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 Nigeria had the luck of the draw for the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers on Saturday,  getting pitched against Uganda, Rwanda and Mali according to former Captain of D’Tigers Olumide Oyedeji.

Oyedeji, who is also a member of the NBBF board, expressed his delight with the chances of Nigeria reaching a third world Cup, after 1998 and 2006.

80 teams, starting in November! #RoadToChina #FIBAWC

All the groups 👉 https://t.co/vxHhH6Fjwz pic.twitter.com/z0V0KilKMT

— FIBA 🏀 World Cup (@FIBAWC) May 7, 2017

However, as dismissive as the group looks on paper, Oyedeji said he expects west African neighbour Mali to pose the toughest challenge to the 2015 Afrobasket Champions.

The top three countries from the four groups qualify to the next round where the twelve resulting countries would be drawn into two groups of six each. Then the top two each together with the best loser completes the five slots for Africa.