The African champions remained within striking distance for the first three quarters, but South Korea produced a decisive fourth-quarter performance to turn a competitive contest into an 18-point victory.
South Korea led 26–22 after the opening quarter before taking a narrow 48–45 advantage into halftime. D’Tigress continued to compete after the break, but the Koreans extended their lead to 68–62 at the end of the third quarter before pulling away in the final period.
South Korea’s late surge was driven by increased defensive pressure and Nigeria’s difficulty protecting possession. The Koreans capitalised on turnovers and converted their opportunities effectively as the game moved into its decisive stages.
Nigeria’s captain, Amy Okonkwo, led the D’Tigress scoring with 22 points, but her contribution was not enough to prevent the defeat. South Korea’s Jihyun Park was the game’s leading scorer with 27 points.
The result is a setback for D’Tigress, who entered the tournament as the reigning African champions after winning their fifth consecutive FIBA Women’s AfroBasket title in 2025. Nigeria also arrives in Berlin with increased expectations following its historic run to the quarter-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The defeat also continues a recent difficult spell for Nigeria against South Korea. The Koreans beat D’Tigress 77–60 in the World Cup qualifying tournament in France in March, although Nigeria had won the two previous meetings between the teams, including victories at the 2004 Olympics and the 2016 Olympic qualifying tournament.
Despite Friday’s loss, Nigeria’s World Cup campaign is far from over. D’Tigress will return to action against Hungary on Saturday, September 5, before facing France on September 7 in their final Group B fixture.
The group-stage format makes the quick turnaround particularly important. The top team in each group advances directly to the quarter-finals, while the teams finishing second and third enter the qualification round for places in the last eight.
Nigeria will therefore need to recover quickly from the opening defeat, particularly in ball control and defensive execution, if it is to keep its hopes of another deep World Cup run alive. The team’s previous best performance at the competition came in 2018, when D’Tigress became the first African side to reach the quarter-finals and finished eighth.
The loss to South Korea is consequently an early warning rather than the end of Nigeria’s campaign. With Hungary next and France still to come, D’Tigress have an immediate opportunity to respond and strengthen their position in Group B.
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