THE road to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics begins in Guadalajara, Mexico, for Senegal and South Sudan, who will compete in the FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament 2026 from 17–23 August.
In this analysis, The Big Tip Off takes a closer look at Senegal and South Sudan’s journey to Guadalajara, the key players expected to lead the charge and their chances of taking another step towards Los Angeles.
High Stakes in Guadalajara
Senegal enters the tournament as one of Africa’s most decorated women’s basketball nations, having won 11 AfroBaskets, appeared in eight World Cups and two Olympics. The Lionesses will be determined to bounce back after narrowly missing qualification for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup. South Sudan meanwhile continues to write one of the sport’s most remarkable rise stories. Just a few years after making their international debut, the Bright Starlets are now within touching distance of another historic milestone.
The tournament in Guadalajara gives both teams an early opportunity to take a significant step towards Los Angeles. Eight teams that failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup will compete for a place at the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in February 2028. The stakes are high: only one team will advance, while the remaining nations will have to wait for another route through their continental championships in 2027.
How the tournament works
The eight teams have been divided into two groups of four. South Sudan is in Group A alongside Brazil, Argentina and New Zealand, while Senegal will face Canada, hosts Mexico and the Philippines in Group B.
Each team will play the other three nations in their group once, with the top two advancing to the semi-finals. From there, the winners will meet in the final, with the tournament champion earning a place in the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in February 2028.
Senegal’s players to watch
All eyes will be on Cierra Dillard, the explosive American-born guard who serves as the Lionesses’ primary offensive weapon. After averaging 13.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists during last year’s AfroBasket and pouring in 26 points against Nigeria in the semifinals, Dillard has proven she can carry Senegal’s scoring load against elite competition.
Alongside her, Ndioma Kane anchors the paint with a formidable presence; the centre led Senegal with 16.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game at a FIBA World Cup Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Kigali, Rwanda in 2024. That has been her best performance for her country to date, and she will look to rediscover that form in Guadalajara. Her rim protection will be critical against the perimeter-oriented teams in Group B.
Keep an eye out for rising star Sabou Gueye, the Providence College product and All-BIG EAST First Team honoree whose NCAA-honed athleticism adds a dynamic scoring dimension that could prove decisive in knockout-stage basketball.
South Sudan players to watch
For South Sudan, much of the responsibility will fall on captain Adut Bulgak. The trailblazing forward made history in 2016 when she became the first South Sudanese player drafted into the WNBA, after being selected 12th overall by the New York Liberty.
Now playing professionally in Spain, Bulgak brings valuable experience and leadership to a young team that has shown it can compete when playing with confidence.
Alongside her is Maria Teresa Gakdeng, a young centre who announced herself on the continental stage with a remarkable 19-point, 24-rebound performance against Egypt at AfroBasket 2025. Her dominance on the glass played an important role in South Sudan’s historic bronze-medal campaign.
Senegal’s chances
On paper, the Lionesses have the size, experience and scoring ability to challenge for the tournament title. The bigger question is whether they have been able to move on from the disappointment of their bronze-medal defeat to South Sudan in last year’s AfroBasket and their winless World Cup qualifying campaign in Puerto Rico in March.
With the experienced Head Coach Dr Cheick Sarr, who took over ahead of the World Cup qualifiers, at the helm, things could take a positive turn for the West Africans.
But if recent disappointments continue to weigh on the team, another early exit could further raise questions about a program that his experienced a decline over the years.
South Sudan’s chances
The Bright Starlets enter Guadalajara as the lowest-ranked team in the field at No. 42 in the FIBA World Rankings, making Olympic qualification a difficult task against the more established programmes in Group A.
Their 0–5 record at the Wuhan World Cup Qualifiers highlights the gap they still need to close at the international level. But South Sudan have already shown that rankings do not tell the whole story.
Their historic AfroBasket bronze medal demonstrated what this team can achieve when it plays with physicality, attacks the boards and refuses to give up. A victory over Argentina or New Zealand would further underpin that their ascendancy is not simply the result of one successful tournament.
Even if they fall short of qualification, the experience gained in Guadalajara could prove invaluable for a programme that began its international journey five years ago.
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