Nigeria’s reigning African champions head to Spain for their final preparations after a mixed pre-World Cup run, with head coach Rena Wakama set to rejoin the squad.

Nigeria’s D’Tigress are entering the final stage of their preparations for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Germany, with head coach Rena Wakama expected to rejoin the team following her commitments with WNBA franchise Chicago Sky.

Wakama, who also serves as an assistant coach with the Chicago Sky, has remained in the United States while Nigeria continued its preparations. The team will move to Zaragoza, Spain, for the final phase of its build-up before travelling to Berlin for the tournament, scheduled for September 4 to 13.

The African champions have endured a challenging preparation campaign, winning just one of their five warm-up games.

Nigeria lost 70-67 and 69-65 to China before recovering to beat the hosts 88-77. In their latest fixtures in Tenerife, D’Tigress suffered heavy defeats to Spain and Belgium, losing 83-58 and 90-55 respectively.

D’Tigress will have further opportunities to fine-tune their squad in Zaragoza, where they are expected to face Mali and Puerto Rico before heading to Germany.

The poor run of results has highlighted areas the team must address as they seek another strong performance on the global stage.

Nigeria enter the tournament as reigning African champions after winning a fifth consecutive FIBA Women’s AfroBasket title with a 78-64 victory over Mali in 2025.

The team also made history at the Paris 2024 Olympics by becoming the first African women’s basketball team to reach the quarter-finals.

The 2026 World Cup will be D’Tigress’ third appearance at the competition, following their outings in 2006 and 2018.

Their best finish came in 2018, when they reached the quarter-finals and placed eighth overall, raising expectations for another historic campaign in Germany.