MIES (Switzerland) - With anticipation building ahead of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournaments Draw, the principles which define the mapping out of the 'Road to Berlin' have been set.
The event will take place at FIBA's Headquarters, the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball, on October 7 at 19:00 CET and will be streamed live on the FIBA YouTube channel.
The Draw will be conducted by German national team star Marie Guelich and former French national team captain Endy Miyem.
FIBA Secretary General, Andreas Zagklis will also be present, along with representatives from the participating National Federations.
The four FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournaments will take place from March 11 to 17, 2026 in Wuhan, China; Lyon-Villeurbanne, France; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Istanbul, Türkiye.
Each host city will stage one Qualifying Tournament involving six of the 24 participating teams.
FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournaments Draw Principles
- The 24 teams have been divided into 6 pots, based on the FIBA Women's World Ranking, presented by NIKE.
- Each pot will feed one team per Qualifying Tournament.
- The four host nations will all be immediately allocated to the tournament taking place in their country from the respective pot.
In order to preserve geographical balance, the following restrictions will apply:
- Each of the four Continental Cup champions who are already directly qualified for the Women's World Cup will be drawn into one tournament.
- There must be an equal distribution of European teams, with 2 in each Qualifying Tournament, including Women's World Cup host nation Germany.
- In each Qualifying Tournament, there must be a minimum of 1 to maximum of 2 teams from Americas and from Asia/Oceania.
- One of the four Qualifying Tournaments shall be drawn with 2 teams from Africa (excluding FIBA Women's AfroBasket 2025 champions Nigeria), with two other tournaments drawing 1 African team each.
For the complete details on the Draw Principles, please check the video.
Qualification
11 tickets are still remaining for the big show in Berlin, when 16 nations will step out for the showpiece FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026.
The host (Germany) and the winners of each Women’s Continental Cup 2025 (Australia, Belgium, Nigeria, and USA) will participate in these Qualifying Tournaments. However, they have already received automatic qualification for the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026.
The top three teams from each tournament will qualify for the Women’s World Cup, along with a Continental Cup winner.
In the Qualifying Tournament that features both a Continental Cup champion and host nation Germany, only the top two teams will advance.
FIBA