Nigeria holds the top spot in Africa's women's basketball rankings with 640.1 points, and is ranked 8th globally

Key Takeaways

  • Nigeria’s D’Tigress leads Africa with 640.1 points, holding 8th place in the world rankings.
  • Mali sits in second with 343.7 points, more than 290 points behind Nigeria.
  • Senegal, Mozambique, and Cameroon complete Africa’s top five, all ranked within the global top 40.
  • South Sudan enters the continental top 10 at 10th, while ranking 55th globally.

Nigeria’s D’Tigress remains the undisputed leader of African women’s basketball, topping the FIBA Africa rankings with 640.1 points and an impressive 8th place globally. Their dominance is underscored by a sizeable gap over second-placed Mali and third-placed Senegal, reflecting sustained success at AfroBasket and consistent performances on the world stage.

Mozambique and Cameroon round out the continent’s top five, showcasing Southern and Central Africa’s presence in the sport. Further down, Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire, Angola, Uganda, and debut top 10 entry, South Sudan, highlight the growing geographical spread of women’s basketball talent across Africa.

Source:

Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBA)

Period:

8th August, 2025
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Only 14 African countries have ever qualified for the FIFA World Cup, with the best performance by Morocco (4th place)
  • Cameroon has the highest World Cup appearances (8).
  • Morocco holds Africa’s best-ever performance (4th place), a historic milestone for African football.
  • Tunisia and Morocco both have seven appearances.
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  • Algeria and Ghana (five appearances each) show strong track records, with Ghana also reaching the quarterfinals.
  • Egypt, South Africa, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire each have four appearances, but Senegal stands out for reaching the quarterfinals.

CAF Women’s Player of the Year: Nigeria has produced 13 winners since 2001, more than all other countries combined
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  • Three Nigerian players — Asisat Oshoala (6), Perpetua Nkwocha (4), and Cynthia Uwak (2) — have won the award more than once.
  • Outside Nigeria, only Ghana, South Africa, Equatorial Guinea, and Cameroon have produced winners, showing limited spread beyond Nigeria in the first two decades.
  • In recent years, the award has become more competitive, with new winners emerging from Morocco, Zambia, and South Africa, signaling a noticeable shift away from long-standing Nigerian dominance.

U-17 World Cup winners: Nigeria holds the record with 5 titles
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  • Brazil follows closely with four wins, making the two countries the dominant forces in youth football history.
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  • The remaining winners — Germany, England, Switzerland, France, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, and the former Soviet Union — show that victory is widely distributed but rarely sustained.

Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan is the highest-scoring African in FIFA World Cup history with six goals
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  • Roger Milla follows closely with five goals in ten matches.
  • Nigeria’s Ahmed Musa is Africa’s highest-scoring active World Cup player with four goals in just seven matches.
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