Women's Basketball World Cup begins in Berlin: USA without A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum starts pursuit of fifth consecutive title
The 2026 Women's Basketball World Cup begins on September 4 in Berlin, and the defending champions from the United States of America immediately face one of the most anticipated matchups of the group stage in the opening game. The USA will play China at the Max-Schmeling-Halle, the national team it defeated in the final of the previous World Cup in Sydney in 2022. The American team still enters the tournament as the leading favorite, but the final preparations were marked by two major changes to the roster: A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum will not play due to health issues. FIBA confirmed that their places on the team have been taken by Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, giving head coach Kara Lawson's national team a different balance of experience and youth immediately before the start of the competition. The objective, however, has not changed: the USA is trying to win a fifth consecutive world championship title and its 12th gold medal overall in this competition.
Wilson and Plum ruled out immediately before the start of the tournament
A'ja Wilson's absence is the biggest individual change to the American team ahead of Berlin. Wilson was the most valuable player of the 2022 World Cup and one of the key figures of the USA national team in the most recent Olympic cycle, making her absence from the roster particularly significant for interior play, rim protection and scoring in situations when the offense slows down. Kelsey Plum brings a different but equally important profile: experience in organizing the offense, aggressiveness with the ball and the ability to create points from the perimeter. According to FIBA's announcement about the final roster change, both two-time world champions were ruled out because of health issues, without any further public disclosure of diagnoses. For that reason, it is most accurate to refer to health reasons, without speculating about the nature or duration of their recovery.
Their replacements demonstrate just how deep the American player pool is. Sonia Citron arrives in Berlin ahead of her first senior tournament for the USA national team, although she already has experience from the American development system and a gold medal from the 2021 U19 World Cup. Kiki Iriafen, unlike her, already made her senior debut in March at the World Cup Qualifying Tournament in San Juan. FIBA states that Iriafen averaged 5.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in five qualifying games. Their last-minute inclusion will not completely replace the roles of Wilson and Plum, but Lawson gets two players who are already familiar with the national team's way of working and who can take on specific assignments without requiring a radical change to the entire system.
American roster remains packed with stars
Despite the two absences, the final American roster remains exceptionally strong. According to FIBA's official list, the USA is represented in Berlin by Aliyah Boston, Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark, Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Rhyne Howard, Angel Reese, Breanna Stewart, Jackie Young, Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron. Stewart is the most experienced figure among the leading players and one of the players around whom the offense can be built in games with the greatest pressure, while Collier, Gray, Copper and Young bring Olympic-level experience. At the same time, the tournament will be the first senior World Cup appearance for a number of American players, including Clark, Bueckers and Reese. FIBA announced that as many as nine members of this team will make their first appearance at the world championship, turning the title defense into a kind of generational transition as well.
Particular attention is being drawn by Clark and Bueckers, who already played together in March at the qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico. Clark was named the tournament's most valuable player there, and according to FIBA statistics she averaged 11.6 points and 6.4 assists. Bueckers also made a strong impression in her return to the national team program, so their relationship with veteran Chelsea Gray will be one of the important tactical details of the American game. Lawson has several options for directing the offense, but Plum's absence means that part of the responsibility for creation and putting pressure on the opposing defense will have to be assumed by other guards. In that sense, the opening game against China will be an early indicator of how quickly the new rotation can function at the highest level.
Opening game against China is a rematch of the 2022 final
FIBA's official schedule has the USA and China meeting on September 4 at 12:15 at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin. It is a rematch of the 2022 World Cup final in Sydney, in which the American national team won 83-61 and claimed its fourth consecutive title. FIBA's head-to-head overview before the start of this tournament records 15 USA victories and no Chinese victories in the official games included in those statistics. Such a record clearly demonstrates the Americans' historical advantage, but the current Chinese national team has enough quality to ensure that the opener is not merely a formality. After all, China reached the final at the last World Cup and thereby equaled its best result in the history of the competition.
China arrives in Berlin as the fourth-ranked team in the FIBA World Ranking and as a team with a very pronounced height advantage. In its preview of the Chinese national team, FIBA particularly highlights Xu Han and teenage center Ziyu Zhang, who already demonstrated during qualifying in Wuhan how effective she can be close to the basket. Zhang is 220 centimeters tall and averaged 11 points in the qualifying tournament while shooting at a very high percentage from the field. Xu Han was China's leading scorer in the same competition with 12.4 points per game. Defending China's size will be one of the first serious tests for the American frontcourt without Wilson, and at the same time an opportunity for Boston, Stewart, Collier, Reese and Iriafen to show how the USA intends to distribute minutes and defensive assignments.
Group D also features Italy and Czechia
The USA and China are placed in Group D together with Italy and Czechia. After opening against China, the American national team plays Italy on September 6 and concludes the group stage against Czechia on September 7. In its preview, FIBA described Group D as exceptionally strong when the positions of all four national teams in the world ranking are combined. Italy has returned to the World Cup for the first time since 1994, while Czechia qualified for its first appearance since 2014. Such a group structure means that even for a favorite such as the USA, every result directly affects the path toward the quarterfinals.
The 2026 tournament format differs from the previous edition. FIBA has expanded the final tournament from 12 to 16 national teams, divided into four groups of four teams, and a total of 36 games will be played in Berlin over ten days. The winner of each group advances directly to the quarterfinals, while the second- and third-placed teams must play an additional elimination game for a place among the final eight. Groups A and B are paired in the crossover, as are Groups C and D, making first place in the group stage particularly valuable because it provides direct qualification and avoids an additional knockout game. For the USA, which traditionally enters the tournament with the goal of winning gold, this increases the importance of a focused start to the competition beginning with China.
A fifth consecutive title would continue two decades of dominance
The American national team arrives in Berlin on a run that has no comparable parallel in modern women's international basketball. The USA won the World Cups in 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022, and FIBA notes that the Americans' last defeat at the world championship came all the way back in the 2006 semifinal against Russia. In the meantime, the Americans have continued winning Olympic gold medals as well, including a very close 67-66 victory over France in the final of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. That game showed that historical dominance no longer automatically means a large winning margin against the world's best national teams. New head coach Kara Lawson emphasized ahead of this cycle that the gap between the USA and the rest of the world is narrowing and that there are more national teams capable of seriously threatening the defending champions.
Lawson took over as head coach for the cycle leading to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, after previously winning gold medals as a player and as a member of the coaching staff. She enters the national team program with the clear task of simultaneously maintaining results and introducing a new generation. That is particularly visible in Berlin: alongside Stewart, Gray, Copper, Collier and Young, Clark, Bueckers, Reese, Boston, Howard, Citron and Iriafen are moving into major roles. The absence of Wilson and Plum further accelerates that process because it opens up minutes and responsibilities for the younger players that might not have been as significant on the original roster. That is precisely why the way Lawson distributes roles will be one of the key stories of the American tournament.
Berlin once again hosts the world's biggest showcase
The World Cup runs from September 4 to 13 and this is the 20th edition of FIBA's most important competition for women's national teams. Germany is hosting for the second time, having previously organized the championship in 1998. Games are being played in two Berlin arenas: Berlin Arena, for which FIBA lists a capacity of up to 14,000 spectators, and Max-Schmeling-Halle, which accommodates up to 9,000 spectators. Max-Schmeling-Halle also has a direct connection with the tournament's history because it was one of the venues for the final stages of the 1998 World Cup. Visitors coming to Berlin for the tournament may also find accommodation offers in Berlin useful, especially considering that games are being held at two different locations in the city.
The expansion to 16 national teams is part of FIBA's broader intention for the World Cup to reflect the growth of women's basketball and the increasing number of competitive national programs. Alongside the USA, China, Italy and Czechia in Group D, the tournament also features Germany, Japan, Spain and Mali in Group A; Hungary, South Korea, Nigeria and France in Group B; and Belgium, Australia, Puerto Rico and Turkey in Group C. Host Germany plays in front of its home crowd, while national teams such as Belgium, France and Australia also enter the championship with medal ambitions. By providing direct advancement for group winners, FIBA has further increased the value of every game in the opening phase. As a result, even the favorites will find it difficult to count on a prolonged adjustment period.
Without two stars, but with the same expectations
The most important question for the USA at the start of the tournament is not whether it can replace the two absent players on paper, but how quickly it can find a new functional hierarchy. Wilson is a player around whom both offense and defense can be built, while Plum changes the dynamics of the guard line with her pace. With their absence, a greater burden shifts to Stewart and Collier in the paint, Gray and Clark in organizing the offense, and the broader group of players who will have to maintain intensity in defense and transition. Citron and Iriafen are not coming to Berlin as replacements expected to copy their predecessors, but as additional options within an extremely deep roster. Roster depth has been one of the main advantages of the American national team for decades, and it will now be tested once again under circumstances that were not planned when the original roster was announced.
The first test comes immediately against China, an opponent against whom the USA has a strong historical advantage, but also a national team that reached the World Cup final the last time around. The game will offer a contrast between American depth, speed and versatility and Chinese height and play through its taller players. If the defending champions successfully pass that test, the focus will quickly shift to Italy and Czechia and securing first place in the group, which under the new system brings direct qualification to the quarterfinals. If, however, problems emerge in the rotation without Wilson and Plum, the new format leaves less room for mistakes than before. From the very first day, Berlin will therefore provide an answer to the tournament's key question: can the changed American team continue the run that began in 2010 and win a fifth consecutive world title?
Sources:
- FIBA - confirmation that Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen replace A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum due to health issues and information about the American roster (link)
- FIBA - official USA - China game page, tip-off time, venue, result of the 2022 final and head-to-head record (link)
- FIBA - official 2026 World Cup competition system, group format and path to the quarterfinals (link)
- FIBA - profile of the Chinese national team and context of its appearance following the 2022 final (link)
- FIBA - official Roster Tracker with confirmed rosters, including the final American roster after the changes (link)
- FIBA - USA statistics from the qualifying tournament in San Juan, including Caitlin Clark's performance (link)
- FIBA - China's statistics from the qualifying tournament in Wuhan and the performances of Xu Han and Ziyu Zhang (link)
- FIBA - information about the Berlin venues and capacities of Berlin Arena and Max-Schmeling-Halle (link)
- FIBA - historical context of American dominance and head coach Kara Lawson's role in the cycle through 2028 (link)
- FIBA - overview of the 20th edition of the World Cup and key information about the tournament in Berlin (link)