D’Tigress Of Nigeria Target Stronger World Cup Showing After Mixed Qualifiers

Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, the D’Tigress, have set their sights on a sharper performance at the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup after a testing run in the qualifying series.

The African champions wrapped up the tournament with two wins and three losses, beating Colombia and the Philippines but falling to South Korea, France and Germany. The results did little to alter their status, having already booked their place at the World Cup by clinching the 2025 Women’s AfroBasket title.

Head coach Rena Wakama believes the demanding schedule offered more positives than setbacks, pointing to the value of high-level competition.

“It was a great week of games that we had. I know it was rough, five games in seven days, but this was a great week of preparation for our team. Going into the World Cup, we will be better than we were this week,” Wakama said.

Guard Elizabeth Balogun echoed that view, stressing the need for steady improvement as the team turns its attention to September.

“I would say just getting better individually and also as a team. Going back to watch where we could do better and where we did well, and just improving our talents while learning from our mistakes. The goal is to get better every day, so that is the preparation we are going to focus on,” Balogun said.

Wakama, however, did not shy away from pointing out flaws. Slow starts and poor decisions in key moments remain a concern, with the coach calling for sharper focus and consistency.

“We have to start better. We have to start games better, make better decisions in critical moments, and continue to improve,” Wakama added.

“We had a lot of breakdowns in this tournament, especially in areas we have already worked on. We just need to be more focused at the start of games and bring the right energy, that is the main thing.”

The World Cup will be staged in Berlin from September 4 to 13, with the draw set for April 21 at Kraftwerk Berlin. Nigeria, which featured at the tournament in 2006 and 2018, are chasing a deeper run this time.

As part of their build-up, D’Tigress will face Minnesota Lynx in the United States in April, a landmark fixture that will see an African national side take on a WNBA franchise for the first time.