Germany reach first-ever World Cup quarter-final, face Belgium's Emma Meesseman

A historic milestone in Berlin

Germany's women have reached the quarter-finals of a Basketball World Cup for the first time ever. At the home tournament, the team bounced back from a heavy opening loss to Spain with three convincing wins, including one over South Korea, and now face European champion Belgium today at 17:45 at Berlin's Uber Arena, broadcast on ProSieben Maxx and MagentaSport.

A leading favourite

Belgium is considered one of the main medal contenders. The team has won all its games so far in commanding fashion, including against a strong Australian side, and earned an extra rest day by topping its group. The core of the so-called "Belgian Cats" - built around Emma Meesseman, Julie Vanloo and Julie Allemand - has been among the world's elite for about five years. Allemand won the Euroleague title this year, and the entire starting five has WNBA experience.

The "Silent Killer" Meesseman

The 33-year-old, 1.93m Meesseman is regarded as one of the best players in Europe. She has won the Euroleague title seven times and was named MVP at both EuroBasket 2023 and 2025, topping the scoring charts on both occasions. In Berlin she is close to another standout tournament, averaging 18.3 points per game - currently the second-highest scoring average at the World Cup. Teammates call her the "silent killer": a player who often looks unassuming on court yet turns out remarkably efficient, frequently recording triple-doubles.

Germany's hopes

Germany's leader is 26-year-old Leonie Fiebich, who made just one of six field-goal attempts against South Korea, yet head coach Olaf Lange calls her the team's source of security and expects her to raise her level against Belgium. Lange only took over as head coach at the end of last year, so this will be his first major game against Belgium; he knows Meesseman well from working together in Yekaterinburg and at WNBA club New York Liberty.

The two teams have already met twice at major tournaments in recent years: Germany pulled off a surprise 83:69 win at the 2024 Olympics, while Belgium struck back with an 83:59 quarter-final victory at last year's EuroBasket. Former national player Ireti Amojo, now head of Germany's women's league (DBBL), said in an interview that the team had to cope with injuries to Satou Sabally, Nyara Sabally and Fiebich, but showed resilience after the loss to Spain. She also noted that all three of Germany's group games were sold out, with fans giving a standing ovation after the win over Japan - a sign, she said, that women's basketball is gaining real momentum in Germany.

Elsewhere in Berlin, defending champion USA delivered another dominant quarter-final performance, beating Hungary 108-56, with Napheesa Collier top-scoring for the Americans with 23 points.