BERLIN (Germany) - When Hungary needed someone to step up and take them to the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Quarter-Finals, Reka Lelik answered the call with one of her best displays in a national team jersey.
Hungary outlasted Japan 84-63 in the Qualification to Quarter-Finals and punched a top eight finish for the first time since 1986 with Lelik the TCL Player Player of the Game.
"Absolutely, it feels incredible," said Lelik. "It's been 40 years since we've been to the Quarter-Finals."
"I still can’t believe it. Huge shock."
"But this is really a big team effort.... I'm so proud of the girls."
"We have a very good team chemistry, we stick with each other, hug all the time. I'm so proud of what we did today because keeping under 60 points Japan is amazing team defense. That shows who we are."
Coach Peter Volgyi echoed the statement of his star scorer: "How we played in the second half is what we wanted to play. Happy that we were able to show that."
With the usually dominant Dorka Juhasz restricted to a modest 10 points, Lelik took the initiative to set up an intriguing Quarter-Finals matchup with USA. She recorded one of the highest performance efficiency valuations in the tournament so far at 32 after coming up with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Best Player Game-High Efficiency at the Women's World Cup 2026
Rank | Player (Country) | Efficiency |
|---|---|---|
1 | Emma Meesseman (Belgium) | 33 |
- | Gabby Williams (France) | 33 |
3 | Reka Lelik (Hungary) | 32 |
Placed 19th place in the FIBA World Ranking Women it was a big win for Hungary against 10th ranked Japan and it also delivered a third consecutive victory in Berlin.
Meanwhile there will be huge excitement as Hungary prepare to face USA in the competition for the first time in 40 years.
"I think it's going to be a great game, " said Juhasz. "Not many times Hungary have faced USA in any shape or form, so I think it's going to be fun."
"It's already a big thing that we're in the Top 8 in the world. It's been, what, 40 years? But we're going to rest. We're going to bring our hearts, our fight, and give all we have in that game."
Lelik is also looking forward to the clash, as she has had less chances to go up against the superstars of USA compared to Juhasz.
"I'm excited to play the very best players and team in the world," said Lelik. "I've never had the opportunity to play against them so I'm just very excited about how it’s going to be.
Hungary might even take some inspiration from Italy, who forced USA to sweat out their victory in the final seconds just a few days ago.
"What Italy did on defense was amazing. I think we need to continue what they did," added Lelik, while also acknowledging that USA will have potentially made many changes since.
"But on defense we need to focus for 40 minutes."
"We cannot lose focus for any second and on offense we need ot be brave."
Reka Lelik
A matchup that fans might be looking forward to is between Juhasz and Bueckers, the teammates from their days back at UCONN.
"It's going to be super fun," said the Hungarian star. "I always love to play against her... I'm just excited to see us representing our countries and just compete against each other."
"I'm sure she's going to try some tricks on me."
FIBA