Berlin tomorrow. Group D, USA vs China. This is not another exhibition. It is the World Cup, 4–13 September, the main stop before Los Angeles 2028. The defending champions are without A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum: both withdrew on 31 August for health reasons. Washington Mystics teammates Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen were called in. Citron has not played for the senior team. Iriafen debuted in San Juan in the spring: 5.4 points and 4.2 rebounds across five qualifying games.
Who walks out without the usual frame
The twelve: Aliyah Boston, Paige Bueckers, Citron, Caitlin Clark, Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Rhyne Howard, Iriafen, Angel Reese, Breanna Stewart, Jackie Young. Kara Lawson is head coach. Nine of the twelve are at a World Cup for the first time. No Griner, no Ionescu, no Jewell Loyd, no Alyssa Thomas. The Paris 2024 frame is stripped. What remains is Stewart, Collier, Gray, Young — and a generation that already wrecks the WNBA glass and the three-point line, and has not yet lived someone else’s zone press on night three of a global event.
Next in the group: Italy on 6 September, Czechia on the 7th. China to open is a friendly ranking and an unfriendly timetable: first game, new chemistry, two replacements in the last week. Reese arrives after a WNBA record 26 rebounds on 25 August. Clark arrives off an Indiana season. They are not poster names. They are minutes Lawson has to fit into a five in one night.
What it means for the favourite
The United States are still the favourite. A fifth straight title is the job, not a myth. Without Wilson on the rim and Plum on the perimeter, Berlin is a different tournament: fewer automatic possessions, more on Stewart and Collier, more minutes for debutants. China will not decide that alone. Whether it holds will be clearer tomorrow. For now the USA roster looks like this: the depth is there, the usual safety net is not.
