Amid fury of sports lovers against Nigeria’s football administrators over the inability of the Super Eagles and Super Falcons to qualify for the World Cup respectively, the D’Tigress intensify efforts in their preparation for the World Cup coming up in Spain this month
By Patrick Ogboru
Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, have intensified their preparations for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup with their training camp in Tenerife.
D’Tigress arrived in Spain earlier this week for the third phase of their preparations, which will run until August 24.
The Rena Wakama’s side are scheduled to face hosts Spain and Belgium during the phase before moving to Zaragoza for the fourth and final phase from August 25 to September 3.
In Zaragoza, the seven-time African champions will round off their preparations with tune-up games against Mali and Puerto Rico before travelling to Berlin, Germany, for the World Cup.
D’Tigress completed their tour of China last week on a winning note, recovering from two successive defeats to the hosts to beat them 88-77 in their third and final meeting in Foshan, Guangdong Province.
The victory avenged Nigeria’s 69-65 defeat to China in their second meeting on Sunday and their 70-67 loss in the opening encounter.
Nigeria had begun their World Cup preparations in the United States, where they trained from July 29 to August 2, before continuing their build-up in China.
The team will head to Germany for the World Cup, scheduled for September 4 to 13, having been drawn in Group B alongside Korea Republic, Hungary and France.
Nigeria will open their campaign against the Korea Republic on September 4 before facing Hungary on September 5 and France on September 7.
Wakama’s team head into the tournament on the back of a fifth consecutive FIBA Women’s AfroBasket title, following their hard-fought 78-64 victory over Mali in the 2025 final.
Their continental dominance followed a historic run at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where D’Tigress became the first African team to reach the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games.
Nigeria secured a direct ticket to the 2026 World Cup after winning the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket. They nevertheless participated in the World Cup qualifying tournament in Lyon-Villeurbanne, France, where they endured a difficult campaign, losing three of their five games.
D’Tigress will make their third appearance at the World Cup in Germany, having previously featured at the 2006 and 2018 editions.
Their best performance came in 2018, when they reached the quarter-finals and finished eighth overall.
