France vs Hungary: Group B opener at the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup
France’s opening game of the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup comes against Hungary on Friday, September 4 Photo Credit: FIBA
France opens its campaign at the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup against Hungary this Friday, September 4, at 9 p.m. local time in Berlin. The game kicks off Group B play at a 16-nation tournament running through September 13 in Germany. France arrives ranked No. 2 in the world according to Yahoo Sports, while Hungary sits at No. 19 in the FIBA World Ranking, the lowest of any team in the field.
FIBA’s preview names France the Group B favorite
FIBA’s official tournament preview frames France as the team to beat in Group B, a pool rounded out by Nigeria, South Korea and Hungary. Three of those four nations know each other well: France, South Korea and Nigeria met just six months earlier at the Qualifying Tournament in Lyon-Villeurbanne, and FIBA’s preview notes “a strong sense of deja vu” heading into Berlin. Hungary is the outsider in the group, arriving in its first World Cup appearance this century after Dorka Juhász helped push the team through qualification.
Gabby Williams and Dorka Juhász headline the rosters
France’s roster leans heavily on its WNBA representation. Captain Gabby Williams and forward Janelle Salaün both play for the Golden State Valkyries, with Olympics.com writing that Williams is the player “who it starts and ends with for France.” Salaün set a WNBA record this season as the highest-scoring reserve for total points in a season, breaking the previous mark of 457 points. At the Villeurbanne qualifying tournament, Dominique Malonga averaged 19.5 points and 14.6 rebounds while Salaün put up 19.7 points and 16.7 rebounds, numbers that came in qualifying rather than at the World Cup itself.
Hungary’s hopes rest largely on Dorka Juhász, a Minnesota Lynx forward in the WNBA who The Big Lead credits as one of the main reasons Hungary booked its World Cup spot. Head coach Péter Völgyi leads a squad facing a French team ranked far higher.
France’s stakes go beyond a single group-stage win. The team hasn’t stood on a World Cup podium since the tournament’s inaugural edition in 1953, a drought that hangs over every game France plays in Berlin. Coverage of the tournament in the United States runs on TNT, truTV and HBO Max, giving American fans a direct look at whether Williams, Salaün and Malonga can turn France’s Group B favorite tag into results that finally end that seven-decade wait.
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