Look, we mean it when we say that this year’s tournament should be more competitive than years past. We’ve seen Team France knocking at the door, and we saw how close they got to defeating Team USA at the 2024 Olympics.
Still, we mean it when we say that the U.S. women’s national basketball team is one of the most dominant entities not just in basketball, but in all of sport.
Team USA has won eight straight Olympic Gold medals and four straight FIBA World Cups. It hasn’t lost a game in international play since the 2006 World Championship semifinals, and has won 30 consecutive international games since that day more than 20 years ago.
History aside, the current roster is the most stacked in the field, even without Wilson and Plum in the fold. The younger players are already stars on their respective WNBA teams, and there is still a heavy star veteran presence on the team between Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier, Copper and Gray.
The team swept the World Cup qualifying tournament 5-0 and won by an average margin of 42 points over the span of those five games. It’s not going to be as easy in the heat of the real thing, but Team USA remains the heavy favorite for a reason.