On August 6, 2026, Team USA announced the names of the 12 athletes selected to travel to Berlin, Germany, to compete in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup: Aliyah Boston, Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark, Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Rhyne Howard , Kelsey Plum, Angel Reese, Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, and Jackie Young. 

The team consists of athletes with varying levels of experience across multiple levels of competition. Six athletes on the team—Boston, Bueckers, Clark, Collier, Howard, Reese and Young—will be making their World Cup debut. The team also returns Copper, Gray, Plum, Stewart, and Wilson from the 2022 FIBA World Cup gold medal winning team. 

Despite varying experience on the international stages, the team's accolades pile up. The 12 athletes have a collective 14 Olympic Medals, 16 WNBA titles, and 58 WNBA All-Star appearances. USA Basketball leadership believes that the mix of ages, WNBA experience, and international experience will help this group come together as a strong team.

Sue Bird, Managing Director of the USA Women's National Team and a five-time Olympic gold medalist herself, said building that balance was one of the primary goals when selecting the roster.

“Just wanting to have a good mixture of people with experience, of people with youth—obviously, 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,” Bird told reporters upon the release of the roster. 

According to Bird, every roster decision was made with the same objective: creating a cohesive team capable of winning gold.

“And that's always the north star in all these decisions that I've made: putting together a roster that complements each other, has a cohesiveness, can play [national team coach] Kara [Lawson]'s style, and go out there and get a gold,” Bird said. 

“Just wanting to have a good mixture of people with experience, of people with youth—obviously, 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.”

Sue Bird

Facing New Pressures

For four athletes on the roster—Boston, Bueckers, Clark, and Reese—the FIBA World Cup will be their first appearance on a senior international USA team, such as the World Cup or Olympics. Meaning, a third of Team USA will be making their debut on the major international stage in Berlin. 

Boston, Bueckers, Clark, and Reese are all just 24 years old. While these athletes are no strangers to winning on some of the most-viewed courts in the world, this experience will still be an unknown “first” for them. So, let’s take a closer look at how these four athletes approach confidence, pressure, and performance.

Aliyah Boston, VIS Mentor 

VIS Mentor Aliyah Boston is in her fourth WNBA season with the Indiana Fever after earning Rookie of the Year honors in 2023. Before entering the league, she starred at the University of South Carolina, where she was named the 2022 Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Boston has told VIS that her favorite mantra is, "I am equipped for everything that comes my way." While wearing the Team USA uniform at the World Cup will be a “first” for Boston, we are confident she is more than equipped to help Team USA find success on the court. 

Paige Bueckers

Paige Bueckers plays Guard for the Dallas Wings, where she won Rookie of the Year in 2025. Bueckers is no stranger to competing at the highest levels. She played collegiately for the University of Connecticut, where she helped lead the team to a National Championship in 2025 and was then selected No. 1 overall in the WNBA 2025 Draft. When playing on such a high level, it is inevitable that Bueckers faces scrutiny and judgement from viewers. How does she handle this added pressure? By focusing on the work she knows she has done. "They see me 3-4 hours a day and they think they know my entire 24 hours. Which is cool… The work will always show. I'm a believer in that, I have confidence in that,” Bueckers told reporters in 2024. 

Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark, now in her third WNBA season with the Indiana Fever, was named the league's Rookie of the Year in 2024 after being selected No. 1 overall in that year's draft. Similarly to Bueckers, Clark finds grounding in the endless hours of hard work she knows she has put in preparation for her games. “I think for myself, there’s always been pressure, especially over the course of the last four years. But I always try to remind myself about the work that I put in. I know I’m prepared for these moments,” Clark told Goldman Sachs.

Angel Reese

Angel Reese, of the Atlanta Dream, is in her third season with the WNBA. She is building off a historical collegiate career at Louisiana State University, where she was a national champion, the 2023 Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and a First Team AP All-American. Reese talks a lot about the importance of ownership of your identity and uniqueness as the root of finding self-confidence. Last week, in response to the question, “Where does your confidence come from?”, she told reporters, “Be confident in every room you walk into… Just the importance of walking into rooms and knowing you are that girl.” 

Plenty of Experience & Wisdom

While this competition will mark Boston, Bueckers, Clark, and Reese’s debut on the World Cup stage, they are far from inexperienced. Their past accomplishments and the championship-level mindsets they have developed for performing their best in high pressure situations will allow them to approach the FIBA World Cup this September beyond prepared. On paper, they may be international Team USA rookies, but on the court, their mental approach makes them veterans. 

Keep Up With the Action

Team USA is heading to Berlin with a mix of new faces and experienced veterans, and it will be exciting to see how they come together on the court. As Bird said, bringing together players with different ages, experiences, and strengths is key to building a team that can compete for gold.

Tune in to see how this group comes together and what this new generation of Team USA stars can do on the world stage.