Nigeria’s senior men’s national basketball team, D’ Tigers, dropped four places in the latest FIBA ranking released on Thursday, slumped from 39th to 42nd position in the world.
The former African champions garnered 299.7 points during the month under review and ranked the sixth best team in Africa behind South Sudan, Coted’Ivoire, Angola, Tunisia and Egypt who are the top five African teams.
D’Tigers’ drop in the latest FIBA ranking is a testament to their failure to qualify for the just concluded Paris 2024 Olympics Men’s Basketball Tournament, which was won by the USA.
The Nigeria’s men’s basketball team missed out on the Paris 2024 Olympics after recording a winless streak at the 2024 FIBA Olympic pre-qualification tournament held at Eko Convention Centre in Lagos, Nigeria.
The D’Tigers, who were 16th in the World Ranking after the Rio 2016 Olympics, lost to Mali and Senegal, finishing third in their group and ending their four-year consecutive appearance at the Olympics since 2012.
However, some African countries, including South Sudan and Cameroon made upward movement in the latest FIBA Ranking.
South Sudan, who showcased remarkable performance at the Paris 2024 Olympic basketball tournament by winning against Puerto Rico 90-79 but losing to the USA and Serbia, had the only double-digit leap among the Top 50 in the latest FIBA Ranking. They moved up from 34th to 23rd.
Cameroon also climbed up five places to 64th. Côte d’Ivoire is ranked as the highest African country at 31st, followed by Angola at 32nd.
Meanwhile, the USA, who won the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Men’s Basketball Tournament, remained at the top of the ranking, while Serbia overtook Germany to sit in the second position.