The history of the BAL Third-Place Game

Regardless of the outcome of Sunday's 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL) Third-Place playoff between Al Ahly Ly and Al Ahly SC, the winner will bring the honours to the northern part of Africa for the first time since 2022. 

Just as the BAL trophy ended up in five different parts of Africa in the first five editions of the league, so too has the Third-Place Game, ending up in five different parts of Africa.

Before Zamalek took the Third-Place Game title to Egypt in 2022 while chasing a back-to-back BAL title, it went to Angola after Petro de Luanda defeated Patriots Basketball (97-68) in the inaugural season in 2021. 

The following year, in 2023, Petro de Luanda reached the semi-finals with an admirable 6–0 win–loss record, but a 92–86 loss to AS Douanes in the Last Four relegated them to the Third-Place playoff, where they were defeated 73–65 by Stade Malien of Mali.

In the 2024 BAL season, Rivers Hoopers of Nigeria had one of their best showings in BAL history.

The Port Harcourt team advanced to the Semi-Finals with a 6–2 record, but overcoming the eventual finalists, Al Ahly Ly, in the Last Four proved impossible, with the Hoopers falling 89–83. 

In the Third-Place playoff, the Hoopers outclassed South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers 80–57 to become the first Nigerian team to finish in the top three of a BAL season.

Last year, Egypt’s Al Ittihad Alexandria were dominant in the Sahara Conference and the early stages of the playoffs, winning all eight of their games. 

However, they crashed out after losing 96-74 to Petro de Luanda in the Semi-Finals.

Al Ittihad Alexandria eventually finished fourth after losing 123–90 to Rwanda’s APR in the Third-Place playoff.

BAL