Arguably Nigeria’s most charming national sides in recent times, the D’Tigress, Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, will return to competitive action when the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup kicks off in Berlin, Germany, on September 3.

Nigeria sealed direct qualification to the 20th edition of the World Cup by winning the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket, though they’d participate in the World Cup qualifying tournament in Lyon, where they had a mixed run.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by D’Tigress | Nigeria Basketball (@dtigressofficial)

Drawn in Group B, the Rena Wakama-coached side, who are ranked eighth globally, will face South Korea, Hungary and France as they look to improve on their last appearance on the global stage at the 2018 edition in Spain, where they finished in the quarterfinals.

How Much World Cup Experience Does D’Tigress Have? 

When the D’Tigress kick off their campaign against Korea on September 4, it’ll only be their third appearance in the competition, after earlier appearances at the 2006 edition, which ended in a group-stage exit, and the 2018 edition, where they finished eighth. 

Despite qualifying for the 2022 edition of the Mundial in Australia, Nigeria didn’t participate in the tournament due to a Nigerian government ban on its teams participating in international competitions at the time. 

How Does Nigeria’s D’Tigress Measure Against Its Group Opponents?

Pound for pound, Nigeria does not hold an enviable position in Group B when it comes to World Cup pedigree. South Korea, for one, will be making its 17th appearance in the competition, the joint-highest appearance by any national team alongside perennial champions and favourites, the USA. The Asian team has also come very close to winning the tournament, finishing second in 1967 and 1979.

Likewise, France has a superior record, having participated in 11 editions before now and finishing third at the 1953 edition. Hungary appears to have the least experience of the bunch, as they’ll be making their first FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup appearance of the 21st century.

World Cup pedigree aside, the current FIBA rankings, which reflect successful performances in FIBA competitions (like the Olympics and AfroBasket, tournaments where Nigeria has performed exceptionally well recently), offer a better outlook for the D’Tigress. At the 2024 Paris Games, the D’Tigress made history with a quarterfinal finish, becoming the first African national basketball team to reach the stage. Nigeria’s dominance is even more pronounced at the AfroBasket, where the D’Tigress have won five consecutive titles between 2017 and 2025.  The team is consequently ranked eighth in the world, the second-highest in the group, behind France, who are ranked second. Korea are currently ranked 15th, while Hungary are 19th. Neither team participated at the Paris Games. 

How Ready Are D’Tigress for the 2026 World Cup? 

For a Nigerian national sports team, the D’Tigress have enjoyed quite an unusually satisfactory preparatory stint. The 2025 AfroBasket champions have had a whopping eight preparatory games since they began their preparations against WNBA sides in the United States in April. Of all the 16 teams set to contest at the World Cup, Nigeria has played the most pre-tournament matches, though China could eclipse them before the tournament kicks off. 

Interestingly, however, the D’Tigress only managed one win, an 88-77 victory over China during their three-game preparatory tour against the hosts in Haikou and Foshan earlier in August.

In their last game against Belgium in Tenerife, Spain, on August 22, the team suffered a heavy 55-90 loss. However, these results need not be taken with more than a pinch of salt, since the team were missing several key players, including coach Wakama, who was away fulfilling her other commitment as an assistant coach of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. 

The expectation now is for the Nigerian head coach to release her final roster and join the team ahead of the competition. 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by D’Tigress | Nigeria Basketball (@dtigressofficial)

Which Players Could Define D’Tigress’ World Cup Campaign? 

A distinct feature of the D’Tigress has always been their collective strength. While individual brilliance, helmed by Wakama’s glaring tactical imprint on the side, has also contributed immensely, the team has largely succeeded by parading a collective unit where all the wheels are always in motion.

That said, Murjanatu Musa and Victoria Macaulay are two players who impressed the most during the preparatory runs, and you fancy their chances of continuing in that vein, especially Musa, who is still riding high after helping her club side, Basket Landes, to a historic double in France.

Captain and two-time FIBA Women’s AfroBasket MVP Amy Okonkwo, alongside the ever-reliable Ezinne Kalu, have rarely failed Nigeria, and the World Cup seems like the unlikeliest stage for that to change. Though their ageing profiles, including Macaulay’s, could prove to be an Achilles’ heel when the going gets tough in Berlin.