Basketball
September 8 Preview: Who will make the Quarter-Finals?
BERLIN (Germany) - With four group winners already safely into the last eight of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026, there are two more spots on offer in Tuesday's Qualification To Quarter-Finals games.
Hungary will face Japan, with the winner matching up against reigning champions USA in the Quarter-Finals. Meanwhile hosts Germany will go up against Korea in pursuit of a place in the last eight against Belgium.
The last two available spots will then be decided in Wednesday's Qualification To Quarter-Final matchups.
Click here for the full schedule.
Hungary vs Japan
Key Matchup
With Dorka Juhasz a towering presence for Hungary and the player that everything goes through, Japan need to find the right strategy to somehow slow her down. That task could be assigned primarily to the experienced Maki Takada, who will need to use all of her veteran know-how to make it a successful mission.
Stats Don't Lie
Hungary spill the ball 23 times per game, with Japan only committing 12.7 turnovers per game. Japan also have much deeper bench options with 34.3 points per game from that source, with Hungary only producing 24.7.
The one area Hungary has a big advantage is in rebounding with an average of 43.7 compared to 31.7.
The Killer Questions
How can Japan cope with not just Juhasz, but the high-performing 'Twin Towers' that also includes Virag Takacs-Kiss who is playing some of the best basketball of her career right now.
Additionally, from the Hungarian perspective, can they limit their turnovers? Ball protection will be absolutely critical against a quick and energetic Japanese guard lineup that loves nothing more than running and gunning in transition.
Recent Game History
These teams know each other very well having played less than six months ago in the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament. Hungary took an impressive 77-65 success and it will be interesting how this feeds into this meeting.
Germany vs Korea
Key Matchup
It will be interesting to see whether they do end up guarding each other during the game, but there is no doubt that all attention will be fixed on Jihyun Park of Korea and Frieda Buhner of Germany.
Both have the capacity to score inside and are leaders for their respective teams. The extended shooting range of Buhner is a bonus, while Park is turning into a do-it-all baller in a national team jersey.
Stats Don't Lie
Korea can kill you with a ruthless conversion of points from turnovers at 24 per game, compared to just 10.3 for the host nation. Meanwhile Korea are also shooting a brilliant 43.4 percent from downtown, against 26.9 for Germany.
But the disparity in rebounding is simply huge. Germany with 47.3 boards per game and Korea with only 23.7.
The Killer Questions
Korea are clearly not great on the glass and so can they increase their effectiveness at boxing out and keeping a sizeable Germany frontcourt off the boards?
Can Germany disrupt Korea's ability to move the ball - and do so efficiently to avoid Korea continuing their potency from behind the three-point line?
Last but not least, Germany's positive momentum is one of the most intriguing storylines right now. They are clearly among the teams getting better with every game. Can they keep it up?
Will the home crowd continue to fuel their energy and push them forward, or will the weight of expectations land on their shoulders at the worst possible moment?
Recent Game History
This will be the first meeting by the teams, since Germany never faced Korea in their only other World Cup appearance, or on their debut at the Olympics at Paris 2024.
FIBA
