BERLIN (Germany) - They've had to battle hard to secure their short trip to Berlin, but Czechia will be determined to make the most of their opportunity to compete on the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup stage again.
Missing the last two editions was a drop-off for a nation that back in 2010 was standing toe-to-toe with USA in pursuit of glory and ended up clutching a silver medal.
While expectations will be much more modest than back when they were hosts 16-years ago, it doesn't mean they won't be looking to serve up some basketball punches when the action gets underway.
How they qualified
Czechia firstly had to win at the Pre-Qualifying Tournament in 2024 to take their spot and it then proved to be a real roller-coaster ride in Wuhan, China at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournament. They sneaked through despite losing three of their five games, but did impress with their big blowout of Brazil, who were effectively their closest rivals for a ticket.
FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournament (Wuhan, China) Gameday 1: Czechia 89-52 South Sudan (W) Game Report Gameday 2: Mali 77-64 Czechia (L) Game Report Gameday 3: Brazil 65-84 Czechia (W) Game Report Gameday 4: Czechia 74-84 China (L) Game Report Gameday 5: Belgum 93-50 Czechia (L) Game Report
Women's World Cup pedigree
Number of participations (including 2026): 4
Last participation: 2014 (9th)
Best finish: 2nd (2010)
Podium finishes: 🥈(2010)
Current FIBA World Ranking for Women, presented by Nike: 17th
Last 10 FIBA events
Year | Event | Location | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
2025 | FIBA Women's EuroBasket | Piraeus, Greece | 6th |
2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | Did not participate |
2023 | FIBA Women's EuroBasket | Ljubljana, Slovenia | 7th |
2022 | FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup | Sydney, Australia | Did not participate |
2021 | FIBA Women's EuroBasket | Valencia, Spain | 15th |
2020 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | Did not participate |
2019 | FIBA Women's EuroBasket | Belgrade, Serbia | 15th |
2018 | FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup | Tenerife, Spain | Did not participate |
2017 | FIBA Women's EuroBasket | Prague, Czechia | 13th |
2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Did not participate |
The Group Phase
Czechia have landed in Group D and will probably need to get off to a quick-fire start with a win against Euro rivals Italy if they are to have any serious chance of advancing. That is because they will have a similarly tough test with China, who defeated them by double-digits in the Qualifying Tournament. Then, they have the daunting task of matching up with reigning champions, USA.
Group Phase Games
Czechia vs Italy (Sep 4) China vs Czechia (Sep 6) USA vs Czechia (Sep 7)
Players to watch
Julia Reisingerova will hopefully be the centerpiece but her nation is sweating on her availability as she's currently rehabbing from surgery. Her country will be crossing their collective fingers that she makes it. If she doesn't, they are in deep trouble..Her size, experience and quality are all big assets and if she makes it as hoped, the chances of Czechia will increase greatly because she will be the major contributor on both ends of the floor.
The 'X-Factor' player is undoubtedly Veronika Vorackova who comes into the competition after a historic club season with Casademont Zaragoza in EuroLeague Women. She is a possible momentum-shifter in games and with veteran Petra Holesinska pulling the strings, Czechia do have some precious know-how in their ranks.
Fear and Hope
The big fear is the serious injury sustained by Emma Cechova leaves a huge void that just can't be filled. She has been ruled out and her dominant and ever impressive work in the frontcourt will be sadly missed by her team. Throw in concerns over Reisingerova's fitness and those twin towers both being absent is an absolute nightmare.
The hope for Czechia is that they can shoot the lights out in the German capital and be deadly from mid and long range. Because, with a shortened and possibly inexperienced frontcourt rotation and facing two teams with huge interior size in both China and USA, they will inevitably give up far too many points under the basket.
FIBA