D’Tigress step up World Cup preparations as Rena Wakama set to rejoin squad in Spain

Nigeria’s D’Tigress are entering the final stretch of their preparations for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, with head coach Rena Wakama expected to rejoin the team ahead of the tournament in Germany.

Wakama has remained in the United States because of her professional commitments with WNBA franchise Chicago Sky, but the Nigerian coach is expected to link up with her players before the World Cup gets underway.

The tournament is scheduled to run from 4-13 September, with D’Tigress set to move to Zaragoza, Spain, for the final phase of their preparations.

Wakama has continued to combine her responsibilities as Nigeria’s head coach with her role as an assistant coach at the Chicago Sky. The WNBA franchise confirmed her appointment to its coaching staff in April under head coach Tyler Marsh.

Nigeria began their World Cup preparations with a training camp in Chicago from 29 July to 2 August before travelling to China for a three-game exhibition series.

D’Tigress then moved to Spain, where they faced some of Europe’s leading basketball nations as part of their continued preparations.

The final phase of the camp in Zaragoza will feature further preparation games against Mali and Puerto Rico before Nigeria travel to Berlin for the World Cup.

Rena Wakama (Credit: Rena Wakama on X)

D’Tigress face concerns after difficult warm-up run

The African champions have endured a challenging build-up to the tournament, winning just one of their five warm-up games so far.

Nigeria began their exhibition series in China with consecutive defeats, losing 70-67 and 69-65 before bouncing back to record an encouraging 88-77 victory on 12 August.

However, their latest outings in Tenerife exposed further concerns, with D’Tigress suffering heavy defeats against two of Europe’s strongest teams.

They were beaten 83-58 by Spain on 21 August before Belgium handed them another emphatic defeat, winning 90-55 the following day.

The results have highlighted areas that will need to be addressed during the final phase of preparations as Nigeria target another strong showing on the global stage.

Despite the difficult warm-up campaign, D’Tigress head into Germany as the reigning African champions after securing their fifth consecutive FIBA Women’s AfroBasket title with a hard-fought 78-64 victory over Mali in the 2025 final.

Their continental dominance followed an historic campaign at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where Nigeria became the first African team to reach the quarter-finals of the Olympic basketball tournament.

Nigeria secured an automatic place at the 2026 World Cup after winning the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket, although they still participated in the qualifying tournament in Lyon-Villeurbanne, France, where they endured a difficult campaign, winning two and losing three of their five games.

Nigeria chasing another World Cup quarter-final

The tournament in Germany will mark D’Tigress’ third appearance at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, following previous appearances in 2006 and 2018.

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Their best performance came at the 2018 edition, where they reached the quarter-finals before finishing eighth overall.

Nigeria repeated that feat four years later at the 2022 World Cup, reaching the last eight in a campaign that further established D’Tigress as one of Africa’s leading basketball teams.

With less than two weeks before the 2026 tournament tips off, Wakama’s return will be an important part of Nigeria’s final preparations as the reigning African champions look to turn a difficult pre-tournament run into another memorable World Cup campaign.