D’Tigress Arrive Berlin For FIBA World Cup

Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, have arrived in Berlin, Germany, ahead of the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, with the African champions now entering the final stage of their preparations for the global tournament.

The team was received in the German capital by Nigeria’s Ambassador to Germany, Senator Ita Enang, alongside officials of the Nigerian diplomatic mission.

D’Tigress travelled to Berlin after completing the latest phase of their preparations in Zaragoza, Spain. Coach Rena Wakama’s side used the Spanish camp to sharpen their game and played tune-up matches against Mali and Puerto Rico.

The Zaragoza camp formed part of an extensive preparation programme that also took the team through the United States, China and Tenerife in Spain as they built towards the tournament.

The World Cup begins on Friday, September 4, and runs until September 13 in Berlin, with Nigeria drawn in Group B alongside South Korea, Hungary and France.

D’Tigress will open their campaign against South Korea on Friday before facing Hungary on Saturday. Their final group-stage fixture will be against France on Monday, September 7.

The Nigerian team enters the competition as the reigning African champions after winning a record fifth consecutive FIBA Women’s AfroBasket title in 2025. D’Tigress defeated Mali 78-64 in the final in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to maintain their dominance on the continent.

The team will also draw confidence from its historic performance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where D’Tigress became the first African basketball team to reach the quarter-finals of the Olympics.

Nigeria’s best finish at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup came in 2018, when the team reached the quarter-finals and finished eighth.

The Berlin tournament provides Wakama’s players with another opportunity to build on their recent international progress and challenge some of the world’s strongest teams.

With their arrival now completed, attention will turn to their final training sessions and tactical preparations before the opening game against South Korea.

The coaching staff will be expected to ensure the players remain focused, physically ready and tactically disciplined for the demanding group-stage schedule.