A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, the last two Olympic MVPs, headline the U.S. roster for September’s FIBA World Cup, the biggest women’s basketball tournament before the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
They’re joined by fellow 2024 Olympic gold medalists Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. Plus Rhyne Howard, an Olympic 3x3 bronze medalist in 2024.
Aliyah Boston, Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese made the team for their global championship debuts.
The players were selected by national team managing director Sue Bird, who announced the team on TODAY on Thursday. It’s Bird’s first team for a major tournament since becoming the first U.S. women’s managing director in May 2025.
What's next isn't coming. It's here. 🇺🇸 #USABWNT pic.twitter.com/4y64oEG6iO
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 6, 2026
“Two years from now we’ve got the Olympics, you have to kind of always be thinking about the future while in the present,” Bird said. “So what I love about this team, it’s got experience — internationally, WNBA, you name it. It also has youth. You need both of those energies.”
Bueckers, Clark and Reese played on the national team as pros for the first time at an international tournament in March.
Brittney Griner, 35, is not on the team, marking the second time in the last decade she will miss a global championship. The other time, the 2022 World Cup, was when she was detained in Russia for 10 months.
Sabrina Ionescu also didn’t make it after playing at the most recent Olympic and World Cup tournaments.
The U.S. won its last 66 games between Olympic and World Cup play dating to its last defeat in the 2006 Worlds semifinals to Russia.
At the Paris Games, the U.S. broke the Olympic team sport record with an eighth consecutive gold medal.
Last year, Kara Lawson was named head coach, succeeding Cheryl Reeve.
The U.S. opens World Cup group play on Sept. 4 against China in a rematch of the 2022 World Cup final won by the U.S. 83-61.
