Women’s Basketball World Cup

stats at a glance

Berlin · September 4–13, 2026

How a team reaches the quarter-finals

1st in group → straight to the quarter-finals. Skips a knockout game entirely.
2nd and 3rd → qualification play-off, single elimination, cross-group.
4th → eliminated. There is no classification round and no consolation bracket.

Two things follow, and they are why every group game matters: winning your group is worth an entire knockout game, and finishing fourth ends your tournament on day four. A group winner cannot meet the runner-up from its own group before the final.

Qualification to QF 2A–3B · 2B–3A · 3C–2D · 3D–2C
Quarter-finals W27–1A · W28–1B · 1C–W25 · 1D–W26
Semi-finals W29–W32 · W30–W31

Group A

Team	Played
🇩🇪 Germany	0
🇯🇵 Japan	0
🇲🇱 Mali	0
🇪🇸 Spain	0

Fri 4 Sep	🇯🇵 Japan	vs	🇲🇱 Mali	05:30 ET 11:30 CEST
Fri 4 Sep	🇪🇸 Spain	vs	🇩🇪 Germany	11:45 ET 17:45 CEST
Sat 5 Sep	🇲🇱 Mali	vs	🇪🇸 Spain	05:30 ET 11:30 CEST
Sat 5 Sep	🇩🇪 Germany	vs	🇯🇵 Japan	12:00 ET 18:00 CEST
Mon 7 Sep	🇩🇪 Germany	vs	🇲🇱 Mali	11:50 ET 17:50 CEST
Mon 7 Sep	🇯🇵 Japan	vs	🇪🇸 Spain	11:50 ET 17:50 CEST

Group B

Team	Played
🇫🇷 France	0
🇭🇺 Hungary	0
🇰🇷 Korea	0
🇳🇬 Nigeria	0

Fri 4 Sep	🇰🇷 Korea	vs	🇳🇬 Nigeria	08:30 ET 14:30 CEST
Fri 4 Sep	🇭🇺 Hungary	vs	🇫🇷 France	15:00 ET 21:00 CEST
Sat 5 Sep	🇳🇬 Nigeria	vs	🇭🇺 Hungary	08:15 ET 14:15 CEST
Sat 5 Sep	🇫🇷 France	vs	🇰🇷 Korea	14:45 ET 20:45 CEST
Mon 7 Sep	🇳🇬 Nigeria	vs	🇫🇷 France	08:30 ET 14:30 CEST
Mon 7 Sep	🇭🇺 Hungary	vs	🇰🇷 Korea	08:30 ET 14:30 CEST

Group C

Team	Played
🇦🇺 Australia	0
🇧🇪 Belgium	0
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	0
🇹🇷 Türkiye	0

Fri 4 Sep	🇦🇺 Australia	vs	🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	05:30 ET 11:30 CEST
Fri 4 Sep	🇧🇪 Belgium	vs	🇹🇷 Türkiye	11:30 ET 17:30 CEST
Sun 6 Sep	🇹🇷 Türkiye	vs	🇦🇺 Australia	05:30 ET 11:30 CEST
Sun 6 Sep	🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	vs	🇧🇪 Belgium	11:45 ET 17:45 CEST
Mon 7 Sep	🇧🇪 Belgium	vs	🇦🇺 Australia	05:30 ET 11:30 CEST
Mon 7 Sep	🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	vs	🇹🇷 Türkiye	05:30 ET 11:30 CEST

Group D

Team	Played
🇨🇳 China	0
🇨🇿 Czechia	0
🇮🇹 Italy	0
🇺🇸 USA	0

Fri 4 Sep	🇺🇸 USA	vs	🇨🇳 China	08:15 ET 14:15 CEST
Fri 4 Sep	🇨🇿 Czechia	vs	🇮🇹 Italy	14:15 ET 20:15 CEST
Sun 6 Sep	🇨🇳 China	vs	🇨🇿 Czechia	08:30 ET 14:30 CEST
Sun 6 Sep	🇮🇹 Italy	vs	🇺🇸 USA	14:45 ET 20:45 CEST
Mon 7 Sep	🇺🇸 USA	vs	🇨🇿 Czechia	14:45 ET 20:45 CEST
Mon 7 Sep	🇮🇹 Italy	vs	🇨🇳 China	14:45 ET 20:45 CEST

If teams finish level

Teams are ranked on classification points — two for a win, one for a loss. That is not the system most US fans expect: a 3–0 team has six, an 0–3 team has three, and nobody finishes on zero.

1. Classification points
2. If teams are level, only the games between those teams count — they are re-ranked as a mini-table: record, then points difference, then points scored, all within that group of teams
3. Still level → points difference across all group games, then points scored across all group games
4. Still level → FIBA world ranking

Step 2 is the one worth understanding, because it is not the same as "head-to-head". With three teams tied, beating one of them does not put you above them — what counts is your record and margin across all the games among the tied teams. A team can win its head-to-head meeting and still finish below the team it beat. And each time the procedure separates one team out, it starts again from the top for whoever is still tied.