Nigeria’s senior men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, has suffered a significant drop in the latest world rankings released by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), slipping from 42nd to 53rd position.
The new ranking, published in September, comes after a busy summer of global basketball competitions, including the 2025 FIBA AfroBasket tournament in Angola, where D’Tigers reached the quarter-finals.
The decline represents an 11-place fall from their previous standing in March, when they were ranked 42nd.
On the continental table, the 2015 African champions also slid from sixth to eighth, amassing 248.7 points compared to the 297.8 points recorded earlier this year.
The team, guided by coach Mohammed Abdulrahman, endured a troubled build-up to AfroBasket 2025, with limited preparation and logistical setbacks affecting their readiness for the tournament.
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Despite the challenges, D’Tigers impressed in the group stage, topping Group B with six points after recording victories over Madagascar, three-time champions Tunisia, and Cameroon in the round-robin phase.
However, their campaign came to an abrupt end in the quarter-finals, where they fell 91-75 to perennial rivals Senegal.
Standout performances came from Caleb Agada, Josh Okogie, Stan Okoye, and Ike Nwamu, who were instrumental in Nigeria’s progress to the knockout stage.
Nigeria’s attention will now turn to the FIBA Men’s World Cup Qualifying Series, which tips off in November. D’Tigers will be aiming to book their ticket to the 2027 edition in Qatar, after failing to qualify for the 2023 tournament.
Their last World Cup appearance came in 2019 in China, under the stewardship of former head coach Alex Nwora.
On the continental scene, South Sudan remains Africa’s highest-ranked team with 446.7 points, despite slipping one place globally from 23rd to 24th.
Freshly crowned AfroBasket champions Angola climbed four spots to second in Africa and 29th worldwide, while Ivory Coast, Egypt, Senegal, Cape Verde, Tunisia, Cameroon, and Mali complete the continent’s top 10.
