Top Players to Watch at the FIBA Women’s World Cup 2023
Kara Lawson walked into this World Cup without A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum and didn’t bother looking for a safety net.
“We don't have time to be worried about who's not here,” the Team USA head coach said. She knows the landscape. The rest of the world has closed the gap, and Berlin is about to host the deepest, most dangerous FIBA Women’s World Cup field the United States has ever faced.
Wilson, the reigning World Cup MVP and the force behind Team USA’s fourth straight title in 2022, is out. So is Plum, whose 12 clutch points helped secure Olympic gold in Paris this summer, where Wilson again took MVP honors. Those are colossal absences.
But the tournament doesn’t pause for anyone. On Sept. 4 in Berlin, a new-look USA roster steps into a World Cup loaded with stars who have already carved out serious international résumés. Here are 10 of the most compelling players to watch.
10. Han Xu, China – A towering test in the opener
Team USA’s first glimpse of the World Cup’s size problem arrives immediately.
Han Xu, the 6-foot-9 center, returns for her third World Cup with China and brings a blend of touch and length that few teams can match. She earned Player of the Game honors against Brazil in qualifying and averaged 12.4 points and 5.6 rebounds at the Wuhan tournament in March, a reminder of how central she is to China’s plans.
She’s not even the only giant in that frontcourt. Li Yueru, the 6-7 Dallas Wings center, joins her, while 19-year-old Zhang Ziyu — listed at 7-2 and already drawing WNBA attention ahead of the 2027 draft — looms as the next skyscraper in China’s pipeline.
Han’s shooting range and poise at that size won’t be the USA’s only concern in the opener. They’re just the start of a matchup that will test America’s interior depth immediately.
9. Megan DiLeo, Spain – The new engine of a powerhouse
Spain sits at No. 3 in FIBA’s latest power rankings, and that projection leans heavily on Megan DiLeo.
The 6-4 center was Spain’s heartbeat at the 2024 Paris Olympics, leading the team in both scoring (18.0 points per game) and rebounding (9.3 per game). She’s also in the middle of the best WNBA season of her career with the Portland Fire, a surge that’s carried straight into the international window.
This will be DiLeo’s World Cup debut, but she won’t be eased into anything. She anchors a younger Spanish group that includes Awa Fam and Maria Conde, and she will be asked to stabilize them from the paint out.
If Spain lives up to that No. 3 billing, it will be because DiLeo turns her Olympic form into a World Cup statement.
8. Julie Allemand, Belgium – The conductor of the Cats
Emma Meesseman’s name carries the weight, but Belgium’s pulse often runs through Julie Allemand.
The 5-10 Toronto Tempo guard arrives in Berlin as one of the premier playmakers in the tournament. She earned MVP honors at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournament in Wuhan, averaging 9.4 points, 5.6 assists and 3.4 steals per game.
Her seven steals against South Sudan set an all-time single-game World Cup Qualifiers record and underlined her disruptive presence at both ends. At club level, she guided Fenerbahçe to the 2025-26 EuroLeague Women title and walked away as Final Six MVP.
For Belgium, she has been a constant in a golden era: two EuroBasket gold medals in 2023 and 2025, and All-Star Five recognition to go with them. Meesseman may finish plays, but Allemand often starts the trouble.
7. Mai Yamamoto, Japan – The smallest star with the loudest range
In a field of giants, Mai Yamamoto stands just 5-4. She doesn’t play small.
The Las Vegas Aces guard is already a veteran of seven FIBA senior-level events, including the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics. In Japan’s Olympic opener in Paris, she posted 17 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists in a 102-76 loss to Team USA, refusing to shrink against the tournament favorite.
Her résumé in Asia is decorated: gold at the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup, silver in 2023. But it’s her shooting that warps defenses. Yamamoto’s two-handed release is quick and ruthless from deep. She shot 64% from three during the 2024 Olympic qualifying tournament and 50% from beyond the arc in the World Cup qualifier in San Juan.
Give her a sliver of space, and the scoreboard flips in a hurry.
6. Ezi Magbegor, Australia – The bronze-game wrecking ball
Australia wants a third straight international podium, and Ezi Magbegor stands at the center of that ambition.
The 6-4 Seattle Storm big closed the Paris Olympics with a performance for the record books. In the bronze medal game, she set the all-time women’s Olympic single-game efficiency mark, piling up 30 points on 12-of-17 shooting and grabbing 13 rebounds. It was dominance in its purest form.
That game didn’t just win Australia a medal. It confirmed Magbegor as one of the most punishing interior forces in the world game. In Berlin, she will again be asked to control the glass, protect the rim and carry stretches of the offense.
If Australia climbs the podium again, expect Magbegor’s fingerprints all over it.
5. Leonie Fiebich, Germany – The host nation’s north star
No player will feel the weight of a country quite like Leonie Fiebich.
Germany’s 6-4 forward is a two-way problem: long, mobile and deadly from deep. She arrives as one of the faces of the New York Liberty and as the central figure in Germany’s World Cup campaign on home soil.
Her run to the 2024 Olympics told the story. Fiebich powered Germany through qualifying with 18.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, then made a historic Olympic debut that confirmed her rise on the global stage.
In Berlin, every German run, every surge of crowd noise, is likely to orbit around her. Contain Fiebich, and you quiet the building. Let her loose, and the host nation suddenly looks dangerous.
4. Caitlin Clark, USA – The spotlight that never switches off
Caitlin Clark will be the most famous player in Berlin. She also arrives with something more substantial than hype: form and hardware.
The Indiana Fever guard makes her World Cup debut as MVP of the qualifying tournament in San Juan, where she came off the bench in four of Team USA’s five games and still seized control of the event. The U.S. went undefeated. Clark led the team with 58 points and 32 assists.
That production, in limited starts, sent a clear message. Even on a roster full of Olympians and WNBA champions, Clark can bend a game to her will.
Her shooting range, vision and pace will test every defensive scheme she faces. The question isn’t whether the ball will find her. It’s how long opponents can survive once it does.
3. Gabby Williams, France – Playing with a scar
Gabby Williams comes to this World Cup with a medal and a memory she’d rather rewrite.
The Golden State Valkyries star captured the Alain Gilles Trophy in 2024 as the best French player, and she lifted the FIBA Europe SuperCup MVP after steering Fenerbahçe to the title the same year. Her club résumé is stacked: EuroLeague championship, EuroLeague Final Four MVP, two EuroLeague Defensive Player of the Year awards, Turkish Presidential Cup titles.
Yet the defining image of her 2024 might be the one that got away. In the Olympic final in Paris, Williams led all scorers with 19 points against Team USA. With the game on the line, she buried a buzzer-beater that would have forced overtime—until the review confirmed her foot was on the line. Two points instead of three. A 67-66 loss. Silver instead of gold.
That kind of moment lingers. For a 5-11 forward already known for her edge and defensive bite, it adds another layer. In Berlin, Williams won’t be chasing validation. She’ll be chasing closure.
2. Emma Meesseman, Belgium – The architect of a golden era
Few players in this tournament can match Emma Meesseman’s international résumé.
The New York Liberty forward has been the cornerstone of Belgium’s rise, leading the Belgian Cats to multiple EuroBasket titles and collecting back-to-back Women’s EuroBasket MVP awards along the way. Most recently, she carried Belgium to the 2025 FIBA Women’s EuroBasket crown and again walked away as tournament MVP.
At 33, Meesseman has already conquered almost every level: EuroBasket, EuroLeague, and the WNBA, where she claimed Finals MVP with the Washington Mystics in 2019. The one prize missing is World Cup gold.
She won’t overpower teams with theatrics. She’ll dismantle them with timing, footwork and ruthless decision-making. If Belgium breaks into the sport’s top tier with a World Cup title, Meesseman will be the one holding the door open.
1. Breanna Stewart, USA – Chasing history without a safety net
Breanna Stewart has spent so long at the center of the sport that it’s easy to forget how much history still sits in front of her.
With A’ja Wilson out, the New York Liberty forward becomes the natural anchor of Team USA’s bid for a fifth straight World Cup crown. The UConn legend already owns one World Cup MVP (2018) and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics FIBA MVP. She made the All-Star Five at the 2022 World Cup and again at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Now, the stakes sharpen.
If the U.S. wins it all in Berlin, Stewart will join Sue Bird as the only women’s basketball players with four World Cup titles. Bird, now Team USA’s managing director, stands alone in that category for the moment. Stewart can pull alongside her and, with another dominant run, become the first player ever to claim multiple World Cup MVPs.
No Wilson. No Plum. No margin for complacency.
For Stewart and Team USA, this World Cup isn’t just about defending a dynasty. It’s about proving it can evolve—and still stay on top—while the rest of the world comes charging at full speed.
