FIBA Women’s World Cup 2026: Why D’Tigresses lost to France, others – Wakama, Okonkwo

Nigeria’s D’Tigress have been left searching for answers after a disastrous end to their 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup campaign, with head coach Rena Wakama admitting that the team is undergoing a rebuilding process following their crushing 111-56 defeat to France in Berlin.

The African champions were completely overwhelmed by the European powerhouse in their final Group B encounter on Monday, suffering their third successive defeat at the tournament and finishing bottom of the group without a win.

France raced into a 31-13 lead after the opening quarter before extending the advantage to 65-26 at half-time. The French continued their assault after the break, scoring another 30 points in the third quarter, before Nigeria managed a better showing in the final period, which France still won 16-17. Blueprint reports

The 55-point defeat became the heaviest loss in D’Tigress history and also their biggest defeat at a FIBA Women’s World Cup.

Rather than blame individual players for the heavy loss, Wakama acknowledged that the current D’Tigress side cannot simply be judged against the standards established by the team that made history at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“The reality of where we are today is that we are in a rebuilding process,” Wakama said.

She identified team connectivity as one of the major issues that Nigeria must address, stressing that the current group is still developing its identity.

“I think connectivity is a big thing for myself, my team, my staff. We can’t rely on two years ago success. Who we are today, we are still figuring that out. I know we will,” she added.

The coach’s admission provides an important context to Nigeria’s disappointing campaign.

Two years ago, D’Tigress reached the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympics, becoming the first African women’s basketball team to reach that stage of the Games. That historic achievement significantly raised expectations around the national team.

However, the squad that travelled to Berlin has struggled to reproduce that level of performance, losing all three group matches against South Korea, Hungary and France.

FIBA had also warned before the tournament that Nigeria’s preparations had not necessarily translated into convincing performances, while noting that the team had previously shown the ability to rebound strongly after difficult results.

Captain Amy Okonkwo offered a similarly frank assessment of the defeat, acknowledging that Nigeria struggled from the opening stages against a French team that came into the contest with considerable confidence and quality.

“It was a tough game. France is a great team. We saw that at the 2024 Olympics, and we’ve seen it throughout the qualifiers,” Okonkwo said.

“They’re a really great team, and they came out to play today. Again, I think we just struggled to find our rhythm early and weren’t able to get the win or really stop them.”

Her assessment was reflected in the statistics.

Nigeria managed only 17 successful field goals from 56 attempts, while France repeatedly found open looks and punished defensive lapses.

The French side also produced a remarkable 22 three-pointers, setting a new FIBA Women’s World Cup record.

France had already made 14 three-pointers by half-time, with Gabby Williams and Marine Johannes combining for eight of their 11 attempts from beyond the arc.

Williams finished with 25 points, while Janelle Salaün contributed 19 and Johannes added 17 as France completed a perfect group-stage campaign.

The margin of defeat showed that this was not simply a case of Nigeria having a bad shooting night.

France’s ball movement, spacing and ability to create open three-point opportunities repeatedly stretched the Nigerian defence.

The 31 points conceded in the first quarter immediately placed D’Tigress under pressure, and the situation became significantly worse in the second period when France added 34 points.

By half-time, Nigeria were already 39 points behind.

The third quarter provided little respite as France continued to attack aggressively and extended the advantage to 95-39.

Although D’Tigress eventually fought back in the final quarter, the damage had already been done.

Despite the scale of the defeat, Wakama said she was proud of the response from some of the younger members of the squad.

Particular praise went to Grace Efosa-Aguebor and Maryam Dauda, who were given significant exposure against one of the tournament’s strongest teams.

Efosa-Aguebor finished as Nigeria’s leading scorer with 15 points, while Elizabeth Balogun added 11.

Wakama said she deliberately exposed the younger players to the intensity of the World Cup because she believes such experiences will be important to Nigeria’s rebuilding process.

“I am most proud of our fight. I was super proud of the fight specifically even today,” she said.

“Grace Efosa played about 20 minutes and gave us 15 points. Maryam, these are names you guys will hear in the future.”

“I threw my young ones in the fire and they responded for me, so I am super proud of them.”

The emergence of younger players could therefore become one of the few positives Nigeria takes away from a disappointing tournament.

The contrast between Nigeria’s performance in Berlin and the team’s historic run at the Paris Olympics has inevitably raised questions about the direction of the programme.

D’Tigress entered the World Cup as reigning African champions and had won five consecutive Women’s AfroBasket titles, while their quarter-final appearance in Paris had established them as one of the most competitive teams outside the traditional global powers.

FIBA had identified a top-seven finish as a potential new landmark for Nigeria, whose previous best World Cup finish was eighth place in 2018.

Instead, Nigeria finished the group stage with three defeats.

They opened with a 99-81 loss to South Korea before falling 71-67 to Hungary, leaving the France encounter as a final opportunity to end the campaign on a positive note.

That opportunity disappeared almost immediately as France’s superior shooting and offensive execution overwhelmed the African champions.

Wakama calls for better preparationWhile Wakama described Nigeria’s preparation for the tournament as good, she acknowledged that more needs to be done if the team is to return to the level displayed in Paris.

She stressed that rebuilding must begin with ensuring that Nigeria consistently gets its best available players into the national team and then gives them sufficient time to develop together.

“I think it starts with who we’re getting in these uniforms, right? Just making sure that I’m continuing to put the best talent that Nigeria has to offer in these uniforms, and it comes with preparations,” she said.

“We had a great preparation, but I think there’s another level that we have to get to in these preparations.”

That statement is likely to fuel discussions about player availability, the structure of national-team camps and the level of preparation required to compete consistently against the world’s leading basketball nations.

The heavy defeat to France has undoubtedly damaged the confidence generated by Nigeria’s historic Olympic campaign, but Wakama insists the setback should not define the future of D’Tigress.

She believes the growth of women’s basketball globally, including the increasing number of Nigerian players competing in the WNBA and other elite leagues, offers reasons for optimism.

The immediate task, however, will be to turn that talent into a cohesive national team.

For Okonkwo and the experienced members of the squad, the defeat represents a painful end to a tournament that promised much more.

For the younger players, particularly Efosa-Aguebor and Dauda, it could mark the beginning of a new era.

Nigeria’s next challenge is therefore not simply to recover from a 55-point defeat, but to determine what kind of D’Tigress team it wants to build for the future.

Wakama’s admission that the team is rebuilding may be difficult for supporters to accept after the heights reached in Paris, but it also offers an honest assessment of where the African champions currently stand.

The challenge now is ensuring that the rebuilding process produces a stronger, deeper and more competitive D’Tigress side before the next major international assignment.