KIGALI (Rwanda) - The Final of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Pre-Qualifying Tournament Rwanda will be a rematch of the tournament's opener with Hungary and Senegal facing off at BK Arena in Kigali on Sunday.
These are, by far, the two best teams in the tournament, according to the numbers.
But one thing Hungary are certain of is that they are not prepared to lose to Senegal again, after suffering a 63-61 setback in the first game of the tournament last week.
What to expect from Game No. 15 of this World Cup Pre-Qualifying Tournament?
Find the answers below.
Key Matchup
This clash between Hungary and Senegal won't be short of unmissable duels.
Reka Lelik v Ndioma Kane and Cierra Dillard v Debora Dubei are the kind of matchups no-one wishes to miss, but the key battle is likely to take place in the paint where Hungary twin towers Virag Kiss and Bernadett Hatar will go up Senegal's relatively shorter bigs Fatou Diagne and Madjiguene Sene.
Hungary's backcourt has been phenomenal throughout the tournament, but its front-court has been overweeningly good with Kiss, Hatar causing all shorts of problems to opponents.
X-factor
Unless Senegal lock in defensively, apply the same level of physicality - from their first meeting - in the paint and take care of the ball, they will face some hard time against a very disciplined and smart Hungary team.
Stats don't lie
These are the two highest scorer teams in the tournament, although Hungary averaged 81.8 points per game - ten more than Senegal (71.8).
But what makes this an unmissable matchup is both teams's aggressiveness and their ability to limit their opponents scoring opportunities. Coincidently Hungary and Senegal limited their opponents to exact 62 points per game.
Offensively, Hungary register a tournament-high 46 percent Field-Goal compared to Senegal's 39 percent.
Past matchups
One of the greatest achievements of this FIBA new competition system is that it allows countries from all corners of the globe to face each other in a World Cup Pre-Qualifying tournament in a neutral venue (country).
Prior to last week's 63-61 Senegal win, there was only one game between Hungary and Senegal, and it happened in the 1975 FIBA Women's World Championship held in Colombia, where Hungary obliterated Senegal 78-21.
They said:
"They have probably beat everybody handedly since they lost to us. Because you can beat people the way they did, they have been preparing to play us. I guarantee you this is what they would say. This is going to be a really tough game because all our energy source has been spent. This is going to be a really tough night for us. We can still win, but it will be tougher than the first time. They know our personnel now; they know a little bit of what we do." - Senegal head coach Otis Hughley Jr.
"If we keep improving like this [three straight wins], we can win this tournament, that's our goal." - Hungary forward Reka Lelik.
"We want to repay the favour to Senegal because they beat us in the first game, but it's going to be a tough battle." - Hungary head coach Peter Volgyi.
FIBA