Who are the coaches for the FIBA Women's World Cup?

The 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup begins on September 4th in Berlin, Germany, where 16 of the world's top women's basketball teams will compete for the championship title. Each team has a head coach guiding their roster of talented players, primarily WNBA athletes.

For Team USA, head coach Kara Lawson is in charge. Lawson played for the team in 2008 and led the Americans to a gold medal victory over Australia by scoring 15 points, including three rebounds, two assists, and a steal. She also coached the USA's 3x3 team to Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021 and served as an assistant to Cheryl Reeve when the Americans defeated France for Olympic gold in 2024.

Lawson's current assistants include WNBA head coaches Stephanie White (Indiana Fever), Natalie Nakase (Golden State Valkyries), and Nate Tibbetts (Phoenix Mercury), along with scout Jose Fernandez from the Dallas Wings.

Other notable head coaches for the tournament include Sandy Brondello (Australia), who has led her team to a bronze medal in the 2024 Olympics and a silver medal in the 2022 World Cup. Mike Thibault (Belgium) has won three WNBA Coach of the Year awards, with his team winning EuroBasket last year. Corey Gaines (Japan) guided the Phoenix Mercury to a WNBA championship in 2009. Rena Wakama (Nigeria) is an assistant coach for the Chicago Sky.

Here is a list of the head coaches for all 16 teams at the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup: Germany - Olaf Lange, Japan - Corey Gaines, Mali - Oumarou Sidiya, Spain - Miguel Méndez, France - Jean-Aimé Toupane, Hungary - Péter Völgyi, Nigeria - Rena Wakama, South Korea - Park Soo-ho, Australia - Sandy Brondello, Belgium - Mike Thibault, Puerto Rico - Gerardo Batista, Turkey - Andrea Mazzon, China - Gong Luming, Czech Republic - Romana Ptáčková, Italy - Andrea Capobianco, United States - Kara Lawson.