Nigeria women’s national basketball team, D’Tigress, have moved to 14th position on the recently released FIBA world ranking after booking a ticket to the 2022 World Cup in Australia.

The new FIBA World Ranking presented by Nike reflects the teams’ performance at the just-concluded FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournaments in Belgrade, Serbia.

Despite suffering an opening day defeat in Belgrade to China who remain fifth on the rankings, Otis Hughley’s side defied the odds in their quest for a ticket to Australia.

D’Tigress who were ranked 13th during the qualifiers defeated world number five, France, by 67-65 points, contributing to the French team’s slide to sixth on the FIBA ranking.

Hughley’s women booked their ticket to Sydney with a 73-69 victory over fellow Africans, Mali, who are now ranked 34th in the world and third in Africa.

D’Tigress’ outstanding performance in Belgrade gave them a lift from 13th to 14th as Italy dropped two spots down to 15th to allow Korea who were formerly 14t to occupy 13th position.

The United States remain world number one, followed by Spain, Australia, Canada and Belgium.

Meanwhile, D’Tigress remain the top-ranked team in Africa, leading with 421.4 points, 182.9 points ahead of second-placed Senegal who have 238.5 points, ranking 30th in the world.

Mali (37), Mozambique (41) and Angola (44) occupy the third to fifth position on the African ranking.

See the top 20 teams on FIBA World Ranking below:

1. USA

2. Spain

3. Australia

4. Canada

5. Belgium

6. France

7. China

8. Japan

9. Turkey

10. Serbia

11. Belarus

12. Russia

13. Korea

14. Nigeria

15. Italy

16. Brazil

17. Puerto Rico

18. Greece

19. Sweden

20. Montenegro