Happy Thursday, Ball-Knowers!

And a very Happy World Cup Eve to those who observe!

As I prepare to hit send on this post, we are all of 12 hours away from the first group stages matchups between Japan and Mali, as well as Australia and Puerto Rico. Team USA tips off in the second slate of games (8:15 AM ET) against China to kick off play in Group D.

The calendar is a bit wonky this year, with the international tournament coming smack dab in the middle of the WNBA’s late regular season. But it gives us all a chance to breathe the fresh discourse-free air, step away from the computer and touch the proverbial grass of national team basketball.

We’ll have daily recaps throughout the entirety of the Tournament and will be doing live postgame shows (and maybe a watch-along or two!) for select matchups. So come join us and be a true globe trotting Ball-Knower!

This week’s Ball Up Top is a World Cup preview in which Tyler and Andrew try to create a World vs. Team USA starting five.

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Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Nyara Sabally (Toronto Tempo), Luisa Geiselsoder (Portland Fire), Frieda Buhner (Portland Fire)

Active/Former WNBA/NCAA Players: Alexis Peterson (Syracuse), Marie Gulich (Oregon State), Alina Harmann (Colorado), Emily Bessoir (UCLA), Lina Sontag (UCLA), Clara Bielefeld (TCU)*

Outlook:

The Germans have decidedly less bite without Liberty wings Satou Sabally and Leonie Fiebich. Without their length, defensive versatility and scoring, what might have been a dark horse group to go deep in the tournament might be in a dogfight to get out of the group. Former UCLA forward Emily Bessoir was always a really high upside player but had trouble staying healthy in college. If the Germans manage to make a splash in this tournament, it’s likely going to be through her and Tempo forward Nyara Sabally, who is fit for the tournament.

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Mai Yamamoto (Las Vegas Aces)

Former WNBA/NCAA Players: Norika Konno (Louisville), Ramu Tokashiki (Seattle Storm), Rui Machida (Washington Mystics)

Outlook:

Every international tournament, people are surprised to find out that Japan has real deal hoopers. They have never touted the most size or won by dominating the block. Instead, through guards like Aces newcomer Mai Yamamoto, Japan gets downhill, plays with blistering pace and tries to bury you under hot shooting nights. This is a team that had a historic silver medal run in the Tokyo Olympics so don’t be surprised if you look up and see them in some games you didn’t think they’d be in.

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Sika Kone (Atlanta Dream)

Former WNBA/NCAA Players: Rokiya Doumbia (Arkansas)

Outlook:

While Mali, like several other AFCON nations, is really just starting to rev up their women’s basketball programs, they are still building out the depth of more established countries like Japan, Spain and Germany. But that’s not to say there aren’t some good players to watch here. Dream reservist Sika Kone and former Arkansas Razorback Rokiya Doumbia headline a cast that primarily plies their trade in the French LFB.

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Awa Fam (Seattle Storm), Megan DiLeo (Portland Fire), Alicia Florez (Washington Mystics), Maria Conde (Toronto Tempo), Iyana Martin (Portland Fire, sort of)

Former WNBA/NCAA Players: Maite Cazorla (Oregon), Helena Pueyo (Arizona)

Outlook:

They may not have significant depth to punch in a weight class with the likes of France or Team USA, but the Spanish have two things: a high ceiling and potentially the most exciting guard/forward tandem in the tournament. Seattle Storm rookie Awa Fam has started to come into her own in the WNBA while young guard Iyana Martin, the Portland Fire’s first-round-draft-and-stash this year, is ready for her first real test in front of a global audience. The 20 year old has been turning heads since her mid-teens in Spain, and with a nice rotating cast of WNBA mainstays, this could be a nice run for the 2025 silver medalists.

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Pauline Astier (New York Liberty), Valeriane Ayayi (Phoenix Mercury), Marine Johannes (New York Liberty), Leila Lacan (Connecticut Sun), Carla Leite (Portland Fire), Dominique Malonga (Seattle Storm), Janelle Salaun (Golden State Valkyries), Gabby Williams (Golden State Valkyries)

Former WNBA/NCAA Players: Marieme Badiane (Minnesota Lynx), Mamignan Toure (Connecticut Sun)

Outlook:

The world’s best shot at taking down the American juggernaut. The French have done nothing but get better since losing to Team USA in the 2024 Olympic gold medal game in Paris. Dominique Malonga and Carla Leite are likely to factor into this tournament in ways they weren’t ready for two years ago. Gabby Williams and Janelle Salaun have proven they can go toe-to-toe with the top players in the WNBA, so the tests will be along the margins. Does France have enough depth to hang with one of the deepest American teams in recent memory? With no A’ja Wilson, there’s never been a better time than now.

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Dorka Juhasz (Minnesota Lynx),

Former WNBA/NCAA Players: Yvonne Turner (Nebraska/Phoenix Mercury), Nina Aho (Duquesne)

Outlook:

The Hungarians were once a pretty globally competitive women’s basketball team until the fall of the Soviet Union and raising of the Iron Curtain in the early 1990’s. Much like Cuba, the former Yugoslavia and other former Soviet satellite states, Hungary’s prestige took a hit and they’ve been a generally okay unit for the last two decades or so. There’s a good amount of Euroleague mainstays headlined by Lynx forward Dorka Juhasz. It’ll be a dogfight for the second spot in this group but all three teams behind France have a shot.

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Amy Okonkwo (Portland Fire),

Former WNBA/NCAA Players: Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah (Northwestern), Promise Amukamara (Phoenix Mercury), Elizabeth Balogun (Duke), Jordan Obi (Kentucky), Maryam Dauda (South Carolina), Murjanatu Musa (Phoenix Mercury), Ezinne Kalu (Savannah State), Victoria Macaulay (Chicago Sky), Nicole Enabosi (Delaware)

Outlook:

Can the feel good story of the 2024 Olympics prove that it wasn’t a fluke and make it back to the knockout rounds? Rena Wakama did an excellent job coaching D’Tigress two seasons ago, and now the Nigerians bring a nice mix of experience and young talent to Berlin. Long timers like Amy Okonkwo, Ezinne Kalu and Promise Amukamara are back. But the interesting faces are the younger players, like former Duke Blue Devil Liz Balogun and former South Carolina Gamecock Maryam Dauda. There’s a good shot for Nigeria to be the second team out of the group here.

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Ji-hyun Park (L.A. Sparks)

Former WNBA/NCAA Players: Ji-su Park (Las Vegas Aces)

Outlook:

The WNBA-caliber tandem of Ji-su Park and Ji-hyun Park are going to be the central fulcrums that make everything go for the South Koreans, who have not missed a FIBA World Cup since 1959 when they first entered. But as other Asian countries have started to push more into women’s basketball, the South Koreans have seen their original grip on the game in the region slip. Even with that in mind, Ji-su and Ji-hyun will also get some help from forward Lee-seul Kang, the team’s captain at the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup and the locker room leader.

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Isobel Borlase (Atlanta Dream), Chloe Bibby (Minnesota Lynx), Ezi Magbegor (Seattle Storm), Jade Melbourne (Seattle Storm), Alanna Smith (Dallas Wings), Miela Sowah (Golden State Valkyries), Stephane Talbot (Las Vegas Aces)

Former WNBA/NCAA Players: Isabelle Bourne (Nebraska), Stephanie Reid (Buffalo), Alex Wilson (Washington Mystics)

Outlook:

Australia shocked the women’s basketball world when they won the 2006 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Brazil. But since then, other European countries have started to challenge the Opals as the second best women’s hoops nation in the world. You can chalk that up to the retirement of Lauren Jackson, which makes sense in a lot of ways. She’s, what, maybe one of the best six players in the history of the game? But now, with so much WNBA talent, I fully expect the Australians to make a strong push for a gold medal game.

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Julie Allemand (Toronto Tempo), Nastja Claessens (Kansas State), Alicia Courthiau (Wisconsin), Antonia Delaere (Minnesota Lynx), Kyara Linskins (Phoenix Mercury), Julie Vanloo (New York Liberty)

Former WNBA/NCAA Players: Emma Meesseman (Washington Mystics/New York Liberty), Bethy Mununga (USF)

Outlook:

The Belgians are a very strange phenomenon. They got awfully close to upsetting the Americans in the run-up to the 2024 Olympics and have won the last two EuroBaskets. But when it things get turned up a notch, they have had trouble. They finished 4th in the last Olympics and 5th in the last World Cup and superstar forward Emma Meesseman is not getting any younger. Instead, I’m anticipating some new faces to step up. Nastja Claessens and Kyara Linskins are two in particular that I’m watching.

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Nina De Leon (UTSA), Zaida Gonzalez (Stony Brook),

Former WNBA/NCAA Players: Jacqueline Benitez (Siena/James Madison), Arella Guirantes (New York Liberty), Tayra Melendez (Rhode Island), Trinity San Antonio (Grand Canyon), Brianna Jones (Georgetown), India Pagan (Stony Brook), Denise Solis (Temple), Imani McGee-Stafford (Chicago Sky), Sofia Roma (Duke)

Outlook:

Puerto Rico always has a lot of players with plenty of collegiate playing experience but not a ton at the WNBA level. It’s just a bit of a truism that if you can make Team USA, you’re probably not going to be playing for Puerto Rico. But this group does have some pieces that I enjoyed watching at the NCAA level, from Arella Guirantes to Trinity San Antonio. Both Nina De Leon and Zaida Gonzalez, who are playing college ball right now, could also be nice surprises ahead of their seasons in the fall.

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Elif Istanbulluoglu (Louisville), Kennedy Burke (Connecticut Sun)

Former WNBA/NCAA Players: Sevgi Uzun (Chicago Sky), Derin Erdogan (Arizona/Northeastern)

Outlook:

The Turkish have always been a bit strange in the sense that they have one of the most vibrant and well-funded domestic women’s basketball league in the world. But, for whatever reason, it hasn’t translated to the grassroots level and seeded a generation of top-tier talent. That’s not to say there isn’t some good here, particularly Louisville forward Elif Istanbulluoglu. This group has the least clear frontrunner out of the four teams, so there could be some chaos that goes their way here.

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Han Xu (New York Liberty)

Former WNBA/NCAA Players:

Outlook:

There’s a really weird situation that unfolded with Dallas Wings forward Li Yueru, who had some kind of passport issue that stopped her opportunity to get to Germany. Instead, the Chinese will be looking to Liberty center Han Xu to lead the way. Past the actual game play, the most interesting thing about China’s team is 19 year old Zhang Ziyu, the 7 foot 3 teenager who has been compared to Yao Ming. In 2025, she made her senior team debut by scoring 18 points in 12 minutes against Bosnia. There’s a lot of ways better teams can beat her, but nearly no one will be able to handle the height on its own.

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Eliska Joklova (Minnesota Lynx)

Former WNBA/NCAA Players:

Outlook:

Much like the Turkish, the Czech Republic possesses one of the best Euroleague clubs in the world, USK Praha. Everyone from Makayla Timpson to Bridget Carlton has played for them in the last couple of years. And while a lot of their bench is filled out with younger Czech talent that may bloom in a few years, it’s likely that we’re a little too early this time around. Watch the space though. There’s a lot of players under the age of 20 in the Czech pipeline that may turn heads.

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Vittoria Blasigh (UCF), Costanza Verona (Dallas Wings), Cecilia Zandalasini (Golden State Valkyries)

Former WNBA/NCAA Players: Lorela Cubaj (Georgia Tech), Eleonora Villa (Washington State)

Outlook:

My Azzurri are slowly but surely stepping up their women’s basketball game. Ceci Zandalasini has been a standard bearer in the WNBA while Constanza Verona has stuck around on the end of the Wings bench this year. I don’t expect them to be world beaters by any means, but there should be some pretty fun performances by a couple of formerly familiar college names as well as Eleonora Villa’s sister Matilde, who is one of the better European players that hasn’t made it stateside yet. young

Active WNBA/NCAA Players: Aliyah Boston (Indiana Fever), Paige Bueckers (Dallas Wings), Sonia Citron (Washington Mystics), Caitlin Clark (Indiana Fever), Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx), Kahleah Copper (Phoenix Mercury), Chelsea Gray (Las Vegas Aces), Rhyne Howard (Atlanta Dream), Kiki Iriafen (Washington Mystics), Angel Reese (Atlanta Dream), Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty), Jackie Young (Las Vegas Aces)

Former WNBA/NCAA Players:

Outlook:

The Americans are the Americans. The best team on the planet with the deepest roster of the top talent in the world. Without A’ja Wilson, they go from completely immortal (with this group at least) to just very likely to steamroll the field en route to a gold medal. So what’s interesting here? The rotations and how everyone plays together in the sandbox. This World Cup marks a bit of a changing of the guard for Team USA, particularly in the backcourt. The post-2020 recruiting classes are starting to get comfortable in the WNBA and seem eager to pick up the mantle of past American champions. How will Kara Lawson make it all work? That’s what’s going to be the most interesting thing to watch.

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