The 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup was the 20th edition of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for women's national basketball teams, sanctioned by FIBA. The tournament was hosted in Berlin, Germany, from 4 to 13 September 2026. This was Germany's second time hosting after previously organising the event in 1998, after being awarded the hosting rights in spring 2023.
Sixteen teams took part in the tournament, four more than the previous edition but returning to the same number as was between 1990 and 2018. The hosts automatically qualified. Qualifiers were decided via a mixture of continental champions and teams progressing from the qualifying tournaments. Hungary and Italy returned after long absences.
The United States were the four-time defending champion, and retained the title after a finals win over France. It also represented the second final between those teams at an international event since the 2024 Summer Olympics gold medal match.
Host selection The following countries expressed interest in hosting: (San Luis) – During the 2022 South American Basketball Championship, Horacio Muratore, president of the Argentine Basketball Confederation, explained that the federation is working really hard to win the hosting rights, with San Luis as the host city. This would be have been Argentina's first time hosting. (Rio de Janeiro) – After Rio de Janeiro carried out a study, they stated they want the Women's Basketball World Cup. This would have been Brazil's fourth time hosting after 1971, 1983 and 2006. (Berlin) – After hosting EuroBasket 2022, German Basketball Federation president, stated he would like to consider hosting the 2026 Women's World Cup. This would be their second time organising after 1998.
During its Central Board meeting in Manila, Philippines, on 28 April 2023, FIBA announced that Germany would host the upcoming World Cup in 2026. It was the second Women's World Cup to be held in the Germany after the 1998 tournament.
Qualified teams
Expansion On 25 March 2022, following a review of the current FIBA women's basketball system, FIBA expanded the World Cup back to 16 teams after reducing the teams to 12 teams in 2022. The expansion brought the numbers of teams that qualified back to the same count as the World Cups between 1990 and 2018.
Qualification Germany as the hosts automatically qualified for the tournament in April 2023. Each winner of the continental championship qualified. All other teams played in a qualifying tournament after finishing as the top teams during their regional tournament. A total of 24 teams played in those qualifying tournaments for the remaining eleven spots.
Qualified teams
Of the sixteen teams who qualified, nine took part in the previous edition. For the first time since 1990, no teams debuted at this edition. Of the seven returnees, Italy and Hungary came after long absences after last appearing in 1994 and 1998 respectively. Hosts Germany also returned after their only appearance was hosting in 1998. Czech Republic made an appearance after missing out on the previous two editions. Spain and Turkey progressed this time round after failing to advance in 2022, while Nigeria took part after withdrawing in 2022.
Of the absentees, the most notable absentee is 2022 fourth place finishers Canada, who failed to qualify for the first time since 2002 after missing out on a three way tie in the Qualifying Tournaments. 2022 debutants, Bosnia and Herzegovina, alongside Serbia, couldn't qualify after their sporadic appearances in 2022.
After the Qualifying Tournaments, the regional team split as follows: eight from Europe, four from Asia and Oceania and two from Africa and Americas. Europe's eight teams breaks their record of most European teams at a single World Cup (previously held by 1957 with seven); while on the other hand, Americas' two representatives (Puerto Rico and United States) marks the lowest number of teams at the World Cup from the region since 1967 (in which only 11 teams competed).
Mali qualified for a second successive edition for the first time, while Belgium and Puerto Rico continue their qualification streaks since their debuts in 2018. South Korea and the United States continue their longest active qualification streaks with 18 and 17 respectively.
The highest ranked team to not qualify was Canada, ranked 7th, while the lowest ranked team to qualify was Hungary, ranked 19th. Qualification Host Dates Vacancies QualifiedHost nation N/A 28 April 2023 1 Winner of EuroBasket Women 2025 Brno / Hamburg Piraeus / Bologna 18–29 June 2025 1 Winner of 2025 Women's AmeriCup Santiago 28 June – 6 July 2025 1 Winner of 2025 Women's Asia Cup Shenzhen 13–20 July 2025 1 Winner of 2025 Women's Afrobasket Abidjan 26 July – 3 August 2025 1 Qualifying Tournaments Wuhan 11–17 March 2026 3 San Juan 3 Istanbul 3 Lyon 2
Summary of qualified teams
Venues The tournament was played in Berlin across two venues.
The main venue was the Berlin Arena. This arena hosted two groups and the entire knockout stage. The venue previously hosted the 2024 European Men's Handball Championship and the latter stages of EuroBasket 2022. It was the first venue to host three EuroLeague Final Fours. The venue has also held many high-profile non-sporting events. The secondary arena was the Max-Schmeling-Halle. It hosted two groups in the first round. The venue previously hosted the 2007 World Men's Handball Championship, plus the finals of the 2013 Women's European Volleyball Championship, 2023 IHF Men's U21 Handball World Championship, plus two CEV Champions League finals in 2015 and 2019.
Berlin Berlin Berlin Arena Max-Schmeling-Halle Capacity: 14,000 Capacity: 9,000
Preparations The senate (city-state government) in Berlin decided to allocate €6 million to the event. On 13 March 2026, for the second edition in a row, Spanish basketball legend Pau Gasol was named the global ambassador for the tournament.
Marketing Logo The logo was unveiled on 12 August 2024. According to FIBA, the logo is supposed to depict "Berlin's status as a united metropolis that loves to party and celebrate".
Mascot The mascot, "Bearlina", was revealed during the HipHop Ball at Red Town Hall on 15 November 2025. Bearlina is a bear (which is featured on the coat of arms of Berlin), whose design represents the lifestyle of the host city, including elements of punk, hip hop, graffiti art, and the design of the basketball used for FIBA competitions.
Draw
The draw took place on 21 April 2026 at 18:00 CET at the Kraftwerk in Berlin. The draw was hosted by American actress, Brittney Elena, and German presenter, . Australian basketball legend, Lauren Jackson, German handball player, Stefan Kretzschmar and breakdancer Jilou were the guests and assisted with the draw. The draw started with, in order, pots 1, 2, 3 and 4 being drawn, with each team selected then allocated into the first available group alphabetically. The position for the team within the group would then be drawn (for the purpose of the schedule). Before the draw, hosts Germany were pre-drawn into Group A. Regarding restrictions, a maximum of two teams from Europe are allowed in each group, while a maximum of one team from Africa, Americas and Asia/Oceania will be drawn in each group.
Seeding The seeding was revealed on 16 April 2026. The seeding was based on the FIBA Women's World Ranking as of 1 April 2026.
+ Pot 1Team (H) 11 1 2 3 + Pot 2Team 4 5 6 8 + Pot 3Team 10 13 14 15 + Pot 4Team 16 17 18 19
Draw results + Group A TeamA1 A2 A3 (H)A4 + Group B TeamB1 B2 B3 B4 + Group C TeamC1 C2 C3 C4 + Group D TeamD1 D2 D3 D4
Schedule
ScheduleRoundGamedayDatePreliminary roundGameday 1 4 September 2026Gameday 2 5–6 September 2026Gameday 3 7 September 2026Final roundQualification to quarterfinals 8–9 September 2026Quarter-finals 10 September 2026Semi-finals 12 September 2026Third placeFinal 13 September 2026
Referees The long list of 38 referees was announced on 2 April 2026. The final list of 28 referees was revealed on 13 August 2026.
James Griguol Ruben Woolcock Alan dos Santos Ventsislav Velikov Waseem Husainy Maripier Malo Sun Jian Martin Vulić Carlos Peralta Mihkel Männiste Yohan Rosso Orlando Varela Takaki Kato Gatis Saliņš Yann Davidson Martin Davison Viola Györgyi Julio Anaya Paulina Gajdosz Wojciech Liszka Johnny Batista Julirys Guzmán Petar Pešić Boris Krejić Ariadna Chueca Çisil Güngör Aline García Blanca Burns
Squads
Each team consists of twelve players.
Preliminary round All times are local (UTC+2). Classification of teams Highest number of points earned, with each game result having a corresponding point: Win: 2 points Loss: 1 point Loss by default: 1 point, with a final score of 2–0 for the opponents of the defaulting team if the latter team is not trailing or if the score is tied, or the score at the time of stoppage if they are trailing. Loss by forfeit: 0 points, with a final score of 20–0 for the opponents of the forfeiting team. Head-to-head record via points system above Point difference in games among tied teams Points for in games among tied teams Point difference in all group games Points for in all group games
Group A
4 September 2026 102–97 83–53 5 September 2026 82–73 74–58 7 September 2026 59–79 83–58
Group B
4 September 2026 99–81 53–99 5 September 2026 67–71 95–69 7 September 2026 82–73 56–111
Group C
4 September 2026 70–54 89–75 6 September 2026 71–87 64–76 7 September 2026 80–68 75–71
Group D
4 September 2026 94–61 54–63 6 September 2026 74–70 (OT) 52–55 7 September 2026 105–64 51–71
Knockout stage
Final
Final standings
RankTeam 6 6–0 6 5–1 6 4–2 4th 7 4–3 Eliminated in Quarterfinals 5th 4 3–1 6th 5 3–2 7th 5 3–2 8th 5 3–2 Eliminated in Qualification round 9th 4 1–3 10th 4 1–3 11th 4 1–3 12th 4 1–3 Eliminated in Group Stage 13th 3 1–2 14th 3 0–3 15th 3 0–3 16th 3 0–3 Qualified for the 2028 Summer Olympics
Statistics and awards Statistical leaders Players
Points Name PPGPlayer statistics Emma Meesseman 21.0 Han Xu 18.8 Gabby Williams 18.7 Iyana Martín 17.5 Imani McGee-Stafford 17.0
Rebounds Name RPG Imani McGee-Stafford 12.0 Han Xu 10.8 Dorka Juhász 10.4 Stephanie Talbot 8.6 Leonie Fiebich
Assists Name APG Julie Allemand 7.8 Rui Machida 5.8 Heo Ye-eun Yang Shuyu 5.6 Caitlin Clark 5.3
Blocks Name BPG Ramu Tokashiki 2.3 Imani McGee-Stafford 1.8 Kyara Linskens 1.5 Emma Meesseman Zhang Ziyu 1.4
Steals Name SPG Trinity San Antonio 5.0 Gabby Williams 2.8 Park Ji-hyun 2.3 Rhyne Howard Iyana Martín 2.2
Efficiency Name EFFPG Emma Meesseman 25.0 Gabby Williams 22.8 Trinity San Antonio 22.5 Han Xu 21.8 Stephanie Talbot 21.0
Teams
Points Name PPGTeam statistics 93.3 89.2 79.8 79.0 78.5
Rebounds Name RPG 44.2 43.1 41.2 41.0 39.5
Assists Name APG 24.5 23.5 22.3 22.2 21.0
Blocks Name BPG 4.0 3.8 3.5 3.0
Steals Name SPG 11.8 11.3 10.3 9.8
Efficiency Name EFFPG 114.0 109.5 97.5 92.3 87.0
Awards The awards were announced on 13 September 2026.
Award PlayerAll-Tournament First Team Iyana Martín Leonie Fiebich Breanna Stewart Gabby Williams Jackie YoungAll-Tournament Second Team Emma Meesseman Janelle Salaün Nyara Sabally Stephanie Talbot Han XuMost Valuable Player Breanna StewartBest Defensive Player Gabby WilliamsRising Star Iyana MartínBest Coach Miguel Méndez
Notes
See also 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup
References
External links
Official website