In the end it was pure fun – and a bit of a show to boot. Alexis Peterson showed how the attack should be played, she moved casually to the left and to the right, then the German builder passed the ball behind her back to Leonie Fiebich, who had a clear path for the last basket of the evening.
It was 93:74 on Thursday evening in front of 10,500 spectators in Berlin's Uber Arena, who could hardly believe what they were seeing. The German national basketball team won the quarterfinals of the home World Cup against Belgium, the European champions of 2023 and 2025, by a whopping 19 points.
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“No words how well we played”
“Brutally surreal,” Leonie Fiebich later said about this rousing evening that ended with her basket. But it also started with her: with a three-pointer, which she celebrated as if it were the most important shot of the game. In between there was a team performance about which national coach Olaf Lange said: “I have no words for how well we played.”
In fact, he was able to pay his team an all-encompassing compliment: tough in defense, quick in movement, courageous in throwing - an overwhelming team performance from which Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally stood out.
It was the first World Cup quarter-final for a German women's national team. And if you remembered the start of the tournament, the 53:83 against Spain, then you had the feeling that this team had not developed over four games since then, but over two years. "If a team comes together like we did during this tournament, there is of course a chance," said national coach Lange, with a view to the hoped-for medal and now the semi-final duel with the French on Saturday.
It would still be a surprise if the Germans overpowered this opponent, a co-favorite alongside world champions USA. But Leonie Fiebich also provided the motto of the day: “We are not to be trifled with,” she said. Who knows, maybe the fun has really just begun for the Germans.
In the end, Fiebich had 17 points, Sabally, who was named player of the game, had 16. But the real strength of the Germans was shown by the fact that in the end six players were in double figures, including Alexis Peterson, Frieda Bühner (13 each), Marie Gülich (12) and Alexandra Wilke (10). Against such a broad German base, it didn't help the Belgians that their star player Emma Meesseman scored 29 points. “Each of us was ready, whether offensively or defensively,” said Frieda Bühner.
Before the game, national coach Lange said that this game was “the moment where we will see how much we have grown”. After the disastrous start against Spain, his team had grown a little bigger from game to game, so that they were still able to go into this duel as underdogs, but as one with ambition.
The start and the horrors of the past
The Germans started with Nyara Sabally, Emma Eichmeyer, Leonie Fiebich, Luisa Geiselsöder and Britta Daub. And they didn't start well, first of all they string together a few missed throws, while on the other hand Emma Meesseman quickly collected her first five points. Meesseman, the 33-year-old center, was the player the Germans feared most, but not the only one. And there were still the horrors of the past.
When asked how important a good start to this game was, Lange said that “two experiences are present in the team”. One “short-term”, from the debacle against Spain, the other “long-term”, from last year’s European Championship, when the Germans lost to Belgium by 24 points. But that was before Lange's tenure, and this time it was a different team, with a different belief.
This time they didn't let themselves be left behind early, on the contrary. Leonie Fiebich led the way in a remarkable way. After throwing weakly in the tournament so far, she managed the second three-pointer after the first, although she was closely accompanied by Antonia Delaere. Later, captain Marie Gülich and Alexandra Wilke stood out with important throws, and when Nyara Sabally contributed her first points, the Germans actually took a 22:19 lead out of the first quarter.
Defense as the basis for everything else
The basis for everything was the outstanding defensive work, which increasingly unnerved the Belgians. But it was also a growth spurt forward that hardly anyone had expected - and a Leonie Fiebich who was everywhere where she was needed.
An outstanding team performance also followed in the second quarter, in which the Germans almost outdid themselves for a while and played in a real frenzy. From 29:19, with another five Fiebich points, it went to a high of 34:21. But it should go even higher.
The Belgians briefly vetoed the score again, Meesseman underlined her intention to stay on Fiebich's heels as a scorer with action, and if her team had scored more often overall, even more would have been possible in this phase. The Belgians gradually came closer to two points, but it was fitting for the Germans' courage that they had the right response: Sabally and Peterson each scored from threes. 42:35 at halftime, that was still a word.
The entire Belgian perplexity became apparent when the clock ran down in the middle of the attack in the third quarter. In general, time was now working against them because the Germans always had an answer when they needed one. Three Meesseman? Threesome Sabally! Even when Lange distributed playing time to give his strongest players breathing room for the final spurt, the German system remained steadfastly stable.
We went into the final quarter with a 15-point lead (74:59). The game stayed the same. If the Belgians thought they might be able to come close again, the Germans snuffed out their hopes in an instant. Belgium couldn't get closer than ten points and nothing stood in the way of the German party.
