MIES (Switzerland) - The eight nations who didn't punch their ticket to the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 in Berlin have an opportunity to bounce straight back when they line up at the Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament this year. While their World Cup hopes may have evaporated, the Olympic dream is already burning brightly for Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, New Zealand, Philippines, Senegal and South Sudan. Taking place August 17-23, the competition is the first stop on the Road to LA 2028, with the winner of the Final securing a spot at the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in February 2028. The host of the Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament 2026 will be awarded to one of the participating nations, with an announcement being made in due course. The eight teams will be drawn into two groups of four. Each team will play against the other teams in their group, meaning at least three games for each nation. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Semi-Finals, with the winner of the subsequent Final taking the coveted ticket to the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2028. For those nations who are not successful, they will still all continue on the Road to LA 2028 and have another opportunity to progress to the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments via next year's respective Women's Continental Cups 2027.
The four FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments scheduled for February 2028 will take place at four locations around the globe and witness 16 teams fighting it out to make it to Los Angeles. Participating Teams in the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2028:
FIBA Women’s AfroBasket: Top 2 teams
FIBA Women’s Asia Cup: Top 4 teams
FIBA Women’s AmeriCup: Top 4 teams
FIBA Women’s EuroBasket: Top 6 teams
The winner of Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament 2026 will be coming in deduction of its respective region. The 12 best teams including the host nation (pending approval of the FIBA Central Board) and FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 winner will qualify for LA 2028. FIBA