Nigeria’s D’Tigress are getting ready for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup. Head coach Rena Wakama is set to rejoin the team before the tournament kicks off in Germany.
Wakama has been in the United States for her job with the WNBA team Chicago Sky. She is expected to reunite with her players before the World Cup starts.
The tournament will take place from 4-13 September. D’Tigress will move to Zaragoza, Spain, for the last part of their training.
Wakama balances her role as Nigeria’s head coach with her job as an assistant coach for Chicago Sky. The team announced her appointment in April under head coach Tyler Marsh.
Nigeria kicked off their World Cup training with a camp in Chicago from 29 July to 2 August. After that, they traveled to China for a three-game exhibition series.
D’Tigress then went to Spain, where they played against some of Europe’s top basketball teams as part of their training.
In Zaragoza, they will play more preparation games against Mali and Puerto Rico before heading to Berlin for the World Cup.
The African champions have had a tough time preparing for the tournament, winning only one of their five warm-up games so far.
In China, Nigeria started with two losses, falling 70-67 and 69-65. They managed to bounce back with a good 88-77 win on 12 August.
But their recent games in Tenerife raised more worries, as D’Tigress faced heavy losses against two strong European teams.
They lost 83-58 to Spain on 21 August and then faced another tough defeat against Belgium, who beat them 90-55 the next day.
These results have shown areas that need improvement during the final training stage as Nigeria aims for a strong showing on the world stage.
Despite the tough warm-up, D’Tigress head to Germany as the reigning African champions. They won their fifth straight FIBA Women’s AfroBasket title with a hard-fought 78-64 win over Mali in the 2025 final.
Their success in Africa followed a historic run at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Nigeria became the first African team to reach the quarter-finals of the Olympic basketball tournament.
Nigeria secured a spot at the 2026 World Cup by winning the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket. They also played in the qualifying tournament in Lyon-Villeurbanne, France, where they had a tough time, winning two and losing three of their five games.
The tournament in Germany will be D’Tigress’ third appearance at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup. They previously played in 2006 and 2018.
Their best showing was in 2018, when they reached the quarter-finals and finished eighth overall.
Nigeria repeated this at the 2022 World Cup, reaching the last eight and further establishing D’Tigress as one of Africa’s top basketball teams.
With less than two weeks before the 2026 tournament starts, Wakama’s return will be key for Nigeria’s final preparations as they look to turn a tough pre-tournament run into another memorable World Cup performance.
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