Team Profile: Are Nigeria knocking on the door of history again?

BERLIN (Germany) - After making the Quarter-Finals at Paris 2024, D'Tigress put their name up in lights and now they have the chance to break new ground at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup.

A top seven finish for Nigeria would surpass their previous highest finish on a global stage. This will surely be the minimum aim for Rene Wakama and her players who are so dominant whenever competing on their own Continent.

Check the latest on who might be stepping out in Berlin

Roster Tracker: FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026

Stacked with veteran players who have a harden edge to their game, nobody is likely to relish going up against the African champions in the German capital.

How they qualified

Nigeria punched a direct ticket to this year's showpiece thanks to being crowned FIBA Women's AfroBasket 2025 champions. They won the title with a hard-fought 78-64 triumph against Mali. However, they still participated in the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournament and had a mixed and arguably under-par performance in Lyon-Villeurbanne where they lost three of their five games.

FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournament (Lyon-Villeurbanne, France) Gameday 1: Nigeria 70-37 Colombia (W) Game Report Gameday 2: Korea 77-60 Nigeria (L) Game Report Gameday 3: Nigeria 101-84 Philippines (W) Game Report Gameday 4: France 93-86 Nigeria (L) Game Report Gameday 5: Nigeria 73-81 Germany (L) Game Report

Women's World Cup pedigree

• Number of participations (including 2026): 3

• Last participation: 2018 (8th)

• Best finish: 8th (2018)

• Podium finishes: None

• Current FIBA World Ranking for Women, presented by Nike: 8th

Last 10 FIBA events

The Group Phase

After suffering a surprise heavy loss to Korea at the Qualifying Tournament, Nigeria will want to get cooking and extract some much needed revenge. It could be a crunch game in the context of the Group, since the also avenging their March defeat against France will be a tough assignment during the last group game. So, with Korea and Hungary up first, D'Tigress really do need to make a very quick start.

Group Phase Games

Korea vs Nigeria (Sep 4) Nigeria vs Hungary (Sep 5) Nigeria vs France (Sep 7)

Players to watch

Ezinne Kalu is the heartbeat of this team and showed in the French capital in 2024 just what a force of nature she can be. The playmaker remains hugely influential and even if her numbers are not as high as hoped, the way she leads and looks after the intangibles remains compelling.

Victoria Macaualy and Murjanatu Musa will form a powerful and potent duo inside the paint. The former who is another standout veteran, was excellent in the Qualifying Tournament.

Musa comes into this competition having posted an extraordinary club campaign in EuroLeague Women with Basket Landes. Also, watch out for Amy Okonkwo who is also a game-winner in waiting and two-time FIBA Women's AfroBasket MVP.

Fear and Hope

The fear for Nigeria could be a lack of new blood and backcourt depth in terms of energetic and dynamic bench options that can impact games. It's not a huge fear, but in a tournament against elite nations, it matters. This team is obviously two years older than Paris. It will be interesting to see how they play and manage the rotations.

On the flip-side, if this largely experienced team has enough left in the tank, then the hope will be that their vast and priceless know-how can underpin their challenge. They also have a such a good physical and collective competitive streak - as good as anyone, so will never die on the court wondering what might have been.

FIBA