Nigeria finish 8th as Tunisia win African Volleyball title

Nigeria finished eighth at the 2026 CAVB Men’s African Nations Volleyball Championship after their campaign ended with a 3-0 defeat to Ghana, while hosts Tunisia were crowned African champions on Friday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Nigeria’s seventh-place playoff defeat to Ghana on Thursday brought an end to a campaign in which the team recorded two victories and three defeats, falling short of the top three places required to secure qualification for the 2027 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship.

The Nigerians had reached the quarter-finals after progressing from the group stage, but Morocco ended their medal hopes with a narrow 3-2 victory in the last eight.

Nigeria won the opening set 25-20 before Morocco fought back to take the next two. The Nigerians levelled the contest by winning the fourth set 26-24, but Morocco prevailed 15-12 in the deciding set to advance to the semi-finals.

That defeat sent Nigeria into the classification bracket, where they subsequently lost 3-1 to Rwanda before Ghana completed their campaign with a straight-sets victory in the seventh-place playoff.

• AFCON 2027 qualifiers: Day 1 results, fixtures as Nigeria face Madagascar
• Reckitt appoints Chukwumah West Africa GM
• NTTF boss hands over equipped table tennis hall to Oyo govt

The eighth-place finish leaves Nigeria outside the three African positions allocated for the 2027 World Championship, with their continental campaign ending without a place in the medal matches.

At the top of the competition, Tunisia defeated Cameroon 3-0 in Friday’s final at El Menzah Sports Palace to retain the African title and secure the continent’s qualification place for the men’s volleyball tournament at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Cameroon, who had already secured a place at the 2027 World Championship by reaching the final, settled for silver, while Morocco and Algeria contested the bronze-medal match for Africa’s remaining World Championship ticket.

For Nigeria, the tournament provided another opportunity to compete against some of Africa’s strongest sides, but their quarter-final exit and subsequent classification defeats ultimately left them eighth in the final standings.

All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.