2026 FIBA Women's World Cup: Team USA analysis, rankings, rosters - ESPN

The WNBA season is paused for the next couple of weeks, but there's plenty of women's basketball being played. The 2026 FIBA World Cup begins Friday and will run through Sept. 13 in Berlin, Germany. The tournament might not be as prominent as the Olympics — to fans, at least — but it is one of two major international competitions, with this year's event featuring 16 teams from North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

The United States is, per usual, stacked, though the reigning champions suffered a blow when it was announced Monday that four-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson and five-time All-Star Kelsey Plum are unable to participate in the tournament due to health reasons. But those losses don't alter the task at hand: bringing home a fifth consecutive World Cup gold and 12th overall.

The U.S. women's national team plays its group phase opener Friday against China. The USA faces Italy on Sunday and then Czechia on Monday. If the U.S. women win their group, they move on to the quarterfinals on Sept. 10, with the semifinals set for Sept. 12 and the championship and third-place games on Sept. 13.

There are plenty of other familiar faces in Berlin, too, with dozens of current and former WNBA players representing other countries, from Australia to Türkiye.

ESPN's World Cup guide gets you set with everything you need to know before the games tip. Not every roster has been finalized yet, but we list current WNBA players on each squad, along with their stats for this current WNBA season.

Jump to:
AUS | BEL | CHN | CZE | FRA | GER
HUN | ITA | JPN | KOR | MLI | NGR
PUR | ESP | TUR | USA | GROUPS

Current WNBA players:

F/C Aliyah Boston, Indiana Fever (16.9 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.3 BPG)
G Paige Bueckers, Dallas Wings (20.5 PPG, 5.9 APG, 4.1 RPG)