The Road to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) 2025 qualifying rounds will soon kick off, ushering in months of intense basketball action across the continent.
While some teams have already secured their spots in Africa’s premier club basketball competition, others are still battling in their respective leagues to determine who will join them when the opening whistle blows in a few weeks.
The Road to BAL will run from September to December, with host cities yet to be announced. Teams that have conquered their domestic challenges will represent their countries in the fifth edition of the Road to BAL.
They must prepare diligently for the initial phase, aiming to reach the Elite 16 before they can aspire to compete against the top contenders.
Teams that have previously competed against the continent’s best include last edition’s Kalahari Conference winners, Faith Union Sport (FUS) Rabat of Morocco, who lead the list of already qualified teams.
FUS de Rabat had a successful BAL debut, finishing in the top three in the Division West Elite 16 and advancing to the BAL 2024 quarterfinals.
Another notable team is Abidjan Basketball Club (ABC) of Cote d’Ivoire, regular participants in the continent’s top competition.
ABC was involved in one of the most thrilling games of BAL Season 3, narrowly losing 88-84 to last year’s champions, Petro de Luanda of Angola, the first Sub-Saharan African team to win the BAL finals.
ABC is expected to regroup and make a strong showing again this year, having overcome local rivals SOA 65-64 in the decisive third game of their domestic league to enter the Road to BAL 2025.
Algeria has not been represented in the BAL since GSP Petroliers carried the country’s flag in the inaugural BAL season in 2021.
However, this time, Boufarik earned the right to represent Algeria in the qualification round to the BAL, defeating TRA Draria 60-41 to win the final series.

Two-time BAL participant Forces Armies et Police (FAP) fell short in Cameroon’s domestic league, leaving the Central African country’s Road to BAL slot to new champions KSA de Douala.
Libya will be represented by a new team for the third time in Road to BAL history, as Al-Ahly Tripoli won the Libyan Basketball League title for the eighth time in its history.
Recently founded, Nairobi City Thunder are Kenya’s new champions and will represent the country in the upcoming Road to BAL campaign, making history as the first team to be crowned Kenyan champions without losing a single game in the league’s 37-year history.
Also in the mix of Road to BAL 2025 candidates are Matero Magic of Zambia. According to BAL, the champions of Angola, Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tunisia are directly qualified for the BAL regular season.
Al Ittihad upset former BAL champion Al Ahly SC 76-70 in Game 4 of Egypt’s Super League final to earn their spot in the BAL. ASVCD of Senegal joins after upsetting DUC to claim a historic title, becoming the third Senegalese team in the event.
BAL reigning champions Petro de Luanda, who will represent the continent at next month’s FIBA Intercontinental Cup in Singapore, won the Angola league for the fourth consecutive time. The field will soon be complete as other teams join the race.
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is the premier men’s basketball league in Africa. Founded in 2019, the organization was established by both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
Each season typically runs from March to May, and in the current format the league consists of twelve teams. Each of the teams qualify through their performance in their domestic competition, a meritocratic system similar to the format of the UEFA Champions League.
Six teams qualify directly, while six others have to play in the Road to BAL. The season exists out of three conferences and uses playoffs to determine the champions. The BAL champions of each season automatically qualify for the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
Source: FIBA Basketball