Julirys Guzmán Laureano Becomes First Puerto Rican to Referee at the Senior Women’s Basketball World Cup

Glass ceilings are meant to be shattered. Julirys Guzmán Laureano is making history by becoming the first Puerto Rican woman to referee at the Senior Women’s Basketball World Cup. She had previously officiated the 2025 U19 Women’s World Cup and has officiated in Puerto Rico’s top men’s professional league.

Guzmán Laureano is one of 28 officials participating in the tournament, set to take place in Berlin, Germany, from September 4 to September 13. The FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 will feature 16 teams, including Puerto Rico. 

The breakdown of the groups is:

Group A: Japan, Spain, Germany, Mali

Group B: Hungary, Korea, Nigeria, France

Group C: Belgium, Australia, Puerto Rico, Türkiye

Group D: USA, Czechia, Italy, China

Her path to this moment has been steady, but impressive. She started as a table official in college until renowned umpire Carlos Tarrats invited her to join his work group, allowing her to dedicate herself to the profession full-time.

Guzmán Laureano has not yet been assigned any World Cup games. The sixteen teams in the competition will play the other teams in their respective groups. The team that finishes atop each group qualifies directly for the quarterfinals. The teams finishing second and third in each group advance to a single-game elimination qualifier for the quarterfinals. 

In that round, Group A and B will face each other, while C and D will meet in the other bracket. The winners of these qualification games advance to the quarterfinals and will face the respective group winners. 

The United States won the last FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in 2022.