NAIROBI, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Angola's international basketball player Yanick Moreira says next year's World Cup in China will be a game changer - not only for his country, but for the entire African continent.
Moreira, who had stopped over in Nairobi from Luanda on his way back to Athens, where he plays for PAOK in Greece's top flight, says African teams have improved a lot and will be a thorn in the side of more established nations at China 2019.
"To me it means a lot to see the quality players that African teams could take to the World Cup. This is going to be a fantastic experience for Africans to show the world how good we are. It will be a game-changer," said Moreira on Tuesday in Nairobi.
Angola is the third African country to qualify for the World Cup and will join continental champions Tunisia and Nigeria at next year's tournament.
There are still two more slots up for grabs for African teams, which will be decided in February when Group F teams conclude their qualifiers.
"If the European teams sleep, they might get beaten by African teams. All African teams that have qualified for the World Cup - I think Senegal will qualify too - have really great players and are well coached," opined Moreira.
Following the fifth window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers, 17 teams now know they will join hosts China at the first-ever 32-team edition of basketball's biggest competition.
That means 14 spots are still on offer and will be filled in the sixth and final window of qualifiers in February 2019.
However, there will be no hope for Egypt, Morocco, Chad, Rwanda and Mali making it to the finals.
One African side who can still qualify is Cameroon, who finished third in Group E and will secure a spot in the World Cup if the third-placed team in Group F has a worse record.
Cameroon, who stopped in Nairobi for a friendly match against Kenya on their way to Luanda for the qualifiers, will stage the final qualifiers in February 2019.
Senegal will also secure a spot at the World Cup with a win or if Cote d'Ivoire lose at least one of their last three games. Cote d'Ivoire and the Central Africa Republic are also still in contention for a ticket to China.
Other teams that have qualified for the 2019 finals are New Zealand, South Korea, Argentina, the U.S., Venezuela, Canada, Australia, Spain, Turkey, Lithuania, France, Czech Republic, Greece and Germany.
