D'Tigress begin 37-day World Cup preparations
Nigeria's senior women's basketball team, D'Tigress, have kicked off an intensive 37-day training camp in Chicago, United States, as preparations gather pace for the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany.
The global tournament will take place from September 4 to 13, and the six-time African champions have mapped out an ambitious build-up that will see them train and compete across the United States, China and Spain before arriving in Germany.
The players and coaching staff have already settled into camp in Chicago, where preparations began in high spirits ahead of a demanding schedule of training sessions and high-profile international friendlies.
D'Tigress will remain in Chicago until August 2 before travelling to China for a three-game friendly series against the Chinese women's national team between August 4 and 12.
From there, the team heads to Tenerife, Spain, where they will test themselves against European heavyweights Spain and Belgium from August 15 to 24. Their preparations will conclude in Zaragoza, where they are scheduled to face Mali and Puerto Rico between August 25 and September 3.
The current camp builds on the work already done earlier this year. In April, D'Tigress held a preparatory camp that included exhibition games against three WNBA franchises, the Los Angeles Sparks, Minnesota Lynx and Indiana Fever providing valuable exposure against elite opposition.
At the World Cup, Nigeria have been drawn in Group B alongside France, Hungary and South Korea. Their campaign begins against South Korea on September 4 before a clash with Hungary the following day. They will wrap up the group stage against France on September 7.
The competition format guarantees an automatic quarter-final place for each group winner, while the teams finishing second and third will battle through a qualification round for the remaining knockout spots.
D'Tigress will be eager to make up for missing the 2022 World Cup despite qualifying, after funding challenges denied them the opportunity to compete.
Now back on the world stage, the African champions will be targeting another memorable campaign, with the ambition of equalling or surpassing their historic quarter-final finish at the 2018 tournament. That remains Nigeria's best-ever World Cup performance, although their impressive run ended with a defeat to eventual champions the United States before they finished eighth overall following classification losses to France and Canada.
Armed with a rigorous preparation programme and renewed determination, D'Tigress will be hoping their journey across three continents lays the foundation for another landmark performance on basketball's biggest stage.
Join the Savid News channel on WhatsApp:
