South Sudan became the first African country to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris after finishing as the best African team at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
The world’s youngest country ended their campaign at the FIBA World Cup with a 101-78 victory against Angola on Saturday.
South Sudan sealed the Olympic berth after their closest rival, Egypt’s 88-86 defeat to New Zealand.
The Bright Stars ended their maiden FIBA World Cup as the 17th-best team in Japan, Philippines and Indonesia with a record of three wins and two losses in five games.
2024 Olympics hosts France thumped Ivory Coast 87-77 to finish 18th in the tournament while Japan got the better of Cape Verde with 81-70 victory to finish as Asia’s highest-ranked team and qualify for the Olympics.
Egypt settled for the 20th spot in the ranking with two wins in five games followed by Angola, Ivory Coast and Cape Verde in 26th, 27th and 28th places after managing a win each in five matches at the FIBA World Cup.
South Sudan, Japan, Australia and hosts country France are the first four teams to qualify for 12-team men’s basketball event at the 2024 Olympics.
The ongoing World Cup in the Asian continent will decide the two-highest ranked teams from North and South America and the two highest-ranked teams from Europe while the remaining four spots will be decided at an Olympics qualifying tournament scheduled for next year, with Ivory Coast ready to fly Africa’s colours.
