It was a day where convention went out the window. Mali shocked Spain, Hungary ended a long wait, and Germany did likewise. All before Korea decided to give France an early fright. Emmet Ryan on a reinvigorating second day at the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup.
After a business-like first day, where the favourites all won by big margins, it seemed like Saturday would start off in similar fashion. Let’s quote my pre-match assessment while in a pub on Friday night: “Spain will probably do bad things to an exhausted Mali.”
About that
Spain entered this one with this observer expecting them to utterly destroy Mali. It wasn’t just that I thought they were a few levels above Mali, it was that Mali had lost an absolutely wild one on the opening day. Logic said they’d be physically and emotionally exhausted.
So they went and tore up the form book, with a violently dominant third quarter proving decisive as they secured the biggest shock of the tournament so far. It’s exactly what the FIBA Women’s World Cup needed.
Not only does it show that an underdog can make the step up and beat a medal contender, it has blown Group A wide open. More on that later. Considering their only ever win at a World Cup match prior to this was in a 15/16th place playoff in 2010 over Senegal, this is the type of stunner that should be celebrated.
Welcome to the island of relevance
Hello Hungary and Germany. Great to see you join the party. Both of these European nations recorded their first wins in 28 years at a FIBA Women’s World Cup on Saturday. The former leaned heavily on Dorka Juhasz, who had 19 points and 16 rebounds, to survive a rally from Nigeria.
Germany, of course, had a wobble in the second quarter but otherwise dominated Japan in a mightily impressive display. Frieda Buhner was the absolute star of the show in front of a smoking hot crowd at the Max Schmeling Halle. Leonie Fiebach also deserves big props for stepping up as the primary ball handler.
Due to France beating Korea on Saturday night, Hungary punched its ticket to the play-ins with the W over D’Tigress. Germany still have work to do
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Oh Nigeria and, ah yes, France
Before this tournament, Nigeria were everyone’s dark horses. D’Tigress have been stepping up noticeably in international play in recent years. Some good performances at the Paris Olympics and the qualifiers for the 2026 FIBA World Cup got people’s attention.
Then they went 0-2 to start this tournament, including a dismal display against Korea, and were eliminated from the competition. That was because France’s win over Korea on Saturday meant there’s no path to even third place due to tiebreakers.
Korea had a great first quarter against France, taking a 31-24 lead, and the Max Schmeling Halle crowd felt there was an upset in the officing. Then they went on a 15-2 run to start the second quarter and the job was done. France have secured top spot and a place in the quarter finals before they even play their last game against Nigeria.
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Monday is already looking tasty
There’s only one session that looks remotely skippable on Monday, the second one when France face Nigeria and Korea take on Hungary. The only thing to be decided is who comes second and who comes third between the latter pair but both are in the play-in.
Still, Belgium vs Australia to kick off Monday has been locked in as the blockbuster game of the group phase since the draw. Italy vs China in the late session may prove very important for the play-ins depending on Sunday’s results, particularly Czechia vs China.
Of course, it’s the Group A madness that will take centre stage. The third session has Spain vs Japan in the Max Schmeling and Germany vs Mali in the Uber Arena. All 4 teams are level on 1-1. All four can win the group or be eliminated. It’s going to be chaotic madness.
Mali had every reason to celebrate after producing the shock result of the tournament against Spain. (Pic: FIBA)
Finally, an update on your correspondent’s health
Regular readers of this site will be aware that I’ve been dealing with a B12 issue for quite some time. A series of injections in the first half of the year appeared to have addressed it well. That was until they stopped and the last month or so has been back to the bad norm.
In the context of our coverage of the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup, it has basically knocked out the morning and early afternoon sessions through the first two days. My body literally has insufficient energy to get up and function on even the most basic level in the front half of the day.
The goal for the next two days is to get the early game in and then immediately take a break for the following session. I’ll see how that goes but it’s very much condition management rather than fixing until I get back to Dublin. The good news is the issue doesn’t come with pain, just a whole load of annoyance.
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