The FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup is a flagship competition. The inaugural FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup took place in Chile in 1953, and the United States of America emerged as the first champion after beating the host nation in the Final. The 2022 edition in Sydney, Australia, made history with record-breaking engagement and attendance. The 2026 edition will be held in Germany and will feature 16 teams.
On the 'Road to Germany', the recent Pre-Qualifying Tournaments were played in August 2024 in Mexico and Rwanda and have qualified two teams, who will now go on to play in the four global Qualifying Tournaments in March 2026.
For more on the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026, click here.
FIBA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WORLD CUP 2026 QUALIFICATION
There will be four global FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournaments in March 2026.
Prior to this, the newly introduced FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Pre-Qualifying Tournaments took place in August 2024. These tournaments included the four nations that had not advanced from the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2024, plus the 12 next best-placed teams from the FIBA Women's Continental Cups 2023 - with four nations represented per region.
The 16 participating teams, eight per tournament, were divided into two groups of four. The top two teams from each group advanced to the semi-finals of their respective event, with the winners of each tournament qualifying for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournaments in 2026.
The FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournaments will involve 24 teams determined by their results in the respective FIBA Women's Continental Cups in 2025 and includes the two winners of the FIBA Women's World Cup 2026 Pre-Qualifying Tournaments.
FIBA Women's AfroBasket 2025: 4 highest placed teams
FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2025: 6 highest placed teams
FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2025: 6 highest placed teams
FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025: 8 highest placed teams*
The FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournaments will be made up of four groups of six teams, with all teams playing each other in a round-robin system. The host nation and the winners of each Women’s Continental Cup 2025 will participate in these qualifiers. However, they do receive automatic qualification for the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026.
*5 highest placed teams + host + 2 winners of Pre-Qualifying Tournaments (winners deducted from the number of available spots in their region)