Team USA: What will we learn about young stars at WWC Qualifiers?

The USA Basketball Women’s National Team has already qualified for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup, to be held in Berlin, Germany, beginning September 4 and concluding on September 13.

However, Team USA will still participate in a Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament, playing five games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, beginning Wednesday, March 11 through Tuesday, March 17.

While the Americans, certainly, will expect to collect five wins, how they win, and not necessarily how much they win by, matters the most. The games should serve as information-gathering experiments, allowing national team managing director Sue Bird and head coach Kara Lawson to evaluate players, lineups, combinations and rotations for the final roster that will aim to secure Team USA their fifth-straight World Cup gold in Berlin.

Although some notable names will not be competing in San Juan, here are the 12 players that will be representing the red, white and blue:

Billings and Burrell were late adds to the team, replacing Aliyah Boston and Sonia Citron, who are nursing injuries sustained during the Unrivaled season. It’s unlikely Billings or Burrell will make the final roster; however, they’re perfect end-of-bench players, as they can provide an injection of energy and effort from the big or wing positions.

The rest of the group, which extends from seasoned, gold medal-winning vets to prime-age stars to fast-rising young players assumed to be the future of the program, will be in contention for the 12 final roster spots.

The guard room is particularly interest-worthy, all the more so since Bird and Lawson, the two tasked with choosing a winning roster for Berlin, are former guards themselves.

All of Gray, Bueckers, Plum and Clark have usually been at their best with the ball in their hands, while wings Young, Copper and Howard also are effective on the ball. How the staff chooses to mix and match groupings and roles will be worth watching. Although four-guard lineups probably will not be the best option at the actual World Cup, seeing such looks in San Juan would be quite fun.

Based what Bueckers related during her media availability, Bird is taking a broad view when evaluating players. For example, although Paige may have felt like she was being vocal during the training camp held at Duke University back in December, Bird thought otherwise, urging Bueckers to assume a larger leadership role.

The experimenting and evaluating begins with Team USA’s opening contest against Senegal on Wednesday, which tips off at 5 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on truTV.

Other stars to watch across World Cup Qualifiers

In addition to the stars filling Team USA’s roster, a number of other pro standouts will be representing their national teams in other World Cup qualifiers.

In Wuhan, China, Belgium, the No. 5-ranked team in the world that, like Team USA, has already qualified for the World Cup, began their qualifying jaunt by taking on Brazil. With a roster featuring Emma Meesseman and the Julies, Allemand and Vanloo, the back-to-back EuroBasket Women champs, still coached by Mike Thibault, cruised to 99-70 win against a Brazilian side led by Kamilla Cardoso and Damiris Dantas.

Meesseman had 13 points and five assists in just over 18 minutes of action, while Allemand had 12 points, four rebounds and four assists. Kyara Linskens led Belgium with 17 points on 6-for-7 shooting; she also grabbed eight boards. Cardoso scored 10 points, with Dantas putting 13 points and six boards for the Brazilians.

Both France and Germany are participating in the qualifiers in Lyon, France.

On home soil, the French, the No. 3-ranked team in the world, are favored to earn their spot in Berlin, with Gabby Williams leading the way. Two of women’s basketball’s most exciting players will also be suiting for France in Dominique Malonga and Marine Johannès, while the Leïla Lacan and Janelle Salaün are also playing. The French’s qualification journey begins against the Philippines (3:30 p.m. ET, Courtside 1891/MAX).

Satou Sabally will not be playing for Germany, but her sister Nyara is playing, as is Leonie Fiebich. The Germans also are already in September’s World Cup, as their host status earned them automatic entry. Their first qualifier is against Korea (12 p.m. ET, Courtside 1891/MAX).