Uganda will face African champions Nigeria in the African qualifiers for the 2019 Basketball World Cup to take place in China.
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Uganda Basketball national team.
Uganda will face African champions Nigeria in the African qualifiers for the 2019 Basketball World Cup to take place in China.
In the draws made in Guangzhou on Sunday Uganda is in Group B alongside Mali, Rwanda and African champions Nigeria.
“This is a very tough group especially playing against top sides like Nigeria that have players featuring in top European League,” Ambrose Tashobya, the Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA) told URN.
Head coach Mande Juruni said he is happy to face the top sides in Africa. “It is by playing top sides that we also get better,” said Juruni. Uganda made the cut for the draws because they are also the Zone 5 winners and qualified for the Afrobasket that takes place in Congo Brazzaville in August, 2017.
South Africa has been placed in Group A together with Guinea, Cameroon and Tunisia, while group C has DR Congo, Angola, Morocco, Egypt. Group D has Senegal, Mozambique, Ivory Coast and a fourth team that will be communicated later.
FIBA Basketball World Cup's qualifying campaign will start off in November 2017. A total of 80 teams will be competing for 31 spots.
The games will be played on a home and away basis with the best three team from the four groups in Africa qualifying for the second round before the 12 teams are grouped into two groups and the best two from each group and the best third placed make it to the World Cup.
Five teams from Africa, seven from Asia-Pacific, seven from the Americas and 12 from Europe will join hosts China at the World Cup finals slated for August 31-September 15, 2019.
