By Nigeria women’s national basketball team, D’Tigress will face host nation France on Sunday in a key fixture of the qualification tournament for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.
The match will take place at the Astroballe Arena in Villeurbanne, as teams continue preparations for the global tournament scheduled for September 4th to 13th, 2026 in Berlin.
Although Nigeria have already secured qualification for the World Cup after winning the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket, the ongoing qualifiers serve as an important opportunity for the African champions to test themselves against elite opposition and boost their global ranking.
D’Tigress head into the clash after three matches in the tournament, recording two victories and one defeat. They began their campaign with a dominant 70:37 win over Colombia before suffering a 77:60 loss to the South Korea women’s national basketball team.
Nigeria bounced back strongly in their third outing, defeating the Philippines women’s national basketball team 101:84 in an impressive comeback victory after trailing at halftime. The win marked their second in three games and also saw the team surpass the 100-point mark for the first time in the competition.
The team is led by head coach Rena Wakama, who became the first woman to manage the senior national women’s basketball team. Under her leadership, D’Tigress won the AfroBasket title and reached the quarter-finals of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, a major milestone for Nigerian women’s basketball.
Sunday’s encounter is expected to be Nigeria’s toughest test in the tournament, with France regarded as one of Europe’s strongest basketball nations and the host of the qualifying event.
The African champions will also be aiming to strengthen their growing reputation as one of the leading women’s basketball teams outside Europe and North America.
