Wuhan among four hosts for 2026 women's basketball World Cup qualifiers

BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The central Chinese city of Wuhan was among the four host cities that FIBA announced for the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup qualifying tournaments.

The World Cup qualifiers will take place from March 11 to 17, 2026, with the other three hosts being Istanbul of Türkiye, France's Lyon-Villeurbanne, and San Juan of Puerto Rico.

Each of the four cities will host one qualifying tournament with six teams.

The 24 teams include World Cup host Germany, pre-qualifying tournament winners the Czech Republic and Hungary, the top four teams from the 2025 FIBA Women's AfroBasket, the top six sides from the 2025 FIBA Women's AmeriCup and the 2025 FIBA Women's Asia Cup, and the top five teams from the 2025 FIBA Women's EuroBasket.

Germany and four continental tournament winners, Australia, Belgium, Nigeria and the United States, have already qualified for the World Cup to be held in Berlin from September 4 to 13, 2026. This leaves 11 spots still up for grabs.

Despite having secured their places, these five teams will still participate in the qualifiers.

In order to qualify for Berlin, teams will need to secure one of the top three spots in round-robin tournaments, with each team playing five games, along with a Continental Cup winner. In the tournament featuring host Germany, only the top two teams will qualify, in addition to Germany and a Continental Cup winner.

The draw for the World Cup qualifiers will be held at FIBA headquarters on October 7.