10
Jun
Choose Your Team
Build your Opals team for '26 World Cup – and beyond
The Australian Opals celebrate at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Photo: FIBA.com
Australia's Opals talent pool has never been deeper. Pick your Germany 2026 World Cup team.
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Australian Opals legends Sami Whitcomb and Cayla George are facing the prospect the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup will be the last time they grace the international stage for the national team.
Head coach Sandy Brondello's decision to debut rising stars Sitaya Fagan and Bonnie Deas for the two games against China in Melbourne on July 7 and July 9 just two months before the World Cup in Germany is a clear signal Basketball Australia is preparing for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the Brisbane Olympiad in 2032.
Guard Whitcomb, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA and Perth Lynx in the WNBL, will be 40 by LA28 and forward George, 39. Stretch four Fagan is just and about to head into her first NCAA Division 1 season with USC and point guard Deas, who transferred to 2026 NCAA Champion UCLA for her sophomore season is 20.
There are 11 active Australian WNBA players in 2026 with several others invited to training camp or waived early in the season. Australia's talent pool is arguably the best its ever been. It means Brondello has the luxury and the brutal task of fitting more than 20 internationals and Next Gen Opals into a team to compete for the World Cup this year and Olympic Gold in two years time.
Talent Pool
Depth Chart
The only accolade missing from the Opals trophy cabinet is an Olympic Games gold medal – losing all three times to the international powerhouse United States but the gap is narrowing between the Americans and the rest of the world and Australia is poised, very poised, to achieve Australia's first Olympic Games basketball gold medal.
🏅 Olympic Games Record
From 10 total appearances, the Opals have medaled six times:
- Silver: 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing
- Bronze: 1996 Atlanta, 2012 London, 2024 Paris
🏆 FIBA World Cup Record
Australia has competed in 16 World Cups, making the podium six times:
- Gold: 2006 Brazil
- Silver: 2018 Spain
- Bronze: 1998 Germany, 2002 China, 2014 Turkey, 2022 Sydney
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