among the biggest losers in the rankings alongside Morocco, Tunisia, Virgin Islands and Kosovo. In contrast, Mali, South Africa, Turkey, Cyprus and Jamaica were the biggest climbers.
Led by coach Mohammed Abdulrahman, D’Tigers had an impressive group-stage run in Angola, topping Group B with wins over Madagascar, Tunisia and Cameroon.
However, their campaign ended at the quarter-final stage with a 91–75 defeat to Senegal. Caleb Agada, Josh Okogie, Stan Okoye and Ike Nwamu were standout performers for Nigeria during the tournament.
Nigeria’s focus now shifts to the FIBA Men’s World Cup Qualifiers in November, where they aim to secure a ticket to Qatar 2027, having missed the 2023 edition. Their last World Cup appearance was in China 2019 under former coach Alex Nwora.
On the African rankings, South Sudan lead with 446.7 points, though they slipped from 23rd to 24th globally.
Fresh AfroBasket champions Angola moved up four spots to second on the continent and 29th in the world. Ivory Coast, Egypt, Senegal, Cape Verde, Tunisia, Cameroon and Mali complete Africa’s top ten.
Globally, the USA remain number one with 845.8 points, followed by reigning world champions Germany, with Serbia, France and Canada rounding out the top five.
