Year 2026 presents an array of exciting basketball events on the continent, with Basketball Africa League (BAL) expected to live up to the billing once again. Weekend Sport presents a preview of some captivating African basketball highlights to watch in 2026. FIBA U18 AfroBasket 2026 The qualifying tournaments for the FIBA U18 AfroBasket (boys' and girls') tournaments will take place between March and July 2026. The dates for the final rounds of both tournaments are yet to be determined. BAL 2026 March will also see the beginning of the 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL), with the Kalahari Conference set to be held in Pretoria, South Africa while the Sahara Conference will take place in Rabat, Morocco, in April. The playoffs will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, in May. FIBA AfroCan 2027 Qualifiers Qualifiers for the 2027 FIBA AfroCan will take place between February and June. The host nation is yet to be determined. FIBA World Cup 2027 African Qualifiers With the first window done in November 2025, the African countries will resume qualifiers for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 in February. The second window of the qualifiers runs from February 26 to March 1 while the third window, which will bring together all 16 teams, will take place from July2 to 5. The host countries are yet to be determined. Meanwhile, the fourth window of the qualifiers, in which all 16 teams will also compete, will take place in August, with host nations yet to confirmed either. Rwanda finished at the bottom of the first window held in Monastir, Tunisia, after failing to win a single match. WBLA 2026 The 2026 campaign for the Women's Basketball League Africa (WBLA) will start with qualifiers scheduled to take place between September and November. The finals will take place from December 4 to 13. Women’s Afrobasket 2027 qualifiers The dates for the qualifying campaign for the biennial 2027 Women's AfroBasket have yet to be determined.
