D’Tigress retain 8th position in FIBA world rankings

Pius Ayinor

Nigeria’s D’Tigress retained the 8th position in the latest FIBA Women’s World Rankings, just days after the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

The African champions polled 700.3 points. Nigeria is again the only African country in the world’s top 10. Mali is the closest to Nigeria at the 18th spot globally. Former champions Senegal are in 22^nd position, with Mozambique at 34th and Cameroon is the last African country in the Top 40 bracket at 37^th position.

The latest ranking was released on Saturday, 20th March.

Like Nigeria, the USA did not move and remained world number one. France, which won all five matches in the Lyon qualifiers, leapfrogged Australia into the second spot. China and Belgium complete the top five.

This new world ranking underlines D’Tigress’ card as Africa’s undisputed number one team and one of the very best in the world. D’Tigress have stayed unbeaten on the continent since the 2015 Afrobasket when they won the bronze medal in Yaoundé, Cameroon. A lot will be expected from D’Tigress after their top-class performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics.