The 2025 edition of the AfroBasket men’s tournament in Angola, marked by unprecedented intensity, saw new forces emerge in the second round. Nations rarely present at this stage, such as Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mali, are now emerging as serious contenders.
The 2025 Men’s AfroBasket, held in Angola in the cities of Luanda and Namibia from August 12 to 24, confirms a fundamental dynamic: underdogs such as Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mali have managed to break out of the group stage to reach the second round. The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s best performance remains the Afrobasket 1975, where it reached the semifinals. In 2025, his journey ended in the quarterfinals, just like in 2017. The new generation has shown potential against higher-ranked teams, demonstrating steady progress.
This is a new team. Even though some people think we have three or four of the main players from the qualifying round, we’ve changed a lot. You can see, for example, that we don’t have total control over what we’re doing yet. It’s frustrating because we’re not missing much. But we need to react quickly to find a better balance in our ground game.
MICHEL PERRIN, Leopards head coach
The Eagles of Mali return to the last four after 1999. Coach Alhadji Dicko was able to put together a winning team with players like Aliou Diarra and Siriman Kanouté, who were instrumental in qualifying for the semifinals against the formidable Côte d’Ivoire team, 102-96. Cameroon, for its part, returns to the quarterfinals after 2009. The new generation, which includes Yves Missi, NBA day, Jeremiah Hill, and Fabien Ateba, displayed their ambitions at the Afrobasket 2025 by beating Tunisia, the double defending champion, 86-65. The move to the final round sounds like the harvest of the team’s rejuvenation. Doing better than the silver medal in 2007 is the goal of the Cameroonian national team.
I’m certainly not the kind of coach who sells the bear’s skin before he’s killed it, but I remain confident. I think I have the means to reorganize my team. For me, every game is a final: we have to win. My goal is therefore to stay in place for as long as possible.
Alhadji Dicko, Sélectionneur national des Aigles
The emergence of new nations in the final bracket not only illustrates the growing competitiveness of AfroBasket, but also the steady progress of African basketball. The performances of Cameroon, the DR Congo, and Mali at this level of competition demonstrate that the gap between the traditional major powers and the underdogs is narrowing. A strong sign that the discipline is gaining depth and diversity on the continent.
