Who got snubbed from the Team USA roster for the 2026 FIBA World Cup?
USA TODAY Studio IX’s Callie Fin reveals the biggest women’s basketball names that are missing from Team USA’s roster for the 2026 FIBA World Cup.
The most talented women’s basketball players in the world will gather in Berlin, Germany, for the 2026 FIBA World Cup beginning Friday, Sept. 4.
This year’s tournament will feature 16 teams, four more than the 2022 World Cup, but the same number the competition had between 1990 and 2018.
Team USA has been dominant, winning nine of the last 12 FIBA World Cups, including four straight. This year’s team will be coached by Kara Lawson and features rising American stars like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers.
Lawson spoke about Team USA and what to look forward to when play begins Friday. Here’s a synopsis of her comments on Tuesday, Sept. 1:
“There’s no question that the world is improving at a rapid rate. It’s so exciting to see, and I see it at every level, obviously, being a college coach. I watch a lot of the younger teenage players around the world playing in FIBA competitions, and you can see how good everybody is getting. I think that’s an obvious statement that the world is improving. It has continued to improve, and there’s more depth to teams at the World Cup,” Lawson said.
“Now, when you look at rosters, there’s a number of just high quality players. I think the depth of these rosters is really strong. I think it’s gonna be the most difficult World Cup to win that we’ve had because of that, which is exciting.I mean, you should want it to be difficult, you know? It should be hard to win. It’s a World Cup, you know? … It’s the best teams, and it’s a tough schedule, and it’s a short ― it’s all those things you want to say it is, but at the end of the day, every team’s job is to try and win this. And so we’re hungry, and we’re focused on trying to put our best performances on display and see if we can get the job done.”
“Caitlin’s focused. She’s had a great campaign with Indiana. I’ve gotten to watch her a lot in person this summer. So she’s locked in and ready to go,” Lawson said.
“She’s somebody that can change games with her ability to create pace, her ability to score, playmaker, and so that’s something that is gonna be a great fit for the personnel that we have on this team. Her ability to get going and get hot, and to stretch the floor, the spacing that she provides, the attention that she generally draws in the WNBA ― we’ll see if that’s the same. I mean, that’s another part of FIBA that we’ll have to see, since (it’s) her first time here, is how people defend her.
“Is it similar to what we see in the (United) States, or is it a little bit different? So, we’re still in fact-finding mode in some of those areas … but we’re excited about having her on the team, and expecting her to make an impact for us each game.”
“I didn’t have any conversation with A’ja (Wilson) … I don’t have a timeline,” Lawson said of speaking with Wilson before the World Cup. “We’ll miss being around them … We wish them both a speedy recovery… but we don’t have time to be worried about who’s not here.”Lawson says team will focus on chemistry and building with the players on the floor.
“We had a good day today … It was great to get out on the court with them. It was a light day for us today. Just wanted to get a light sweat and get some things installed. Tomorrow, we’ll do a little but more.”
New faces at the FIBA World Cup include Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron. Here’s the group, who will all make their World Cup debuts this week, at practice Tuesday.
“The opportunity is an amazing one, and as a player that played for the federation … there’s a lot of pride that comes into representing our country and representing all the legends before us that played the game,” Lawson said on Aug. 22. “Now to be able to be a head coach and take the helm of the program, there’s not a higher honor in our sport.”
For Team USA, the coach is Kara Lawson. She’s been the head coach at Duke University since 2020 and has guided the Blue Devils to back-to-back ACC championships and two consecutive trips to the Elite Eight.
But Lawson’s roots in Team USA run deep. She played on this team in 2008, leading the Americans to a win over Australia in the gold medal game by scoring 15 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the floor to go along with three rebounds, two assists and a steal.Read more on Lawson and her coaching staff in Berlin.