By Obinna Uballa
Nigerian sports lovers have hailed the historic rise of the women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, to 8th place in the latest FIBA Women’s World Rankings, the highest position ever attained by an African team.
Many who took to social media platform X to celebrate the milestone, urged that the feat be maintained through better preparation and grassroots development.
“The world’s top 10!!!! Massive rating which should be sustained. Only if preparations before competition can be improved and grassroots development for young talents can be built and explored,” wrote user @nutynoble.
For @tochi_bernice, the achievement underscores the team’s quality: “Being the only African team in top 10 paints how awesome our girls are.” Another fan, @MstTemitayo_, noted the significance despite limited resources: “This is highly impressive especially evaluating that we don’t have a big budget league for basketball players in Nigeria.”
Others attributed the success to good leadership and team spirit. “Kudos to the coach and her beautiful ladies… with right leadership we can get it right… this one na good example,” said @bena_cuna. @folowosele_sola added: “When you have a true patriot and sport-loving leader as President, the nation must experience positivity on all fronts.”
User @OluwaNapsey09 highlighted its continental significance: “This is the highest of any African team in a sport ranking… Nigeria women basketball 8 then Morocco football men 12.” Another, @olohunjuedani, summed up the pride: “Na our women be this oooo… they are the ones putting us on world map in sport. We proud of you all.”
Recall that the D’Tigress’ leap from 11th to 8th was announced Thursday, following their flawless run at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket in Abidjan, where they won a record fifth consecutive title, their seventh overall, with a 78–64 victory in the final.
The triumph extended their unbeaten streak in the competition to 29 games since 2015.
With 640.1 ranking points, Nigeria now sits behind the United States, Australia, France, China, Belgium, Spain, and Canada.
Globally, other notable movers include Lithuania (up 14 places to 31st), South Sudan (third place on AfroBasket Women debut), Lebanon (up 13 to 41st), Indonesia (up 19 to 60th), Iran (up 15 to 44th), and Mongolia (up 20 to 70th).
