Six Portland Fire players will suit up for four different countries when the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup tips off Sept. 4 in Berlin, giving the expansion franchise its first taste of international spotlight and fans a reason to keep watching during a nearly three-week WNBA pause.
Point guard Carla Leite (France), guard Megan DiLeo and rookie Iyana Martín (Spain), forward Frieda Bühner and center Luisa Geiselsöder (Germany), and forward Amy Okonkwo (Nigeria) all earned roster spots for the 12-team tournament, which runs through Sept. 13, according to The Oregonian.
Portland plays the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday, Aug. 30, then goes dark until Sept. 17, when the Fire host the Phoenix Mercury at Moda Center.
Fire vs. Fire
The tournament schedule guarantees at least two teammate-on-teammate showdowns. On Sept. 4, Spain faces Germany, pitting DiLeo and Martín against Bühner and Geiselsöder. Three days later, on Sept. 7, Nigeria meets France, meaning Okonkwo and Leite will square off.
Leite has been Portland's engine all season, leading the team with 15.8 points and 6.3 assists per game. She posted career highs of 27 points and 11 assists in the Fire's Aug. 24 loss to Washington.
France's roster also features Golden State's Gabby Williams and Janelle Salaün, New York's Marine Johannes and Pauline Astier, and Seattle's Dominique Malonga.
DiLeo, who holds dual U.S.-Spanish citizenship and played for Spain at the 2024 Paris Olympics, is averaging 13.2 points per game in what has become a career year.
Martín, Portland's first-round pick in the 2026 draft, has yet to play for the Fire after staying overseas with her Spanish club.
Okonkwo, a two-time FIBA AfroBasket MVP, signed with Portland on Aug. 11 as an injury replacement for Sarah Ashlee Barker. She left Nigeria's World Cup training camp in Chicago to join the Fire and has not yet made her debut.
"I think it's a great opportunity … I think it's later in the season but I hope to come in and help where I can," Okonkwo told KGW on Aug. 11, the day Portland announced her signing.
Geiselsöder's situation is unique: the Fire suspended her contract in early August so she could prepare with Germany's national team, and she will not return to Portland for the remainder of the 2026 season.
Playoff math
The break comes at a complicated time. Portland sits at 15-22, 5.5 games behind the Dallas Wings for the eighth and final playoff spot with seven games left in the regular season. The math is steep.
Head coach Alex Sarama said after the Fire's Aug. 21 loss to Toronto that the team wants to "finish the season on the high."
All World Cup games air on TNT and truTV, with streaming on HBO Max. The gold-medal game is Sunday, Sept. 13, and WNBA play resumes four days later.
