South Korea Suffers 26-Point Defeat to European Powerhouse France in Women's World Cup Group Match

The South Korean women's national basketball team suffered a heavy defeat against European powerhouse France in their second match of the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup.

Coached by Park Su-ho, South Korea lost 69-95 to France in their Group B second-match of the group stage held in Berlin, Germany on the 6th (Korean time).

Having raised expectations by defeating Nigeria—the highest-ranked African team at No. 8 in the FIBA world rankings—in their opening match, South Korea could not overcome France, which showed a clear advantage in height, and suffered their first defeat of the tournament.

France is the second-ranked team in the FIBA rankings behind the United States and is a formidable opponent that won the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

South Korea is currently ranked 15th in the FIBA rankings.

With a record of one win and one loss, South Korea sits in second place in Group B behind France, which has secured two wins.

Hungary (one win and one loss) is in third place, and Nigeria (two losses) is in fourth.

The tournament features 16 countries divided into four groups for the group stage.

The first-place team in each group advances directly to the quarterfinals, while the second and third-place teams compete in a playoff round to determine the remaining quarterfinalists.

South Korea is aiming for its first quarterfinal appearance in 16 years since the 2010 tournament.

South Korea took an early lead, finishing the first quarter ahead 31-24, propelled by the scoring of Kang Lee-seul (Woori Bank) and Lee So-hee (BNK).

However, starting from the second quarter, they conceded successive points to opposing key scorer Marine Johannes, lost their momentum, and allowed a turnaround.

Trailing 37-43 entering the third quarter, Choi I-sam (BNK) fought back by hitting a 3-pointer, but it was not enough as the deficit only widened.

The low scoring output from Park Ji-hyun (Los Angeles Sparks) and Kang Lee-seul, who shined brightly in the match against Nigeria, was a disappointment.

Park Ji-hyun, who accounted for 27 points in the first game, was limited to just 2 points in about 17 minutes of play on this day, while Kang Lee-seul scored 8 points in roughly 13 minutes.

Heo Ye-eun (KB) and Lee Hae-ran (Samsung Life Insurance) led the team with 12 points each.

For France, Johannes recorded a game-high 17 points.

South Korea will play its third group stage match against Hungary tomorrow at 9:30 PM.
 
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.