Two years ago, as the WNBA was at the start of its rocketship growth, the young players who were helping women’s basketball reach new levels of popularity were notably absent from the national team at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The team won gold, but some saw it as a missed opportunity for USA Basketball to spotlight some of the biggest names in its sport, even if they were younger.In 2026, this is a USA Basketball roster that every casual fan will be able to recognize.To be clear, USAB, under new managing director Sue Bird and new head coach Kara Lawson, didn’t sacrifice talent at the expense of popularity. But the four new faces who are debuting for the senior national team — Aliyah Boston, Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese — will bring a lot more eyes with them.The team announced its World Cup roster on Thursday morning, and a quartet of youngsters highlights an absolutely stacked USA roster that also includes (in alphabetical order): Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Rhyne Howard, Kelsey Plum, Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young. All were Olympians in 2024, though Howard was on the 3×3 team while the other seven were on the five-on-five squad.The FIBA World Cup will be played in Berlin between Sept. 4-13, while the WNBA takes a break in action for the competition from Sept. 1-17.The national team always tries to bring new blood into every cycle; Copper was one of six players who made her FIBA debut at the 2022 World Cup, and three of those players (Copper, Sabrina Ionescu and Alyssa Thomas) made it on the Olympic team.Before her first camp as managing director, Bird emphasized the importance of opening up the pool. “This is a new cycle,” she said in December. “We have a lot of newness, and so you just want to get as many people in as possible to give them a chance to showcase themselves.”