Australia Defeats Canada, Secures Top Spot at FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament
ISTANBUL (Mar. 18, 2026) — Australia completed a perfect run through the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournament, defeating Canada 82–76 on Tuesday at the Turkcell Basketball Development Center in Istanbul. With the loss, Canada finished the tournament with a 2–3 record, failing to secure one of the four qualifying spots for this summer’s FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany.
Australia finished first in the group undefeated, followed by Hungary in second, with Türkiye and Japan securing the final two qualifying positions. Argentina finished sixth.
Canada’s Qualification Hopes Dashed
Canada entered Tuesday’s game needing a combination of results to advance, but was officially eliminated following Japan’s win over Argentina earlier in the day, combined with Australia’s victory over Canada and Hungary’s victory over Türkiye.
A Tightly Contested Game
Despite the loss, Canada remained competitive throughout a tightly contested game that featured multiple lead changes. Australia pulled ahead midway through the third quarter, using an 8–2 run to create separation and maintain control down the stretch.
Alexander Leads Canada in Scoring
Kayla Alexander delivered a dominant performance for Canada, finishing with a game-high 26 points on 12-of-16 shooting while adding 13 rebounds for a double-double. Bridget Carleton added 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
Australia’s Whitcomb Shines
Australia was led by Sami Whitcomb, who scored 23 points and made all five of her three-point attempts.
Coaches’ Comments
“I thought Kayla just played her tail off today, and it was just a sight to watch,” said Canada’s head coach, Nell Fortner. “She was just really, really good. But defensively, we had some breakdowns there at the complete. They got us on several offensive boards to acquire second-chance points and then hit threes off of them at times, and that was really kind of backbreaking for us.”
Fortner also acknowledged the tournament organizers, stating, “I thought the tournament was really well run — from where we stayed, to the food we ate, to the transportation. Türkiye did a great job, FIBA did a great job. So thank you for that.”
Looking Ahead
Alexander echoed the team’s sentiment following the loss. “Australia is a really great, talented team. They were hitting their shots today, and we just struggled to get out to their threes — that really hurt us,” said Alexander. “But I believe that we competed. We played hard. It just wasn’t enough to get the job done today.”
Reflecting on the overall tournament, Alexander pointed to the lessons ahead. “I sense like we played hard. There’s a couple games that you wish you could get back, a couple possessions that we wish we could get back to get into this position,” she said. “We had a great opportunity to close the deal for ourselves today, and unfortunately just couldn’t do it. We just have to figure out a way to turn those close games into wins. I think this is a great learning experience for this team. There’s a lot that we can take away from this to hopefully improve, get better and preserve growing.”
2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Details
The 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup will be held in Berlin, Germany. More information about the tournament can be found on the FIBA website.