Germany Secures Victory Over Mali in Berlin
The first notes of "Durch den Monsun" rolled around the Uber Arena, and Germany’s players bounced onto the floor as if carried by the chorus. It felt less like a group decider and more like a homecoming. By the final buzzer, it sounded like a statement.
Germany dismantled Mali 83:58 (49:32) in Berlin, sealing second place in Group A behind Spain and booking a qualification clash with South Korea on Tuesday evening. The path into the quarter-finals is now clear. The way they walked it on this night was anything but tentative.
From four-way scrap to controlled win
The stakes were sharp before tip-off. All four teams in the group sat on three points, one win and one defeat apiece. First place was still possible. So was last. One bad night, and the hosts could have watched the knockout phase drift away.
Spain’s 79:59 win over Japan in the earlier game closed the door on top spot but also calmed the chaos. The “interim target”, as the camp had framed it, was simple: finish as high as possible and avoid a heavyweight in the next round. That meant winning. Again.
"We have to be the aggressor from the start," said Frieda Bühner, Germany’s standout in the victory over Japan. The team listened.
With world champion captain Dennis Schröder settled into a courtside seat, Germany flew out. The defence clamped down early, Mali struggled to find rhythm, and Leonie Fiebich’s first three-pointer pushed the hosts to a 15:7 lead by the sixth minute. The crowd rose with them.
Then came the wobble.
A flurry of errors crept in, the ball slipped away too easily, and Alexis Peterson – back after missing the second half against Japan because of an infection – turned it over twice in quick succession. For a brief spell, the noise inside the sold-out 12,550-seat arena turned anxious rather than celebratory.
Geiselsöder breaks out, Bühner takes over
The response came from a player who had been searching for her tournament so far.
Luisa Geiselsöder, quiet in the earlier games, produced her best performance of the competition and did not miss in the first half. She set hard screens, rolled with conviction, and then stepped out to stretch Mali’s defence. Her confidence became contagious.
Bühner, already brimming with it, caught fire again. Her second straight three-pointer pushed Germany into a double-digit lead at 40:29 in the 16th minute, and from that moment, the game tilted decisively. The ball moved, the spacing improved, and Mali were constantly half a step late.
Alexandra Wilke and Marie Gülich added their own long-range strikes. Bühner kept piling on, finishing as Germany’s top scorer with 21 points. Every make pushed the volume up another notch.
"You want to get better in every game, and they are doing that," Schröder said at half-time on MagentaTV, nodding towards the court and saluting the “awesome atmosphere” building around the team. It felt less like politeness and more like a genuine endorsement.
No repeat of Mali’s Spanish shock
Mali arrived with a warning label attached. Their shock 82:73 win over Spain on the second matchday had jolted the group and proved they could rattle favourites with pace, power and fearlessness.
Germany never let them near that gear.
After the break, Lange’s side kept their foot down. The hosts controlled the tempo, cut off Mali’s transition chances and refused to give up easy looks inside. Where Spain had been dragged into a track meet, Germany turned it into a half-court examination.
Geiselsöder delivered the decisive blow midway through the third quarter. Her three-pointer in the 25th minute stretched the lead to 56:37 and, with it, snapped any lingering tension. Mali’s shoulders dropped. Germany’s bench exploded.
"It felt great. It was really good basketball," the WNBA center said afterwards, a simple summary that matched what the crowd had just watched.
From there, Lange’s team managed the game with a maturity that hadn’t always been evident earlier in the tournament. No panic, no rush, no opening of the back door. The second meeting with Mali, after a friendly in Saarlouis back in 2007, never threatened to turn into a contest after the interval.
South Korea next – and Belgium waiting
The reward is clear and demanding at the same time.
Beat South Korea, who finished third in Group B, in Tuesday’s qualification round and Germany will step into a quarter-final against Belgium. The European champions of 2023 and 2025 marched through Group C without defeat and sit in the bracket like a looming exam.
For now, though, Germany have something they badly needed after their heavy 53:83 opening loss to Spain: momentum. A controlled response against Japan (74:58). A commanding display against Mali. A coach satisfied with the curve of his team’s development.
"I am very pleased with how we have developed. Now the success is there as well," said head coach Olaf Lange, already glancing ahead. "Now we have to reorganise again. South Korea are a good team."
The music, the crowd, the swagger on home court – it all suggests this team is ready for more. The next question is simple and unforgiving: can they carry this Berlin surge past South Korea and straight into a showdown with Europe’s best?
