From civil war to the Olympic stage: The road to glory for South Sudan’s men’s basketball team has been a journey of resilience and triumph.

Now, the women’s team is set to make their debut at the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket.

The South Sudan women’s team will compete for the first time at the continental event from 25 July to 3 August in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

FIBA Africa awarded them one of two remaining wild cards. South Sudan will now join Egypt and Mozambique who earned their slots in early March.

After beating Kenya twice and edging past Burundi in the qualifiers, South Sudan finished third behind FIBA Africa Zone 5 winners Uganda and runners-up Egypt.

This is another chapter in South Sudan’s inspiring basketball story that captivated the sports’ world as the men’s national team overcame the odds to qualify for the 2023 World Cup and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

South Sudan are still reeling from the effects of a long civil war. There aren’t even modern basketball training gyms in the country. Yet their athletes are using sports to rewrite their story.

The tournament draw for the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket will be held on 23 April in Abidjan.

The teams that have qualified so far are: Côte d’Ivoire (hosts), Nigeria (2023 champions), Senegal (2023 runners-up), Mali (2023 bronze medallists), Rwanda (2023 fourth-place), Cameroon (Zone 4 qualifiers), Uganda (Zone 5 qualifiers), Angola (Zone 6 qualifiers), Egypt (wildcard) and Mozambique (wildcard), South Sudan (wildcard) and Zone 2 -TBA (wildcard).