It was the biggest game in the history of German women’s basketball yet the hosts couldn’t have been calmer. Belgium fell to a host nation at a major tournament once more as Germany advanced to the medal rounds of the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup. Emmet Ryan on an extraordinary afternoon in Berlin.
The rather apt last tune before opening tip was One (Always Hardcore) by Scooter. For the Germans to advance, they would need to be perfect as a unit and certainly had to be hardcore for the full 40 minutes.
The biggest game in German women’s basketball history was here. All they had to do to make the medal rounds…was beat the reigning back-to-back EuroBasket Women champions.
Emma Meesseman is just that good
A pair of Leonie Fiebich threes in the early going gave the German fans ample cause for belief in the early going. There was just one reason to doubt their confidence; the greatest player not currently in the WNBA.
Emma Meesseman was locked in from the off in this one. The one thing missing from her medal collection with Belgium is a gong of some sort on the global stage. Germany was simply an obstacle for her to brush aside in the quest.
Meesseman was a great threat both in iso ball and when working with her teammates. The Germans had to respect her inside and out, creating space for all around her while picking up scores quickly. It’s classic Meesseman, making an already great unit around her even better.
But Germany are that focused
The concern in the opening minutes for Deutschland was that their excessive reliance on threes was going to bite them. They lacked sufficient penetration on the interior to keep Belgium honest.
That changed up in the back end of the first quarter and enabled a barrage of threes across the first half. It was the hosts who opened up the first double digit lead of the game early in the second quarter.
That was fuelled by threes by Leonie Fiebich, Alexis Peterson, Nyara Sabally, Lina Sontag, and Alexandra Wilke to stretch things out. While Fiebich was the most frequent offensive contributor, Deutschland wasn’t entirely dependent on her. There was enough variety to even enable Frieda Buhner to do more off the ball in the first half.
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Belgium have been here before
Belgium fell at the quarter final stage in the Tokyo Olympics (to hosts Japan), the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup (to hosts Australia), and in the semi finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics (to hosts France). A fourth loss in as many global tournaments to the competition hosts felt like a lot to take.
Yet here they were, wilting in the face of a hot home crowd. The Germans were more than capable of troubling Belgium at both ends. Defensively, they were rotating nicely and limiting Belgium’s time on the ball.
Offensively, it was all too easy for them to mix it up both inside and outside. This was brilliant German play but they had also clearly landed some big mental blows on the Belgians. The pace was of their choosing, with the Cats wholly prevented from mounting any fast breaks of note.
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Tremendous balance
In a box score reminiscent of their men’s team, Germany’s women went a legit 10 deep with almost everyone on good minutes. Only two players, Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally, had proper heavy minutes. That’s similar with the men, where it’s Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner whose numbers normally pop out.
It meant this side was still very fresh deep into the game. Alexis Peterson and Alexandra Wilke were still having a big impact because their usage enabled that. Frieda Buhner looked like she had another 20 minutes of game time in her body when there were still 13 minutes left.
To last at this level, you need to be able to rotate hard. That’s what Germany have in this roster. It’s a unit that understands what is required of it. Knowing your role is half the battle. All the players had to do after that was execute. This was seamless stuff.
Make no mistake
This is, by some margin, the biggest result in the history of German women’s basketball. This is a nation that has only one European youth title in its history. The unified nation has just one bronze at EuroBasket to its name back in 1997, although East Germany previously matched that feat in 1966.
The Paris Olympics? That was their first ever appearance. The 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup was only their second ever appearance in the competition. Even that previous one was also as hosts. We are in completely new territory for this side.
Whatever happens against France, a new bar has been set for women’s basketball in Germany. This is a side that has the combination of talent, order, and belief required to not only win but to inspire thousands more potential future internationals to start playing.
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