2026 BAL qualification

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.

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

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]
Central African Republic	New Tech Bantou
DR Congo	New Generation
Ivory Coast	JCA	2025 Ligue d'Or champions	[8]
Gabon	Moanda	2025 Gabonese Basketball Cup champions	[9]
Ghana	Spintex Knights	2025 Accra Basketball League champions	[10]
Guinea	Centre Fédéral de Guinée
Mali	CRB Tombouctou	2025 Ligue 1 champions	[11]
Liberia	LPRC Oilers	2024–25 LFA First Division
Libya	Al Ahly Ly	2024–25 Libyan Division I Basketball League	[12]

East Division

Association	Team	Qualification method	Ref.
Entered in Elite 16
Kenya	Nairobi City Thunder	2024–25 KBF Premier League champions	[13]
Cameroon	BEAC	2024–25 Elite Messieurs 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]

First round

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

Ranking of third-placed teams

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Tech Bantou	2	0	2	146	164	−18	2	Advance to Elite 16
2	Elan Coton	2	0	2	92	132	−40	2
3	Centre Fédéral de Guinée	2	0	2	111	162	−51	2	Eliminated

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: FIBA

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	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
(H) Hosts

Elite 16

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

West Division

New Tech Bantou withdrew after it failed to travel to Praia in time.^[27]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Jeunesse Club d'Abidjan	3	3	0	239	203	+36	6	Advance to final round
2	CRB Tombouctou	3	2	1	239	240	−1	5
3	New Generation	3	1	2	198	225	−27	4
4	Kriol Star (H)	3	0	3	255	263	−8	3

Source: FIBA
(H) Hosts

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Al Ahly Ly	2	2	0	177	131	+46	4	Advance to final round
2	Spintex Knights	2	1	1	134	157	−23	3
3	Moanda	2	0	2	137	160	−23	2
4	New Tech Bantou	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew

Source: FIBA

Final round

	Semi-finals				Final
	JCA Abidjan
	Spintex Knights
	Al Ahly Ly
	CRB Tombouctou
					Third place game

Semi-finals

Third place game

Final

East Division

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Namuwongo Blazers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to final round
2	Dar City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Nairobi City Thunder (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Matero Magic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Ferroviário da Beira	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Johannesburg Giants	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Elan Coton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	BEAC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Source: FIBA
(H) Hosts

Final round

Semifinals

Third place game

Final

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]