Heading into a major tournament like the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, you would expect every team to have enough time to settle in, get several practice sessions together, and build chemistry. The U.S. women’s national team, however, did not have that luxury, and their team chemistry took a blow when veterans A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum pulled out four days ahead of the opener. For Breanna Stewart, a turnaround like that puts quite a bit of pressure on the team to get straight into action, but it is still something she is quite excited about.

“The crazy part is like we have no time. I’m heading out on Sunday. Some people are leaving on Monday, which means games start on Friday. You know, there’s like two days of practice and then games.” Stewart said, speaking on Thursday’s episode of the Game Recognize Game podcast.

“I think once we get there, we just, we’re literally like locked in. Got to get into it and know that, you know, we all have to be on the same page… For us, it’s, you know, pressure’s on. The moment we step on soil in Germany, pressure is on for what we need to do. So excited about that.”

Team USA’s timeline leading into the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup really did involve a rapid transition from the WNBA season straight into tournament play in Berlin, Germany. That is because the tournament is taking place before the 2026 WNBA regular season has wrapped up.

The last WNBA games before the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup break were actually played on August 30. So the World Cup break, for a significant number of players on the team, kicked off the very next day, on August 31. That would also mean that the majority of the 12-player roster traveled down and trickled into Berlin immediately after their respective WNBA assignments wrapped up, arriving, officially checking in, and taking the floor together by September 1.

Due to the intense calendar, the team also had an incredibly short training window to practice as a squad for debutants like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, and others, before Team USA kicks off its campaign on Friday, playing China at 8:15 a.m. ET at the Max-Schmeling-Halle. 

Historically, this tournament has always taken place after the conclusion of the WNBA season, typically in late September or early October. In fact, in prior editions, even though turnaround times could still feel swift, players had weeks to decompress from the WNBA Finals, assemble stateside, play exhibition games, and run proper training camps.

However, for this tournament, players literally hopped on long-haul flights to Berlin almost immediately after regular-season WNBA games to squeeze in just three days of total preparation before tipping off. And judging from the number of debutants featuring on the team in this tournament, with over half the squad never having played 5-on-5 basketball at a senior World Cup or Olympic level, if there is a time when more preparation is absolutely needed, it is in this one.

The change to the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup schedule this year comes down to structural shifts in the global basketball calendar and the expansion of the tournament itself. With the competition now taking place mid-season, Team USA and the other participating nations have had to adjust to a preparation timeline unlike anything seen in previous editions.

Regardless of the limited preparation, Team USA is definitely still walking into this tournament as the favorite. The expansion of the WNBA to an all-time high of 44 games per team also lengthened the season. 

But as Breanna Stewart mentioned, even though the pressure is on for the team to get everything right almost immediately, everyone feels excited, and even the younger stars are willing to put rivalry aside to function as a unit. For someone who has played in four FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cups across her stellar career, it is definitely understandable why she is unfazed by the pressure.