The United States women’s basketball team will open the 2026 Women’s Basketball World Cup against China in Berlin on Sept. 4, with Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese expected to share the court after years of being portrayed as rivals.
The tournament will temporarily interrupt the WNBA’s 2026 season, forcing American fans to support the league’s biggest stars on the international stage. The U.S. has won four consecutive World Cups and enters the competition with an active 30-game winning streak.
What happens in Berlin could influence the atmosphere surrounding the WNBA when players return from international competition. The tournament will test whether Clark and Reese can work together while placing American women’s basketball dominance against one of the country’s most significant geopolitical rivals.
Can Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese work together?
Clark and Reese have been framed as adversaries for more than three years.
Their rivalry began with the 2023 national championship game between Iowa and LSU and continued through their rematch in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. It then followed them into the WNBA, where they were viewed as the leading contenders for Rookie of the Year. Every matchup, foul and postgame comment gave fans another reason to choose sides.
They have also offered glimpses of what they can accomplish as teammates. Reese first said, “one day, hopefully, we can be teammates,” while discussing Clark in an October 2024 Wall Street Journal article.
The pair became teammates at the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game. Clark recorded 10 assists, while Reese finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds in Team WNBA’s victory over the U.S. Olympic team.
In March, Clark and Reese helped the U.S. finish 5-0 at the World Cup qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico. Clark earned tournament MVP honors after averaging 11.6 points and a tournament-leading 6.4 assists. Reese averaged a team-high eight rebounds while shooting 52.2% from the field.
“Team chemistry is everything,” Reese said during the qualifying tournament. “Some of us have played with each other on our respective teams, but we have to come together and find your role. Everybody’s not going to be able to do everything that they do on their respective team.”
Clark and Reese will join established champions A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier and Chelsea Gray on the U.S. roster in Berlin.
What will happen during the national anthems?
National anthem protocols could become another point of attention during the tournament. Available rules and precedent from previous U.S. national teams indicate that the entire American team will stand on the court for “The Star-Spangled Banner” in Berlin. Whether each player places a hand over her heart or sings along is not specified by USA Basketball or FIBA rules.
The issue has received renewed attention during the 2026 WNBA season because teams have followed different pregame routines. Several teams have historically remained in the locker room or cleared the floor while the national anthem played.
The Atlanta Dream remained in the locker room during the anthem before an Aug. 16 game against the Indiana Fever. Reese and Rhyne Howard, both members of the World Cup roster, were therefore off the court while Clark, Aliyah Boston and the rest of the Fever stood along the sideline.
Clark stood facing the flag with her hands behind her back, while Sophie Cunningham placed her right hand over her heart. The difference prompted online criticism of Clark, although WNBA rules do not require players to sing or place a hand over their hearts.
Those expectations may be different when players leave their WNBA teams to join the U.S. national program. USA Basketball’s code of conduct requires participants to follow FIBA and USA Basketball rules, attend team functions as directed and “demonstrate proper respect during the playing of the national anthem.”
The code does not define “proper respect,” but it gives USA Basketball the authority to investigate alleged violations and impose discipline.
FIBA will oversee the ceremonies in Berlin. Its 2026 regulations state that only anthems and flags of countries or national federations recognized by FIBA may be used. The regulations leave the details of World Cup ceremonies to tournament hosting documents and do not publicly require players to sing, place a hand over the heart or adopt another specific posture.
FIBA’s code of conduct also prohibits players and other “basketball parties” from using gestures, words or objects to convey political or ideological messages considered unfit for a sporting event. The rule does not specifically identify kneeling, remaining silent or declining to place a hand over the heart as violations, but it gives FIBA greater control over demonstrations than the WNBA has exercised during its domestic season.
U.S. Olympic precedent
Previous U.S. teams have approached international competition differently from the WNBA. American players who routinely remained off the court during WNBA anthems stood together during the anthem at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Sue Bird, who was the team’s captain at the time and is now the managing director who selected the 2026 roster, said wearing a USA uniform changed the context.
“You are wearing USA jerseys and it does change the conversation a little bit and what you’re representing,” Bird said at the time. “With that, I don’t feel like a hypocrite in any way. Everyone knows where we stand. I don’t think it contradicts anything since we’re actually doing the work.”
The U.S. players stood with their arms linked during that Olympic run. No anthem protests were reported during the United States’ five-game World Cup qualifying run in Puerto Rico in March, which included Clark, Reese, Howard, Paige Bueckers and Kahleah Copper.
As of Aug. 30, no member of the World Cup roster had publicly announced plans to kneel, leave the floor or conduct another demonstration during the anthem in Berlin.
U.S. and China meet in World Cup rematch
The Americans will face China in a rematch of the 2022 World Cup final. The U.S. has won all 15 of its World Cup and Olympic meetings with China.
Two of those victories came at the 2022 World Cup. The U.S. defeated China 77-63 in group play before winning the final 83-61. The result gave the Americans their fourth consecutive world championship.
China still regarded its silver medal as a major national achievement. The championship game was played on Oct. 1, China’s National Day. Afterward, China’s General Administration of Sport praised the team for competing “with the motherland in mind.” The government agency called the silver medal “a perfect birthday gift to the country,” according to China Daily.
National anthem customs could provide another contrast during the World Cup opener. China has had a national anthem law since 2017. The law identifies major sporting events as occasions for the anthem and directs those present to stand solemnly and behave respectfully. Deliberately insulting the anthem in public can result in detention or criminal prosecution under Chinese law.
The law will not govern the actions of American players in Berlin, but it highlights the different ways the two countries treat public displays of patriotism at sporting events.
In the United States, anthem protests have become part of the political debate surrounding professional sports. Players have been praised, criticized and closely scrutinized based on whether they stand, kneel, leave the court or place a hand over their hearts.
In China, disrespecting the anthem can become a legal matter.
The World Cup opener will take place during another sensitive period in U.S.-China relations. The countries remain divided over trade, tariffs, human rights and China’s relationship with Taiwan, even as officials work toward another meeting between their presidents.
Those disputes will not determine what happens on the court, but they could influence how the game—and particularly the moments before tipoff—are interpreted in both countries.
Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.
