Nigeria’s D’Tigress will start their campaign at the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany, as the tournament’s confirmed rosters set the stage for Friday’s opening tip-off.
The tournament runs from Friday, September 4th to Sunday, September 13th and features 16 teams, with Nigeria placed in Group B alongside France, Hungary, and South Korea.
D’Tigress will open against South Korea on Friday before facing Hungary on September 5th and France on September 7th.
The top team in each group advances directly to the quarterfinals, while the second- and third-place teams need to win a qualification game to reach the last eight.
Nigeria qualified after winning the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket title, beating Mali 78-64 in the final.
The team has also won five consecutive AfroBasket titles and remains Africa’s leading women’s basketball team. However, the World Cup presents a bigger challenge.
Nigeria has only participated in the competition twice before, finishing 16th in 2006 and reaching an historic eighth place in 2018.
D’Tigress became the first African team to reach the World Cup quarterfinals that year.
Nigeria did not participate in the 2022 edition.
The current squad includes veterans Ezinne Kalu, Amy Okonkwo, Victoria Macaulay, and Murjanatu Musa.
FIBA ranks Nigeria eighth in the world.
Coach Rena Wakama also led Nigeria to the Olympic quarterfinals in Paris in 2024, another first for an African team. She said after that historic run: “When we are focused on something, and when we all come together, we are powerful.”
Kalu has also spoken about the pride of representing Nigeria, saying, “It is a huge deal representing Nigeria internationally.”
The United States, the defending champions, will begin their title defense against China.
The Americans have won the last four World Cups and are chasing a fifth consecutive crown. For D’Tigress, Berlin offers another chance to make history.
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