Germany Dominates Mali in Group Finale
The first notes of "Durch den Monsun" rolled around the Uber Arena and Germany’s players danced into the light. By the time the song faded, the tone for the night was set: this was going to be their stage.
In a high‑stakes group finale where anything from first to fourth place was still on the table, Olaf Lange’s team didn’t blink. They dismantled Mali 83:58 (49:32), claimed second place in Group A behind Spain, and built a powerful runway into the qualification round for the quarter-finals.
Next up: South Korea on Tuesday evening. Win that, and Belgium await.
Germany seize control of a chaotic group
The maths before tip-off was brutal. Four teams, all on three points. One win, one defeat each. No safety net.
Germany’s path was clear: win again, and finish as high as possible. After the heavy 53:83 lesson from Spain and the sharp response in a 74:58 win over Japan, the hosts knew exactly who they needed to be.
“We have to be the aggressor from the start,” said Frieda Bühner, the standout against Japan. The team listened.
With world champion and national team captain Dennis Schröder sitting courtside, soaking up the atmosphere as a star guest, Germany came out snarling. The defence snapped into place, Mali’s offense stalled, and Leonie Fiebich buried an early three. Six minutes in, the scoreboard read 15:7. The building shook.
Then came the wobble.
A flurry of sloppy possessions crept in, Mali were invited back into the game, and Alexis Peterson — returning after missing the second half against Japan due to an infection — turned the ball over twice in quick succession. The rhythm stuttered, the noise dipped.
But this time, Germany didn’t crack. They reset, tightened up, and then turned the night into a statement.
Bühner leads, Geiselsöder erupts
The breakthrough came from two players at opposite ends of their tournament arcs.
Luisa Geiselsöder, who had struggled to truly arrive in the competition so far, suddenly came alive. She was flawless in the first half, finishing everything, stretching Mali’s defence, playing with the confidence of a player who finally felt at home on this stage.
Alongside her, Bühner lit the fuse from outside. Her second straight three-pointer pushed Germany’s lead into double digits at 40:29 in the 16th minute. From that moment, the hosts never really looked back.
Shots started dropping from everywhere. Alexandra Wilke connected from deep. Marie Gülich joined in from the perimeter. Bühner kept piling on, finishing as top scorer with 21 points, the offensive heartbeat of a team that had clearly found its flow.
By half-time, Germany had a 49:32 cushion and a roar from 12,550 fans ringing in their ears.
“You want to get better in every game, and they are doing that,” Schröder said during the interval on MagentaTV, praising the “awesome atmosphere” in the sold-out arena. The building felt less like a neutral tournament venue and more like a home fortress.
No mercy after the break
Germany’s only previous meeting with Mali dated back to an international in Saarlouis in 2007. This time there was no hint of tension once the teams returned from the locker rooms.
Mali, who had shocked the tournament by beating Spain 82:73 on the second matchday, never found that same spark. Every time they tried to build a run, Germany’s energy smothered it. Lange’s side chased, closed out, and contested as if the game were still on a knife-edge.
The pressure finally told midway through the third quarter.
Geiselsöder stepped out beyond the arc and drilled another three in the 25th minute to make it 56:37. Any lingering doubt vanished. She had effectively killed the contest.
“It felt great. It was really good basketball,” said the WNBA player afterwards, a simple summary of a performance that had turned her tournament around.
From there, Germany managed the game with maturity. No rush, no panic, no unnecessary drama. Just a team that knew what it needed to do and did it with authority.
South Korea next, Belgium on the horizon
Spain’s 79:59 win over Japan in the other evening game locked the hosts into second place, short of top spot but exactly where they needed to be to keep their campaign on track.
The equation now is as straightforward as it is unforgiving.
Beat South Korea — third in Group B — in Tuesday’s play-off, and the DBB team earn a quarter-final against Belgium, the European champions of 2023 and 2025, who cruised through Group C without a loss.
Lose, and the music in Berlin stops abruptly.
For now, though, “Durch den Monsun” still echoes around the Uber Arena, and Germany’s women look ready to wade a little deeper into this tournament storm.
