Nigeria’s D’Tigers must be in superb form to get anything from the forthcoming third qualifying window for the Qatar 2027 FIBA World Cup owing to the country’s low rating in the series.

Describing the race for the 2027 Qatar World Cup as unpredictable is an understatement, given the competitiveness witnessed in the first 24 games, which were played in November and February, respectively.

The third window of the World Cup African Qualifiers will be held from July 2 to 5 in Dakar, Douala, and Luanda. It is a make or break competition for Nigeria, which demands that the D’Tigers must be in a winning mode to make any impact in the series.

Judging by what Nigeria displayed in the first window of the qualifiers, the D’Tigers have a lot to prove in the next three games.

Nigeria announced David Fizdale, a two-time NBA champion and former assistant coach of the Miami Heat as coach, in hopes of inspiring the West Africans to victory.

However, with only a week until the second round of qualifiers, the team has made little to no announcement about its preparations.

Heading into the third window of the qualifiers, Nigeria are 1-2, but one or two wins could see them progress to the next round.

Mali, Cameroun, Tunisia, DR Congo, Cape Verde, Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea and Senegal are among the top teams in this campaign, but if Fizdale can get D’Tigers best players on board, the journey to Qatar could well begin in Dakar.