AFCON 2025
Nigeria’s D’Tigers ended a challenging FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifying window on a high note, defeating Cape Verde 100–84 on Sunday at the Salle Multidisciplinaire de Radès in Tunisia.
The victory keeps Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Qatar alive, after back-to-back defeats earlier in the window.
Agada Leads Nigeria’s Charge
Caleb Agada was Nigeria’s standout performer, finishing with 26 points as D’Tigers produced their most complete performance of the window.
Josh Okogie contributed 15 points and 11 assists, while Chimezie Metu dominated the boards with 12 rebounds.
Cape Verde’s Ivan Almeida led all scorers with 32 points, but his individual effort could not prevent Nigeria from controlling the contest for most of the afternoon.
D’Tigers Take Control Early
Nigeria set the tone from the opening tip, racing into a commanding lead through a dominant first quarter.
D’Tigers won the opening period 23–9 before extending their advantage with a 29–26 second quarter to take a 52–35 lead into half-time.
Nigeria maintained control after the break, winning the third quarter 24–19 and entering the final period with a 22-point advantage.
Cape Verde responded in the fourth quarter, outscoring Nigeria 30–24, but the deficit was already too large to overcome.
The final scoreline read 100–84 in Nigeria’s favour.
A Much-Needed Response
The victory was particularly important after Nigeria endured a difficult start to the window.
D’Tigers lost 62–78 to Cameroon on Thursday before suffering an 82–79 defeat to South Sudan on Friday.
Those results saw Nigeria enter Sunday’s game with a 4–4 record, having previously been 4–2 before the window began.
Following the defeat to South Sudan, Agada admitted that Nigeria had not been themselves for much of the game and stressed the need for improvement.
Against Cape Verde, the response was immediate.
Nigeria brought energy on both ends of the floor, defended aggressively and established an early scoring advantage, avoiding the slow starts that had hurt them in their previous two games.
Nigeria Reach 100 Points
The victory also marked a significant offensive milestone for D’Tigers.
Nigeria reached 100 points for the first time in the second-round qualifying window, underlining the improvement in their attacking performance.
More importantly, the 16-point victory provided a much-needed boost to their qualification campaign as the race for the World Cup places intensifies.
Nigeria Remain in Qualification Race
After nine games, Nigeria now sit at 5–4 with 14 points in Group E, while Cape Verde drop to 3–6 with 12 points.
The qualification race remains tight, with Cameroon and South Sudan currently ahead of Nigeria in the battle for the automatic qualification places. Guinea and Tunisia are also still in contention.
Africa will have five places at the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup. The top two teams from Group E and the top two from Group F will qualify automatically, with the remaining place going to the best third-placed team across the two groups.
The final qualifying window will take place in February 2027.
Despite ending the window with an emphatic victory, Nigeria will be aware that their qualification hopes remain far from secure.
D’Tigers finished Window 4 with one victory and two defeats, moving to 5–4 overall.
David Fizdale’s squad, featuring the likes of Okogie, Metu, Agada, Chima Moneke, Stan Okoye, Ike Nwamu and Udoka Azubuike, will now have three months to prepare for the decisive final window.
Nigeria are scheduled to face Cameroon, South Sudan and Cape Verde again in February.
Sunday’s victory does not guarantee Nigeria a place at the World Cup, but it ensures D’Tigers remain firmly in the conversation.
