The Federation of International Basketball Associations (Fiba) Africa for the 2027 Fiba Basketball World Cup resume on July 2 with the second round of group fixtures.
Uganda’s Silverbacks face a daunting task after losing all three of their Group D matches in February. Defeats to Angola (90-68), Mali (84-73) and Egypt (91-52) left them bottom of the standings behind those three sides, making the upcoming games a make-or-break test for their hopes of reaching next year’s World Cup in Qatar.
The immediate objective is to avoid finishing last. Only the bottom team in each of the four groups will be eliminated, with the remaining 12 nations advancing to the second qualifying phase, where they will be divided into two groups of six.
From there, the top two teams in each group, plus the best third- placed side, will qualify as Africa’s five representatives at the World Cup. To stay in contention, Uganda realistically need at least two wins from their three remaining games.
That would lift them to eight points, although results elsewhere will also determine their fate. Group leaders Mali already have six points after a perfect first round. Even if they lost all three remaining matches, they would finish on nine points—the maximum Uganda could reach only by winning all three of theirs.
That means head-to-head records and points difference could prove decisive. Uganda’s heavy defeats in the first round leave the Silverbacks with little margin for error in Angola.
However, the squad has been strengthened by several new players, whose impact after two warm-up games against Rwanda will now be put to the test.