The 2026 FIBA World Cup has finally reached the knockout stage. The 12 best teams from the tournament are set to compete for the final glory and bring home a gold medal. Hungary advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Japan and will face Team USA in the quarterfinals. Team USA, Spain, France and Belgium topped their respective groups and booked a direct berth into the quarterfinals.
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The Americans remain the favorites to win the gold medal. However, France, having outlasted them in power rankings, has already added an interesting twist in the fight for the ultimate glory. Can France ultimately avenge the 2024 Paris Olympics? Can the Americans silence their doubters by winning 5th gold in a row? They remain the burning question as the World Cup enters the knockout stage.
The remaining schedule of the World Cup will feature quarterfinals, followed by the four winning teams meeting in the semifinals on Saturday. The last day of the schedule will feature the gold medal and third-place games. Below you can find the winners of each group and the qualifiers for the final stage. The list is followed by the remaining schedule of the World Cup.
Teams advancing from the group stage
Top three teams from each group have advanced to the next stage. While teams at the top of each group have already booked their place in the quarterfinals, teams with the 2nd- and 3rd-best records have qualified for the final phase and will play another round to reach the quarterfinals.
Group A
- Spain
- Germany
- Japan
Group B
- France
- Hungary
- South Korea
Group C
- Belgium
- Australia
- Puerto Rico
Group D
- United States
- China
- Italy
Schedule: Quarterfinal qualifiers to gold medal game
Tuesday. Sept. 8
Hungary vs. Japan (Hungary won and moved to the quarterfinals)
Germany vs. South Korea (Germany won and moved to the quarterfinals)
Wednesday, Sept. 9
Puerto Rico vs. China, 11:45 a.m. ET
Italy vs. Australia, 2:45 p.m. ET
Thursday, Sep. 10: Quarterfinals
- Hungary vs. United States
- Winner of Germany vs. South Korea plays Belgium
- Winner of Puerto Rico vs. China plays France
- Winner of Italy vs. Australia plays Spain
Sep. 12, Saturday: Semifinals
The winners of No. 1 and No. 4 (mentioned in the previous list) in the quarterfinals will face each other in one semifinal, and the winners of No. 2 and No. 3 will play each other in the other semifinal.
Sep. 13, Sunday: Gold medal and third place
In the end, the winners of the two semifinal contests will face each other for the gold medal game. Moreover, the losers of the semifinal games will also go against each other for third place.
Team USA and its path to a potential fifth gold in a row
Let’s start with the most obvious and the biggest threat that the Americans face in their quest for the fifth consecutive gold medal. France. The French national team is stacked with talent. 10 of their players on the roster are either currently playing in the WNBA or have experience playing in the league, tied with Australia behind the United States.
The European team has been rolling in this World Cup, officially taking the top spot in the power ranking, ahead of the Americans. Their roster features some of the best talents in the WNBA, led by Gabby Williams, Marine Johannès, Dominique Malonga and Janelle Salaün.
The Americans should watch their back because France’s rise is not sudden. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Williams nearly sent the gold medal game to overtime with a three-pointer. The shot was later ruled as a two-point shot, and France lost the gold by a point. Now, they have a real chance to avenge that Olympics loss.
Team USA is playing without A’ja Wilson, widely considered one of the world’s best players and a two-way force. Kelsey Plum, one of the most effective scorers in the WNBA, also pulled out with an injury.
However, the trend has been nearly opposite on the French side. During the 2024 Paris Olympics, Malonga was an inexperienced 18-year-old facing a group that featured some of the best players in the world. After two seasons in the WNBA, she has significantly improved her game on both ends. This should worry the USA.
However, it would still simply be foolish to bet against the Americans. They played a historically bad game against Italy, barely coming out with a 55-52 win. Their response in the game against Czechia was a testament to how deep their roster is. France has a deep roster, but Team USA features some of the WNBA’s best young stars in their respective positions alongside veterans with years of international experience, who have won this tournament before.
Kara Lawson’s big Caitlin Clark message amid criticism of her lineup decisions
Team USA’s outing in this World Cup has been met with mixed emotions. While there is still belief that the Americans will come out victorious, head coach Kara Lawson has come under fire for undermining the talent mine at her disposal. In all of the three group stage games, Lawson has started with a veteran lineup.
Her decision to bring Caitlin Clark and the other young stars has been met with criticism from fans and WNBA analysts like Linda Cohn. After Monday’s win over Czechia, the head coach has a picture of how she sees Clark’s use on the team. Lawson also brought up Clark’s inexperience at the World Cup as a member of the senior team, a possible indication of why she hasn’t started Clark.
“(Caitlin) provides a great playmaking aspect to her game on our team,” Lawson said. “We rely on her at the point guard position when she’s in to run the team. We saw that in the first game when she had 11 assists and zero turnovers.
“She’s another young player that’s feeling her way through her first World Cup, you know? And she’s really motivated and wanting to help our team win. I think that’s a great place to be. And I think all of our young players will take a lot from these three pool play games, give them a lot of confidence as we go into the middle round.”
It is hard to name one player who has been the absolute best for the team. Jacki Young leads the team with 11.3 points. Breanna Stewart leads in rebounds (8.3). Clark leads in assists (6.3), and Paige Bueckers leads in blocks (1.3). Perhaps that’s their identity: the elimination of the gap between the starters and bench players.
Now the question is: can Lawson take the lessons from thier success against China and Chechnya and their worst World Cup performance in 42 years, and use them to overcome Hungary in their first knockout-stage game?