Basketball: Rwanda falls in all friendlies ahead of World Cup Qualifiers

Rwanda’s National Basketball Team lost both friendly games played against Libya as part of preparations for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers to be held in Tunisia between November 27 and 30, 2025.

Rwanda lost the first game 81–72 and the second one 63–56.

Despite the setbacks, team captain Ndizeye Dieudonne remained optimistic, emphasizing that the losses provided valuable lessons.

“We have prepared well. We identified the mistakes we made in the friendly games, and we will correct them. Our focus is to win the first game against Guinea because it is the key match for the rest of the qualifiers,” he added.

In this tournament, Rwanda is in Group C together with Nigeria, Tunisia and Guinea.

The national team will open its campaign against Guinea on November 27, face hosts Tunisia two days later, and conclude the group stage against Nigeria on November 30.

These qualifiers will be played in two rounds, with the first round featuring all 16 teams.

In each group, the top three teams will advance, making a total of 12 teams that will compete in the second round, from which five teams will qualify to represent Africa at the World Cup.

The 2027 World Cup will be held in Qatar from August 27 to September 12, 2027.

The last edition, held in 2023, Germany claim its first-ever World title after defeating Serbia in the final.