Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, have been handed one of the toughest assignments in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 after Tuesday’s draw placed them in Group B alongside powerhouse France, Hungary and South Korea. The African champions, ranked eighth in the world and fresh from dominating the continent, will now face an immediate test against the Olympic silver medallists France in what analysts are already calling a potential Group of Death.
The draw ceremony, held on at Berlin’s Kraftwerk venue, set the stage for the 16-team tournament scheduled for September 4 to 13 in the German capital. Seeded in Pot 2 as one of the top continental performers, Nigeria could not avoid a high-calibre European side and now confront a group that mixes proven international pedigree with emerging threats. France, runners-up at the Paris Olympics, headline the pool, while Hungary and South Korea add layers of tactical complexity for coach Otis Baker’s side.
Group B opens with Nigeria facing South Korea on September 4, followed by Hungary on September 5 and the marquee clash against France on September 7, all at Berlin venues. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals, meaning every preliminary match carries decisive weight for the D’Tigress as they chase their best-ever World Cup finish.
The full draw produced four competitive pools shaped by FIBA’s geographical and ranking restrictions. Group A pits host Germany against Japan, Spain and Mali. Group C combines Belgium, Australia, Puerto Rico and Türkiye, while Group D features the United States, Czechia, Italy and China in another star-studded section.
Nigeria enter the tournament as back-to-back AfroBasket champions and one of only four automatic qualifiers alongside the United States, Australia and Belgium. Their Pot 2 seeding reflected steady global progress, yet the draw has immediately sharpened focus on the challenge ahead. The D’Tigress last appeared at the World Cup in 2018 and will be determined to make a deeper run on European soil this September.
