Wings star Paige Bueckers is going to Berlin.
USA Basketball announced its roster for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup on Thursday, and Bueckers is one of six guards headed to the tournament with the team.
She will join Caitlin Clark, Chelsea Gray, Rhyne Howard, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young in an absolutely stacked guard room for Team USA.
“I’m so excited to announce the 2026 USA Basketball Women’s National Team,” USA Basketball Women’s National Team managing director Sue Bird said in a press release.
“This is an incredibly talented group that has earned the opportunity to compete in Berlin. Wearing a USA jersey is a privilege, and I know these 12 players will embrace that responsibility as we go after another gold medal. I can’t wait to see what this team accomplishes together.”
The Team USA roster assembled for Berlin has already combined for 14 Olympic and nine World Cup gold medals. Bueckers, for her part, has won four at the youth and junior levels. She helped Team USA to a gold medal in Buenos Aires in the 2017 Americas U16 Championships, another in Minsk, Belarus at the 2018 U17 World Cup, a third at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games and a fourth at the 2019 U19 World Cup in Thailand. The 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup will be Bueckers’ debut at a major international competition.
The World Cup will take place from Sept. 4-13. WNBA competition will pause for the duration of the event, just like it did in 2024 for the 33rd Olympiad in Paris. The Wings play a game on Aug. 30 against the Connecticut Sun at home in Arlington, and their next WNBA game will be on Sept. 17 at home against the Los Angeles Sparks.
Team USA has won the last four World Cups. The Americans beat China in the finals in 2022, 83-61. The team’s gold in Sydney marked the first time in history that any team had run off four World Cup Championships in a row. A’ja Wilson was named tournament MVP in 2022 and was joined by Breanna Stewart in the All-Star Five. Both Wilson and Stewart will be running it back with Team USA in 2026.
Wings coach Jose Fernandez will serve as a scout coach on head coach Kara Lawson’s staff. Bueckers sits at seventh in the WNBA in scoring at 20.1 points per game and seventh in assists per game at 5.9 as of Aug. 6.
“It’s great to have a team and to have a roster,” Lawson said in a statement. “It’s been a long process to whittle it down to 12 players, and I think that speaks to just the talent we have in our country across the board. These 12 have earned it through their play and their consistency. I couldn’t be more excited about working with each of them, and I’ve had good experience with each of them… I know what they’re capable of, and I know that this is a group that’s ready for the challenges that are ahead.”
The complete 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup Team USA roster is as follows:
