Egypt U18 vs Chad U18

Chad's dominance on the glass and at the rim proved decisive across all four quarters, but the true knockout blow came in the fourth. After Egypt had clawed back to within striking distance, Chad opened the final period with a 10-0 run that extinguished any hope of a Pharaonic comeback. Ngaba scored or assisted on six of those points, and Mahamat Aka Ousmane added a coast-to-coast layup that forced an Egypt timeout. The lead ballooned from 7 to 17 in under three minutes.

Yaya Ngaba (Chad) — Player of the Match Ngaba delivered one of the tournament's finest individual performances: 33 points, 19 rebounds and 7 blocked shots. The forward was unplayable on both ends, controlling the paint, altering Egypt's shots at the rim and finishing with authority in transition. His efficiency rating was the highest of any player on the day. "You know he can do more; he can really do more," Chad coach Asnal Noubaramadje told FIBA. "But he's very young, so he made a lot of mistakes, but I'm very happy for him to show people that Chad has this kind of talent."

Junior Djibrine (Chad) Djibrine provided the perfect complement to Ngaba with 21 points and 11 rebounds. His shooting from mid-range and ability to create his own shot kept Egypt's defence honest and prevented them from double-teaming Ngaba.

Mahamat Aka Ousmane (Chad) Ousmane added 14 points, including two transition baskets in the fourth quarter that sealed the deal. His speed in the open court was a constant problem for Egypt's backline.

Ahmed Bakry (Egypt) Bakry was the only Egyptian in double figures with 12 points, but he received little support. Egypt's effort "kept declining with every quarter," as FIBA noted, and the team shot just 25% from the field — 13.6% from three-point range.

The boxscore tells a clear story of interior dominance. Chad shot 43% from the field (47.9% on two-pointers) compared to Egypt's 25% overall (31% on twos). Chad's 3-point shooting was also superior at 31.8% to Egypt's 13.6%. The only area where Egypt outperformed was free-throw shooting (69.2% to 46.2%), but they didn't generate enough trips to the line to make it matter. Chad led for 37:09 of the 40 minutes; Egypt led for just 1:26. The biggest lead gap — Chad's 21-point advantage versus Egypt's 0 — underscores how one-sided the contest was.

The victory sent Chad directly into the quarterfinals in their debut U18 AfroBasket campaign. Egypt dropped to 1-2 in Group A but still had a path to the knockout stage as one of the two best third-place finishers. (Egypt ultimately qualified and went on to finish 6th after losing the 5th-place game 70-68 to Tunisia on 16 August.)

Chad coach Noubaramadje summed up the significance: "What defines us is always doing things with heart, you know. We have a lot of talent; we just don't have enough infrastructure like other people. So, what we need is just opportunities like this to show people that in Chad we have a lot of talent. So today I think that everybody can put Chad somewhere on the map."

Chad were the better team from tip to buzzer. Ngaba's two-way masterclass — 33 points, 19 rebounds, 7 blocks — will be remembered as one of the standout individual performances of the 2026 tournament. Egypt, outshot and out-rebounded, had no answer for Chad's physicality in the paint.