2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup

2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup
Basketball-Weltmeisterschaft der Frauen 2026
#WeOwnTheGame!
Tournament details
Host countryGermany
CityBerlin
Dates4–13 September
Teams16 (from 4 confederations)
Venues2 (in 1 host city)
2022
2030

The 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup will be 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 will be hosted in Berlin, Germany, from 4 to 13 September 2026.[1] This is Germany's second time hosting after previously organising the event in 1998, after being awarded the hosting rights in spring 2023.

Sixteen teams will take part in the tournament, four more than the previous edition but returning to the same number as was between 1990 and 2018. The Germans automatically qualify as hosts. Qualifiers will be decided via a mixture continental champions and teams progressing from the qualifying tournaments.

United States are the four-time defending champions.

Host selection

The following countries expressed interest in hosting:[2][3][4]

During its Central Board meeting in Manila, Philippines, on 28 April 2023, FIBA announced that Germany will host the upcoming World Cup in 2026.[5] It will be second Women's World Cup to be held in the Germany after the 1998 tournament.

The senate (city-state government) in Berlin decided to allocate 6 million to the event.[6]

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.[7] The expansion brings 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 will qualify. All other teams play in a qualifying tournament after finishing as the top teams during their regional tournament. A total of 24 teams will be playing in those qualifying tournaments for the remaining eleven spots.[8]

Qualified teams

Qualification Host Dates Vacancies Qualified
Host nation N/A 28 April 2023 1  Germany
Winner of EuroBasket Women 2025 Czech Republic Brno / Germany Hamburg
Greece Piraeus / Italy Bologna
18–29 June 2025 1  Belgium
Winner of 2025 Women's AmeriCup Chile Santiago 28 June – 6 July 2025 1  United States
Winner of 2025 Women's Asia Cup China Shenzhen 13–20 July 2025 1  Australia
Winner of 2025 Women's Afrobasket Ivory Coast Abidjan 26 July – 3 August 2025 1  Nigeria
Qualifying Tournaments China Wuhan 11–17 March 2026 3
Puerto Rico San Juan 3
Turkey Istanbul 3
France Lyon 2

Summary of qualified teams

Team Qualification method Date of qualification Appearance(s) Previous best performance[A] WR[B]
Total First Last Streak
 Germany Host nation 28 April 2023 2nd 1998 1 Eleventh place (1998) TBD
 Belgium Winner of EuroBasket Women 2025 29 June 2025 3rd 2018 2022 3 Fourth place (2018) TBD
 United States Winner of 2025 Women's AmeriCup 6 July 2025 19th 1953 17 Champions (Eleven times)[a] TBD
 Australia Winner of 2025 Women's Asia Cup 20 July 2025 17th 1957 16 Champions (2006) TBD
 Nigeria Winner of 2025 Women's Afrobasket 3 August 2025 3rd 2006 2018 1 Eighth place (2018) TBD
Qualified through Qualifying Tournaments TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Venues

The tournament will be played in Berlin across two venues.

Berlin Berlin
Berlin Arena Max-Schmeling-Halle
Capacity: 14,500 Capacity: 8,500

Preparations

  • On 13 March 2026, for the second edition in a row, Spanish basketball legend, Pau Gasol, will be the global ambassador for the tournament.[10]

Marketing

The logo was unveiled on 12 August 2024.[11] According to FIBA, the logo is supposed to depict "Berlin's status as a united metropolis that loves to party and celebrate".[12]

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.[13]

Draw

The draw will take place on 21 April 2026.[14]

Preliminary round

All times are local:[15]

Group A

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Germany (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quarterfinals
2 A2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification to quarterfinals
3 A3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 A4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: 4 September 2026. Source: [ FIBA]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
(H) Hosts
4 September 2026
4 September 2026

5 September 2026
5 September 2026

7 September 2026
7 September 2026

Group B

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1 B1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quarterfinals
2 B2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification to quarterfinals
3 B3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 B4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: 4 September 2026. Source: [ FIBA]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
4 September 2026
4 September 2026

5 September 2026
5 September 2026

7 September 2026
7 September 2026

Group C

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1 C1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quarterfinals
2 C2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification to quarterfinals
3 C3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 C4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: 4 September 2026. Source: [ FIBA]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
4 September 2026
4 September 2026

6 September 2026
6 September 2026

6 September 2026
6 September 2026

Group D

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1 D1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quarterfinals
2 D2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification to quarterfinals
3 D3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 D4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: 4 September 2026. Source: [ FIBA]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head results; 3) Points difference; 4) Points scored.
4 September 2026
4 September 2026

6 September 2026
6 September 2026

7 September 2026
7 September 2026

Notes

  1. ^ Bold text indicates they hosted that edition.
  2. ^ World ranking at start of tournament.
  1. ^ United States have won in 1953, 1957, 1979, 1986, 1990, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022.

See also

References

  1. ^ "FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026: Deutschland erhält Zuschlag!". German Basketball Federation. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  2. ^ "ARGENTINA BUSCARÁ SER SEDE DEL MUNDIAL FEMENINO 2026". Cancha Latina. 3 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Rio de Janeiro tem Pan de 2031 nos planos esportivos da cidade". Surto Olímpico. 3 February 2023.
  4. ^ "FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 - Der DBB ist an einer Bewerbung als Ausrichter interessiert". bblprofis.de. 22 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Germany to host the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026". FIBA. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Sportmetropole Berlin unterstützt die Ausrichtung des FIBA Women's Basketball World Cups 2026". berlin.de. 12 March 2024.
  7. ^ "FIBA Central Board approves expansion of Women's World Cup 2026". FIBA.basketball.
  8. ^ "Qualification Tracker: Who has punched their ticket to the Women's World Cup 2026?". fiba.basketball. 19 June 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  9. ^ https://www.uber-arena.de/en/events/detail/fiba-2026/
  10. ^ https://www.fiba.basketball/en/news/spain-legend-pau-gasol-named-global-ambassador-for-fiba-womens-basketball
  11. ^ "Logo für FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 enthüllt". German Basketball Association (DBB).
  12. ^ "FIBA and global icon Sue Bird launch the brand for FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026" (Press release). FIBA. 12 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Meet Bearlina, the official mascot of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026" (Press release). FIBA. 15 November 2025.
  14. ^ "Stage set for a celebration of basketball in Berlin on April 21". fiba.basketball. 18 December 2025. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  15. ^ Game schedule