Nigeria’s D’Tigress arrive at the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Berlin aiming to build on breakthroughs that began in Spain 2018 and peaked at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where they became the first African team, men’s or women’s, to reach the Olympic basketball quarter-finals.
Coach Rena Wakama has named a 12-player squad captained by Amy Okonkwo. Ezinne Kalu, 34, and Promise Amukamara are the only players retained from the 2018 World Cup group that beat Greece 57-56 to become the first African side into the women’s last eight. The duo will become the only Nigerians to feature at two Women’s World Cups.
Kalu, who top-scored for Nigeria in Paris and posted 21 points in the historic victory over Canada, anchors the side alongside reigning back-to-back Afrobasket MVP Okonkwo. Wakama is also reunited with Sika Kone and Maimouna Haidara in the Mali set-up, with Nagnouma Coulibaly, described as the greatest rebounder in Afrobasket history, returning for Mali’s campaign.
Drawn in Group B, Nigeria face Hungary, South Korea and France. Mali meet Japan, Germany and Spain in Group A. The top four in each pool advance to quarter-finals in Berlin, with semi-finals set for 12 September and the final on 13 September.
D’Tigress opened their 2018 run with a 75-62 win over Australia, the eventual bronze medallists, before falling to France and edging Canada in another landmark result.
