Team USA’s World Cup roster, reshaped: how two 11th-hour exits changed the team USA brings to Berlin

USA Basketball announced on Monday, August 31, 2026, that A’ja Wilson (1.93m, 30 years old) and Kelsey Plum (1.73m, 32 years old) would not compete at the FIBA Women’s World Cup, both ruled out for health reasons. USA Basketball wrote on August 31: “Kelsey Plum & A’ja Wilson are no longer able to compete due to health reasons.”

The double withdrawal reshapes a roster that had been set for nearly a month. Plum’s absence carries an extra layer, since the Phoenix Mercury also shut her down for the remainder of the 2026 WNBA season because of a lower-leg injury, according to ArizonaSports. Wilson’s case is framed differently: the Las Vegas Aces star is described as needing rest before the WNBA playoffs after a heavily used first half of the season, rather than dealing with a specific injury.

A World Cup MVP and an Olympic gold medalist sidelined

Wilson leaves behind a 2026 WNBA campaign that ranks among the league’s best. She is averaging 26 points per game this season, tops in the league, along with 9.4 rebounds (fourth), 3.2 assists (33rd) and 2 blocks. That production follows a résumé that includes World Cup MVP honors in 2022 and the best-player award at the Paris 2024 Olympic tournament, making her absence in Berlin a loss of the reigning world and Olympic standout.

Plum’s season was compromised well before the shutdown. The guard had been playing through a calf injury for much of the year and had not fully recovered, producing 21.5 points (fourth in the league) and 5.4 assists (11th) across 17 games, along with 2.1 rebounds per game (124th). She was part of the group that won Olympic gold in Paris, where she played a significant role in a one-point win over France in the final — experience Team USA now has to replace on the fly.

Two Mystics teammates called up for Berlin

USA Basketball turned to two Washington Mystics teammates to fill the openings: Kiki Iriafen (1.90m, 23 years old) and Sonia Citron (1.85m, 22 years old). Both had already spent time with the program over the winter. Iriafen was part of the U.S. team that won the qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico, while Citron missed that event with an injury and will now make her first appearance for the senior national team in Germany.

Both arrive off strong rookie WNBA seasons in 2025. Iriafen averaged 13.3 points and 8.5 rebounds while appearing in all 44 games, and Citron earned a spot on the WNBA All-Rookie Team after averaging 14.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.4 steals while shooting 47.0% from the field and 44.5% from 3-points. USA Basketball had already listed Iriafen on its original 12-player roster unveiled August 6, alongside Plum, before the two late withdrawals forced Citron’s addition. That August 6 group carried a combined 58 WNBA All-Star selections and had flagged Iriafen, along with Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, as newcomers making their senior national team debuts at this tournament.

A group stage against China, and a roster split between champions and newcomers

Clark arrives having been named MVP of the March 2026 FIBA qualifying tournament, where she posted 7 points and 7 assists against Spain on March 17. Team USA lands in Berlin as the four-time defending champion, having beaten China 83-61 in the last final in 2022 — and group play draws that same opponent again. The Americans open against China on September 4, then face Italy on September 6 and Czechia on September 7, in Group D at the 20th edition of the tournament, which runs from September 4 to September 13 with 16 national teams.

History still favors the reshuffled roster. The United States has not lost a World Cup game since a 2006 semifinal defeat to Russia, a streak of four straight titles. How much of that continuity survives without two of its most experienced closers will start to show against China on opening night.