D’Tigress Crash Out of 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup After South Korea Defeat
Nigeria’s D’Tigress have been eliminated from the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany, after South Korea’s 95-69 defeat to France ended the African champions’ hopes of reaching the knockout stage.
France sealed their second victory in Group B on Saturday, September 5, following an earlier win over Hungary, while South Korea’s defeat to the European giants was enough to confirm Nigeria’s early exit from the competition.
D’Tigress had suffered a crucial defeat to South Korea in their opening game, leaving their qualification hopes dependent on results elsewhere.
With South Korea now holding the head-to-head advantage over Nigeria, Rena Wakama’s side can no longer finish high enough in the group to advance, regardless of the outcome of their final match against France.
Even a huge victory over France would not rescue Nigeria’s campaign, as the head-to-head rule would still work against the African champions in the event of teams finishing level on points.
The early elimination is a major disappointment for D’Tigress, who entered the tournament with hopes of building on Nigeria’s impressive history at the global championship.
Under the 2026 World Cup format, the four group winners advance directly to the quarter-finals, while teams finishing second and third qualify for a single-elimination round for places in the last eight.
The crossover games pair teams from Groups A and B, as well as Groups C and D, with the winners advancing to the quarter-finals.
Fourth-placed teams, however, are eliminated at the end of the group stage.
Nigeria will therefore miss out on both the direct quarter-final route and the qualification round.
D’Tigress’ exit also represents a setback compared with their historic 2018 World Cup campaign in Tenerife, Spain, where they reached the quarter-finals — their best-ever finish at the competition.
The Nigerian side will now turn their attention to their final group game against France, with Wakama and her players looking to finish their campaign on a positive note and restore some pride after the disappointing early exit.
