🏀🔥 Egypt U18 Basketball Team Ready for African Challenge

The Egyptian U18 basketball national team coaching staff, led by head coach Rafik Youssef, announced the final squad that will participate in AfroBasket 2026, scheduled to be held in Côte d’Ivoire, in a tournament expected to feature strong competition among Africa’s top youth teams.

The Pharaohs enter the tournament with high ambitions of achieving positive results and competing strongly, especially after a period of intensive preparations aimed at improving the players’ technical and physical readiness before the official start of the competition.

⭐ Egypt Squad for AfroBasket 2026

The final Egypt squad includes 12 players:

Ramy Magdy

Bijad Mostafa

Mostafa Tamer

Hussein Youssef

Omar Ehab

Seif Hamad

Mohamed Khaled

Bilal Soheib

Zein El Din Ahmed

Asaad Qaidar

Ahmed Osama

Mohamed Ghandour

The technical staff is relying on this group of players to build a competitive team capable of facing the African challenge, especially as youth tournaments are an important stage for discovering talents who can represent Egyptian basketball in the coming years.

🏆 Deserved Qualification and Big Pharaohs Ambitions

Egypt secured its place in the AfroBasket finals after finishing second in the Zone Five qualifiers, which were recently held at Cairo Stadium Hall.

The qualification represents an important step for the team, which aims to benefit from the continental experience, face different basketball styles, and compete for an advanced position in the tournament.

📢 Tough Group Awaits Egypt

The draw placed Egypt’s U18 team in Group A alongside hosts Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, and Nigeria.

The group represents a strong test for the Pharaohs, as all teams are looking for a positive start and a place in the knockout stages, making every match crucial in the race for qualification.

✨ Tournament Format and Quarterfinal Qualification

The tournament will be played in a single round-robin format across three groups, with teams competing to determine their rankings.

The top eight teams from the group stage will qualify for the quarterfinals, with the qualified teams ranked according to their results during the opening phase.

The three group leaders will be ranked from first to third place, while the second-place teams will occupy positions from fourth to sixth. The two best third-place teams will complete the list of eight qualified teams.

The rankings will be determined by the number of victories and goal difference, making every point and every basket extremely important during the group stage.

⚡ Quarterfinal Matchups System

Based on the final rankings, the quarterfinals will be played as follows:

First place vs eighth place

Second place vs seventh place

Third place vs sixth place

Fourth place vs fifth place

Egypt hopes to achieve the best possible ranking before the knockout stage to avoid facing difficult opponents early.

🔥 Pharaohs Looking to Create a New Chapter

Egypt’s U18 basketball team enters AfroBasket 2026 with a strong desire to achieve a new achievement for Egyptian basketball, especially with a talented group of young players representing the future of the sport.

The main goal for the coaching staff is to deliver a strong performance, develop the players, and compete seriously for the African title in a tournament that will provide a valuable opportunity to showcase the Pharaohs’ abilities.

🏀 As the competition approaches, Egyptian fans are waiting for a strong performance from the national team and results that reflect the progress of Egyptian basketball at youth level, with hopes that this generation will become the foundation for greater success in the future.