Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, has made history by breaking into the top 10 of the FIBA Women’s World Rankings for the first time — a landmark achievement for African basketball.
The milestone comes after a stellar campaign at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where D’Tigress became the first African basketball team — male or female — to reach the quarter-finals of the Olympics, winning two of their three group games.
They opened their campaign with a stunning 75-62 victory over Australia, a side that would go on to win bronze. After a 54-75 loss to hosts France, D’Tigress bounced back to beat Canada 79-70, sealing their place in the knockout stage from Group B.
In the quarter-finals, Nigeria fell 74-88 to defending champions USA, who went on to clinch their 10th Olympic gold and retain the top spot in the world rankings with 883.3 points.
The post-Olympics FIBA rankings saw several notable shifts. France climbed four spots to third after narrowly missing gold in a 66-67 loss to the USA. Germany surged eight places to 13th following their impressive quarter-final debut, while Serbia moved up from 10th to 9th.
Teams from the recent FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 Pre-Qualifying Tournaments also made gains. Czechia rose to 21st after their triumph in Mexico City, while Hungary’s victory in Kigali pushed them to 15th. Rwanda recorded the biggest jump in the top 100, climbing 12 places to 62nd despite not progressing beyond pre-qualifiers.
D’Tigress’ rise into the elite top 10 not only cements their position among the world’s best but also signals the growing competitiveness of African teams in women’s basketball. Their success serves as an inspiration and a clear message that Africa’s presence on the global basketball stage is stronger than ever.
