Basketball World Cup | DBB women in the quarterfinals: From now on only final opponents

Leonie Fiebich (r.) was once again the guarantee for Germany's victory against South Korea on Tuesday. Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa After the fourth game in five days and the third win in a row, national coach Olaf Lange felt a bit like he was in a simulation: “It's like a video game. You reach a level, you finish the level and then comes the next, more difficult level. The women of the German Basketball Federation (DBB) also confidently mastered the hurdle of South Korea in the intermediate round of the home World Cup on Tuesday evening. In the end there was a 94:56 victory on the video screens in the arena at Ostbahnhof - complete with historical significance.

With the win against South Korea, captain Marie Gülich and Co. are the first all-German women's team to make it to the quarterfinals of a Basketball World Cup. Only the GDR women had previously achieved this at the 1967 finals. After the difficult preparation for the World Cup with three test match defeats and some injury concerns and the false start against Spain, the German team found its way into the tournament better and better against Japan, Mali and South Korea. But the next level in the “Video Game Home World Cup” is really tough.

After the much-needed rest day this Wednesday, the round of the top eight will take place against the European champions from Belgium on Thursday. »It will definitely be a challenge. I don't even know how many times we've played against each other in the last few years. Most of the time it turned out better for Belgium, but of course we will do everything we can to get the win," said Leonie Fiebich after the win against South Korea.

The WNBA player from New York Liberty was once again the guarantor of German success alongside captain Gülich, who scored 19 points off the bench. Fiebich was on the floor for the most minutes, as in all four World Cup games so far. With eight points, eleven rebounds, four assists and three blocks, the 26-year-old played a major role in the historic quarterfinals on both offense and defense - even though, in her own words, she still has a bit of "shit on her hands" because her throws still rarely end up in the basket.

On Thursday Fiebich will have the next chance to find her throwing luck again. And that is probably urgently needed, because the record against the Belgians didn't look good at all, at least last year. The DBB team played against Belgium three times - twice in preparation for the European Championships and then again in the European Championship quarter-finals. All three games clearly went to the Red Devils, who ultimately celebrated their second European Championship title in a row.

If you go back a year further, there is also some hope from a German perspective. In 2024, the DBB women defeated Belgium in the group stage of the Olympic basketball tournament. At that time, however, Germany's superstar Satou Sabally was also there, who was out in Berlin due to a concussion.

Unfortunately, the surprise success at the Olympics two years ago was also the only victory for German basketball players against one of the major basketball nations in the recent past. Otherwise there were only defeats against the top teams, which include Belgium, Spain, Australia, France and the USA.

In order to achieve the desired medal at home gymnastics, the next coup against the Belgians is essential. After that, they would probably face France in a possible semi-final. That means: From the next round of the home World Cup onwards, only final opponents await - to stick with the national coach's video game analogy.

“We are in the top eight at the World Cup, there are only really good teams left, and if you want to make it to the semi-finals, you have to prove yourself at this level,” Olaf Lange summed it up on Tuesday.

Against Japan, Mali and South Korea, the German basketball players have been able to show in recent days that they are up to the role of favorites against weaker teams and the great expectations at the home tournament in Berlin. Now it's time to prove against Belgium that the botched start of the World Cup against Spain was just a blip and that the DBB women are actually on the verge of closing the gap to the top teams in the world. Because only from the semi-final level onwards is it really about the longed-for medal.

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