South Sudan qualified for the first Olympic Games in its young history by winning the only direct ticket for Paris 2024 allocated to the African zone thanks to its victory against Angola (101-78) on Saturday in Manila. The “Bright Stars”, who are participating in their first World Cup, are guaranteed to finish with the best record of the five African teams (three wins for two losses) after the defeat of Egypt (2/3), beaten by New Zealand (88-86).
The selection of former NBA player Luol Deng, president of the federation and coach for the end of World Cup qualifying, brings smiles to a country that has been independent since 2011 and is still struggling to recover from a bloody war. civil war that killed at least 380,000 people and displaced millions between 2013 and 2018. Australia, the best country in Oceania at this World Cup, and France as the host country were already qualified for the Games.
Five direct tickets remain to be awarded to the World Cup: for the two highest ranked countries in the Europe and Americas zones, and the best Asian.
