Five teams refusing to go home 0-3 after Window 1
Twelve games into the 2025 FIBA AfroBasket Qualifiers, and a number of teams start to do the math to keep their hopes of qualifying for next year’s African Championship alive.
MONASTIR (Tunisia) - Twelve games into the 2025 FIBA AfroBasket Qualifiers, and a number of teams start to do the math to keep their hopes of qualifying for next year’s African Championship alive.
While Angola, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt and Tunisia enjoy unbeaten runs in the build-up to the last day of the opening window of the Qualifiers on Sunday, February 25,, three teams in Monastir and two others in Cairo are yet to win a game.
For all winless teams, to go down 0-3 is out of the equation.
In Groups B and E taking place in Monastir, Guinea, Kenya and Nigeria are all still 0-2 in the Qualifiers while Central African Republic and Madagascar in Cairo have yet to win their first games, making the last day of Window 1 of the 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers a must-win for all of them.
Interestingly enough, none of them contemplates to return home empty-handed.
In Group B, Nigeria (0-2) will go up against high-flying Cape Verde (2-0) while Guinea (0-2), who forced reigning African Tunisia (2-0) to step up in front of their home fans before falling down in overtime, take on Kenya (0-2) in Group E.
“The biggest motivation is the high expectation from over two hundred million people back home that expect them not come here and 0-3. 1-2 is much better than 0-3,” said Nigeria head coach Mohamed Abdulrahman.
Guinea shooting guard, Cedric Mansare noted that they are not prepared to go home empty-handed, saying: “We are going to keep fighting for our best result, that’s to win our next game.”
”We just need to take care of the ball better. If we can do that, we can compete,” said Kenya head coach Cliff Owuor.
Beside the must-win situations for Kenya, Guinea, Nigeria, Central African Republic and Madagascar, there’re two unmissable games involving top-team on the continent.
In Cairo’s Group D, hosts Egypt will go up against AfroBasket reining silver medallists Cote d’Ivoire while reigning African champions Tunisia face Angola in Group E.
All remaining six games from Groups B, D and E will be available on FIBA’s broadcasting partners with additional coverage on FIBA Africa’s social media platforms.
FIBA