AFCON 2025
D’Tigress suffered a second straight defeat at the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup on Saturday, falling 71-67 to Hungary in Berlin and leaving Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the knockout rounds in danger.
Nigeria mounted a spirited fourth-quarter push to claw back into the contest, but Hungary held their nerve down the stretch to close out the win and send Rena Wakama’s side to 0-2 in Group B. The result comes just a day after D’Tigress opened their campaign with a 99-81 loss to South Korea, a game they stayed competitive in for three quarters before fading late.
Amy Okonkwo again carried the scoring load for Nigeria, finishing with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field. Elizabeth Balogun added 13 points, while Ezinne Kalu contributed 11 points and a team-high nine assists in nearly 36 minutes on the floor. Victoria Macaulay chipped in 11 points off the bench, and Murjanatu Musa grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Hungary’s Dorka Juhasz led all scorers with 19 points and 16 rebounds, with Vanda Takacs-Kiss adding 17 points and 14 rebounds of her own as the Hungarians controlled the boards for long stretches.
The back-to-back losses leave D’Tigress needing a win, and likely some help elsewhere in the group, when they close out the first round against world number two France on September 7.
Nigeria reached the World Cup quarter-finals in 2018, their best-ever finish at the tournament, but they now face a steep climb just to advance past the group stage in Berlin.
The reigning African champions arrived at the tournament off the back of a fifth consecutive AfroBasket title, but two games into their World Cup campaign, they have yet to find the form that has made them the dominant force in African women’s basketball.
Wakama’s side will have little time to regroup before facing France, a team that has looked imperious through the qualifiers and group stage so far. Anything less than a win in that final group game will almost certainly end D’Tigress’ campaign before the knockout rounds begin.
