A French women's basketball team, which includes players from the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association), is heading to the World Cup in Germany despite facing a challenging and compressed preparation period. The team has only had a short time to prepare for its first match, which is scheduled for Friday, September 4, against Hungary. Out of the 12 players selected for the tournament, eight arrived from the United States very late, leaving the team with just four full days to prepare before their opening game. The team's training camp, which took place from August 19 to 29 at the Insep (a French sports training center), was unusually brief, lasting only ten days and missing a significant portion of the roster. This was due to the constraints of the WNBA, which only allows its players to leave their teams very late before international competitions. As a result, only four of the 12 selected players were present during the initial training period, and the rest joined the team in Berlin shortly before the World Cup began. The French basketball federation had anticipated this challenge, arranging meetings with WNBA teams and traveling to speak directly with the players. Coach Jean-Aimé Toupane emphasized that despite the difficulties, the team remains focused on its goal. "We are in contact with the players who are not present, but we don’t overwhelm them with information because they are committed to something," said Céline Dumerc, the team's general manager. The team is relying on communication, adaptability, and the experience of players who have already trained together to build cohesion quickly. The French players currently in France have been training and adapting to the shorter preparation time. Center Marième Badiane noted that the team is aware of the challenge but is confident in their ability to adjust. "The preparation is shorter than usual, so we had to be ready. And the girls who will join us will have to make an effort to recover, integrate, and assimilate what we have already assimilated," she said. The team is also focusing on key strategies developed during earlier competitions, such as automatic plays used in the World Cup qualification tournament, to help unify the group quickly in Germany. With the World Cup starting in just a few days, the French team is aiming to reach the final four, despite the many uncertainties. While the team acknowledges the difficulty of the situation, they remain determined to achieve their goals, including potentially winning a medal for the first time since 1953. The group stage matches will be critical not only for advancing in the tournament but also for building momentum and confidence as they face the more challenging rounds ahead.