After a dramatic day in Berlin, the quarterfinals of the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup are set. China and Australia secured the final two spots on Wednesday with narrow victories over Puerto Rico and Italy, respectively. The quarterfinals will begin immediately on Thursday, with the semifinals set for Saturday and the final on Sunday.
Team USA is on the hunt for a fifth consecutive gold medal at the World Cup, which would tie the Soviet Union's record for the most consecutive golds -- the Soviets won five in a row from 1959-75 -- in the competition's history, dating back to 1953. Ahead of the quarterfinals, which will begin with Team USA facing Hungary early on Thursday morning in the U.S., here's everything you need to know. THE QUARTER-FINAL BRACKET IS LOCKED. 🔒How's your team doing?📋 FULL DETAILS https://t.co/KHUYmkSs3R pic.twitter.com/fY7FYiGHLC On one side of the bracket, the winner of Team USA and Hungary will face the winner of Australia and Spain.
On the other side, the winner of France and China will meet the winner of Belgium and Germany. Notably, this means that Team USA and France cannot meet until the final, which would potentially set up a rematch of the gold medal game from the 2024 Olympics in Paris, which Team USA won by a single point. Here are the odds for each remaining country to win the World Cup, via FanDuel: Team USA remains the clear favorite, as it was heading into the tournament, though its odds to win gold have shrunk slightly from -380 to -310.
On the flip side, France, the biggest threat to Team USA, has moved from +700 prior to the tournament to +480 thanks to its dominant showing in the group stage with three wins by an average of 42.3 points. You could choose just about anyone on the roster, but we'll go with Aliyah Boston for the matchup against Hungary. Boston is the Americans' lone true center and will be called upon to deal with Hungary's size in the frontcourt.
While Boston is averaging just 5.3 points in the tournament, she has done yeoman's work in the paint and will need to again on Thursday. Gabby Williams led France to a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics, a silver medal at EuroBasket Women 2021 and a silver medal at the 2024 Olympics. If she keeps playing like she has in the group stage, perhaps this will be the year she finally brings France a gold.
At 18.7 points per game, Williams is leading all players in scoring at the tournament. Aside from the United States and France, no country has had more success on the international stage in recent years than Belgium. The Black Cats are coming off a gold medal at EuroBasket Women 2025, and are a perfect 3-0 in Berlin thanks to Emma Meesseman, their long-time cornerstone.
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