Team USA still team to beat at FIBA World Cup — don’t let new faces fool you

The next era of USA Basketball arrived in Berlin with a new look, a new feel and, perhaps most importantly, a new generation in line to carry the heavy weight of the red, white and blue. 

The FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup opens Friday in Germany, with the past and future of USA Basketball sharing the court as the Americans open the competition against China. 

This isn’t just another title defense. It is the first major stress test of what’s to come next for USA Basketball. 

This iteration of Team USA represents the clearest changing of guards American women’s basketball has seen in decades. It’s younger, less experienced and, in the words of Paige Bueckers, more “turnt.” 

The newcomers are headlined by Caitlin Clark, Bueckers and Angel Reese. 

The veteran mainstays include Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray, who, at 33, is the oldest on the roster. 

The youth movement became even more pronounced when injuries ruled out A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum earlier this week, resulting in Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron being called up. 

Even amid this transition period, the global throne remains America’s to lose. 

The 2026 roster is relatively inexperienced by Team USA standards. Only three players have competed in a World Cup before, leaving nine Americans in this tournament for the first time. 

Six players are under 25: Clark, Bueckers, Reese, Iriafen, Citron and Aliyah Boston. 

In the sports world, this level of personnel turnover and youth injection would be deemed a “rebuild,” which almost always comes with tempered expectations. 

While it’s an unusual situation for the U.S., anything short of another World Cup title would be viewed as a disappointment. 

Team USA is undoubtedly the team to beat even though the competition at the international level arguably has never been better. 

“That’s an obvious statement that the world is improving,” USA Basketball head coach Kara Lawson told reporters earlier this week. “When you look at rosters, there’s a number of high-quality players. I think the depth of these rosters is really strong. I think it’s going to be the most difficult World Cup to win that we’ve had because of that, which is exciting. You should want it to be difficult. It should be hard. It’s a World Cup.” 

While Sue Bird’s days of running point on the floor are long over, she was put in charge of constructing the roster as the first USA Basketball managing director for the women’s national team. 

It’s a fitting role for Bird, who joined Diana Taurasi in spearheading a generation that made winning for Team USA feel inevitable. 

Bird had to strike a balance between preserving what made USA Basketball dominant and preparing the next generation to take over. 

She’s already shown a willingness to make uncomfortable choices, such as leaving 28-year-old Olympic gold medalist Sabrina Ionescu off the upcoming roster. 

“I wanted to have a mixture of people with experience and a good mixture of people with youth,” Bird told reporters last month after the World Cup roster was revealed. “That sets us up for the future, as well. But also, a team that complements each other and can go on the court and win gold. That’s always the North Star in all of these decisions that I’ve made.” 

The World Cup field has become deeper. The margins for error are thinner. And the pressure on the U.S. this month is enormous. 

Some of the faces and names have changed for Team USA. The style, under Lawson, might be different, too. 

But the expectation remains the same. 

“There’s a lot of newness to our roster,” Lawson said. “We need [the young players’] production, we need their confidence, we need their games to win this tournament. And so that’s why they’re here. They’re here to help us win.”