Let’s get one factor out of the way in which: Crew USA has all the time dominated ladies’s basketball. Nobody is disparaging former groups, nobody is saying anybody is best or worse, however the truth stays that this 12 months’s roster is the fruits of years, maybe even a long time, of planning, processing, nurturing, and coaching — and the FIBA World Cup may simply be the primary time we get to see the outcomes.
The World Cup, which takes place in Berlin from September 4-13, will see the senior degree debuts of Aliyah Boston, Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark, Napheesa Collier, Rhyne Howard, Angel Reese and Jackie Younger. They’re going to be led by a veteran core made up of Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Grey, Kelsey Plum, Breanna Stewart, and A’ja Wilson, gamers who’ve gained earlier than and absolutely intend on successful it once more.
As reported by The Athletic, Stewart is making historical past this 12 months. She’ll develop into the third participant within the historical past of the American nationwide workforce to play in not less than 4 World Cups; her fellow UConn alumni Sue Chicken and Diana Taurasi performed in 5 and 4, respectively.
Chicken will nonetheless be on the World Cup this time round, albeit in a really completely different function: managing director. That job has required her to make loads of robust calls, like leaving Sabrina Ionescu off the workforce. Chicken has made it clear that this 12 months’s World Cup workforce choice course of was “not a mirrored image of who they’re as gamers,” and her focus was on placing collectively a roster that can “win a gold medal and complement one another.”
The World Cup roster can be not the ultimate roster for the 2028 Olympic Video games in Los Angeles.
However earlier than we get to 2028, it is crucial that we deal with 2026, and what’s prone to unfold in Berlin. This 12 months’s Crew USA is bringing collectively a shocking mixture of veteran management and younger blood, gamers who’re genuinely thrilling to so many individuals world wide. These are all issues Crew USA has all the time been identified for, however this 12 months’s World Cup workforce is completely different for one more motive.
This 12 months’s World Cup will probably see increased viewership numbers than these of the previous; that is the primary one since Clark and Reese had been drafted in 2024 and Bueckers in 2025. The U.S. ladies’s workforce has gained the gold medal 4 instances in a row — a time interval that spans 16 years — they usually’ve seen loads of challengers come and go.
This 12 months’s match will likely be troublesome, however with this roster, Crew USA is greater than prepared.
