BERLIN (Germany) - Another huge crowd inside Berlin Arena celebrated Germany producing another stunning performance to reach the last four of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026.
On a truly great night they took down reigning FIBA Women's EuroBasket champions Belgium 93-74 to produce the greatest night in the history of German women's basketball - at least, so far.
"[Was] this was the best day of my career?" repeated Luisa Geiselsoder when prompted. "That's a really good question."
"Right now, yes," she later replied. "Because we're in Berlin, we just beat Belgium. We meet them every summer. It's hard to beat them. Right now, I'm telling you, yes. Right now, for sure."
Already assured of their best ever finish by reaching the Quarter-Finals, the hosts are now looking to continue a potential fairytale run all the way to the podium.
That was something almost unimaginable after their 30-point opening-day nightmare against Spain, but Germany have completed a staggering turnaround, going unbeaten ever since and now facing France in Saturday’s semi-final.
They are clearly the team on the rise, displaying the most stunning momentum of any team in the tournament. What, really, is their limit?
"This is the night for German women’s basketball," Geiselsoder said. "Seeing all those fans, seeing the whole tournament with the fans… our whole Group Phase [games were] sold out. The game today was sold out."
"All of that is just so incredible, amazing for Germany."
A crowd of 10,537, including the legendary Dirk Nowitzki watched on with glee as two of Germany's big-hitters Nyara Sabally and Leonie Fiebich turned up the noise for their team.
Sabally finished with a classy double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds and took TCL Player of the Game honors.
Meanwhile Fiebich answered the call of Olaf Lange to shoot more and finished with a team-high 17 points and 10 boards to also record a famous double-double.
It wasn't just the landmark victory that impressed, but also the performance which was laced with intensity, physicality, teamwork and some big shots when needed.
Just like during their famous Olympic debut at Paris 2024, they nullified the slick Belgian offense which stuttered outside of the usual brilliance of Emma Meesseman. She led the fight in defeat with a stellar 29 points - her highest ever total in the competition. Now with the Germany men's team reigning FIBA Basketball World Cup and FIBA EuroBasket champions, could the women's team join the podium party?
FIBA