2026 BAL qualification

2026 BAL qualification
Association	FIBA Africa
League	Road to BAL
Sport	Basketball
Duration	TBA
Teams	TBA
West Division
Division champions	TBD
Top scorer	TBD
East Division
Division champions	TBD
Top scorer	TBD
Seasons
← 2025 2027 →

The qualification for the 2026 BAL season , also known as Road to BAL 2026, were the qualifying tournaments for the sixth season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The tournaments were organised by FIBA Africa.

The competition is scheduled to begin on 17 October and end in December 2025. ^[1]

Teams

The official list of teams were announced by FIBA on 3 October 2025. ^{[1] [2]}

Dynamo was supposed to represent Burundi as national champions, however, it was not able to meet the deadlines, including the pending suspension after their withdrawal from the 2024 BAL season, which occurred after the Burundian government disallowed the team to wear the Rwandan sponsor, following political tensions between the two nations. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

West Division

Association	Team	Qualification method	Ref.
Entered in Elite 16
Cape Verde	Kriol Star
Entered in first round
Benin	Elan Coton	2025 Benin Basketball Super League champions	[6]
Burkina Faso	AS Douanes	2025 Burkinabé Men's Basketball Championship champions	[7]
Cameroon	BEAC	2024–25 Elite Messieurs champions	[8]
Central African Republic	New Tech Bantou
DR Congo	New Generation
Ivory Coast	JCA	2025 Ligue d'Or champions	[9]
Gabon	Moanda	2025 Gabonese Basketball Cup champions	[10]
Ghana	Spintex Knights	2025 Accra Basketball League champions	[11]
Mali	CRB Tombouctou	2025 Ligue 1 champions	[12]
Libya	Al Ahly Ly	2024–25 Libyan Division I Basketball League	[13]

East Division

Association	Team	Qualification method	Ref.
Entered in Elite 16
Kenya	Nairobi City Thunder	2024–25 KBF Premier League champions	[14]
Entered in first round
Uganda	Namuwongo Blazers	1st ranked team in 2025 NBL Uganda [a]
Botswana	Dolphins	2025 Botswana Basketball League champions	[16]
Burundi	Dynamo	2025 Burundian Basketball Championship	[17]
Comoros	Djabal
Mozambique	Ferroviário da Beira	2024 Liga Moçambicana de Basquetebol champions	[18]
Madagascar	COSPN	2025 N1A champions	[19]
Malawi	Bravehearts	2025 BASMAL National Championship champions	[20]
South Africa	Johannesburg Giants	2025 South African National Basketball Championship champions	[21]
Tanzania	Dar City	2024 National Basketball League champions	[22]
Zambia	Matero Magic	2024–25 Zambia Basketball League champions	[23]
Zimbabwe	Basket Hounds	2025 BUZ National Championship champions	[24]

Group stage

The group stage will begin on 17 October and end on 29 October. The venues for each group were announced on 15 October 2025. ^[25]

West Division

Group A

Venue: Bamako, Mali

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Al Ahly Ly	3	3	0	251	197	+54	6	Advance to Elite 16
2	CRB Tombouctou (H)	3	2	1	203	182	+21	5
3	Centre Fédéral de Guinée	3	1	2	177	223	−46	4
4	AS Douanes Ouagadougou	3	0	3	186	215	−29	3

Source: FIBA
(H) Hosts

Group B

Venue: Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Jeunesse Club d'Abidjan (H)	3	3	0	218	152	+66	6	Advance to Elite 16
2	Spintex Knights	3	2	1	197	184	+13	5
3	Elan Coton	3	1	2	167	201	−34	4
4	LPRC Oilers	3	0	3	174	219	−45	3

Source: FIBA
(H) Hosts

Group C

Venue: Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Moanda	2	2	0	158	143	+15	4	Advance to Elite 16
2	New Generation (H)	2	1	1	146	143	+3	3
3	New Tech Bantou	2	0	2	146	164	−18	2

Source: FIBA
(H) Hosts

East Division

Group D

Venue: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Dar City (H)	2	2	0	185	120	+65	4	Advance to Elite 16
2	Namuwongo Blazers	2	1	1	202	141	+61	3
3	Djabal	2	0	2	108	234	−126	2

Source: FIBA
(H) Hosts

Group E

Venue: Lusaka, Zambia

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Johannesburg Giants	5	5	0	362	280	+82	10	Advance to Elite 16
2	Ferroviário da Beira	5	4	1	432	378	+54	9
3	Matero Magic (H)	5	3	2	383	280	+103	8
4	Bravehearts (W, C)	5	2	3	346	354	−8	7
5	Dolphins	5	1	4	309	333	−24	6
6	Basket Hounds	5	0	5	342	442	−100	5

Source: FIBA, FIBA Report
(C) Champions; (H) Hosts; (W) ?

Ranking of third-placed teams

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Centre Fédéral de Guinée	3	1	2	177	223	−46	4	Advance to Elite 16
2	Elan Coton	3	1	2	167	201	−34	4
3	New Tech Bantou	2	0	2	146	164	−18	2
4	Djabal	2	0	2	108	234	−126	2	Eliminated
5	Third place Group E	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Updated to match(es) played on 2026-00-00. Source: FIBA

Elite 16

On 31 October 2025, Nairobi, Kenya and Praia, Cape Verde were announced as host venues. ^[26]

Notes

1. The FUBA initially nominated 2024 NBL champions City Oilers as representative, however, Nam Blazers successfully protested the decision, and was given the spot based on its first place in the regular season of the 2025 season. ^[15]

References

1. "African clubs lining up for the marathon journey to the 2025 Road to BAL". www.fiba.basketball. 2 October 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
2. "Teams List - FIBA Africa Champions Clubs ROAD TO B.A.L 2026". www.fiba.basketball. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
3. "Burundi's Dynamo exit Basketball Africa League over jersey row". Reuters . 12 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
4. "Burundi's Dynamo BC out of BAL over Visit Rwanda protest". ESPN.com. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
5. Sikubwabo, Damas (14 October 2025). "Burundi's Dynamo BBC withdraws from 2026 "Road to BAL"". The New Times. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
6. "African Basketball News, Scores, Stats, Analysis, Standings". www.afrobasket.com. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
7. "AS Douanes are the new champions of Burkina Faso". www.afrobasket.com. 21 September 2025. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
8. "BEAC celebrate 2025 title!". www.afrobasket.com. 12 May 2025. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
9. GONLI, Donald (10 May 2025). "Basket-ball: La JCA double champion de Côte d'Ivoire grâce à un coaching gagnant de Stéphane Konaté". www.linfodrome.com. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
10. "Basketball : Tandem et Moanda s'offrent la Coupe du Gabon et prennent la route des préliminaires de la BAL". AFC Sports (in French). 10 August 2025. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
11. "Spintex Knights drafted in 2026 Basketball Africa League Qualifiers Group B". news.ghheadlines.com. October 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
12. "History Made!". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
13. "Al Ahly Benghazi are Libya Basketball League champions!". www.afrobasket.com. 5 July 2025. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
14. "City Thunder, KPA crowned KNBL champions". Citizen Digital. 14 September 2025. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
15. Baluku, Chrispus (1 October 2025). "Namuwongo Blazers confirm participation in Road to BAL 2026 qualifiers". New Vision. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
16. "African clubs lining up for the marathon journey to the 2025 Road to BAL". www.fiba.basketball. 2 October 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
17. "VBL – Playoffs Finals : Urunani BBC de Jean-Jacques Boissy est champion du Burundi !" (in French). 29 September 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
18. "Ferroviário da Beira conquista sexto título de campeão nacional de basquetebol masculino". lance.co.mz (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 September 2025.
19. "Le COSPN sacré champion de Madagascar". 2424.mg - L'actualité à Madagascar en temps réel (in French). 14 September 2025. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
20. "ElevateTheGame: Bravehearts win CDH basketball tourney". Malawi Institute of Journalism. 9 June 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
21. "Johannesburg Giants crowned the 2025 South African champions". www.fiba.basketball. 23 September 2025. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
22. "Dar City outshine ABC to win National Basketball League title". The Citizen. 21 November 2024. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
23. "Matero Magic, Lusaka Queens retain ZBF titles". Zambia: News Diggers!. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
24. "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
25. "Everything you need to know about the 2026 Road to BAL". www.fiba.basketball. 15 October 2025. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
26. "Nairobi and Praia to host the 2026 Road to BAL Elite 16 tournaments". www.fiba.basketball. 31 October 2025. Retrieved 2 November 2025.