{"id":832669,"date":"2026-09-11T01:06:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T01:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/832669\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T01:06:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T01:06:18","slug":"spain-basketball-star-megan-dileo-weighs-in-on-caitlin-clarks-world-cup-bench-role-ahead-of-semifinal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/832669\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain basketball star Megan DiLeo weighs in on Caitlin Clark’s World Cup bench role ahead of semifinal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BERLIN \u2014 Megan DiLeo will be looking to lead Team Spain to an upset win over the U.S. in the FIBA Women’s World Cup semifinal on Saturday. That means she will be taking on her old friend Caitlin Clark<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But DiLeo, Spain’s star center and a 2025 WNBA champion with the Las Vegas Aces<\/a>, may have to wait for Clark to come off the bench before seeing her on the hardwood. USA coach Kara Lawson has opted to start veteran Chelsea Gray over Clark at point guard for the U.S.’s first four games, despite Clark putting up superior numbers and playing more minutes.<\/p>\n

But DiLeo doesn’t believe that Clark not starting will make things any easier for Spain on Saturday.<\/p>\n

TEAM USA COACH REVEALS IF CAITLIN CLARK WILL START IN THE WORLD CUP FINAL STAGE AFTER BENCH ROLE IN GROUP PLAY<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Megan <\/p>\n

Megan DiLeo of Spain looks to pass the ball during the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup match between Mali and Spain at Berlin Arena in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 5, 2026. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

When asked if Clark not starting on Saturday<\/a> will put Team Spain at an advantage, DiLeo said, “No, I don’t think so. She’s just a great player, it doesn’t really matter when she goes into a game, she’s going to make an impact.”<\/p>\n

DiLeo added, “We just gotta be ready for her and for the rest of the roster. They’re talented, they’re deep. It kind of doesn’t really matter who comes in.”<\/p>\n

Saturday will be a reunion for the two Iowa alumni, as DiLeo played for the Hawkeyes<\/a> from 2015-19, before Clark showed up on campus one year later.<\/p>\n

DiLeo said Friday that she helped recruit Clark to Iowa back then.<\/p>\n

“I was actually part of the recruiting process that she was kind of going through, figuring out where she wanted to go, as far as that, and she chose Iowa,” DiLeo said. “Whenever I go back to visit campus and stuff and she was still playing we would get to interact and stuff, we check in on eachother every once in a while now. Just super happy we get to represent Iowa.”<\/p>\n

DiLeo added that she hasn’t spoken to Clark since they arrived in Germany for the World Cup due to scheduling constraints, but she’s “excited” to see Clark on Saturday.<\/p>\n

DiLeo won consensus National Player of the Year honors in 2019 and finished her college career with 2,804 points and a school-record 1,460 rebounds. Iowa later retired her No. 10.<\/p>\n

Clark became a two-time consensus National Player of the Year and finished her career with 3,951 points, the most in NCAA Division I basketball history. She also led Iowa to consecutive national championship games before the school retired her No. 22.<\/p>\n

THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW\u2013UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Caitlin <\/p>\n

Caitlin Clark during the Women’s FIBA World Cup 2026 between the U.S. and China on Sept. 4, 2026, in Berlin, Germany. (NurPhoto)<\/p>\n

Saturday will not be the first time they have faced each other internationally.<\/p>\n

The U.S. defeated Spain 84-70 during the World Cup qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico in March. DiLeo scored 15 points for Spain, while Clark finished with seven points and seven assists. Clark was later named the tournament\u2019s most valuable player after leading the Americans to a 5-0 record.<\/p>\n

DiLeo became a naturalized Spanish citizen in 2023 and made her debut for Spain at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She averaged 18 points and 9.3 rebounds during that tournament and has remained one of the country\u2019s most important interior players.<\/p>\n

She helped Spain reach Saturday\u2019s semifinal with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting during an 89-66 quarterfinal victory over Australia. Spain shot 50% from the field and made 13 3-pointers while eliminating the Opals.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE<\/a><\/p>\n

The Americans delivered an even more dominant quarterfinal performance. They defeated Hungary 108-56<\/a> while setting World Cup quarterfinal records for points and assists.<\/p>\n

Clark scored 10 points and recorded a game-high nine assists in 20 minutes. She is now third among all players in assists per game at the tournament.<\/p>\n

Her best performance came in the opening game against China<\/a>, when she recorded 14 points and 11 assists without committing a turnover. She struggled during the Americans\u2019 55-52 escape against Italy<\/a> but responded with nine points and seven assists against Czechia before nearly recording another double-double against Hungary.<\/p>\n

Lawson has continued to use Clark with a younger group of reserves that includes Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese. The decision has drawn criticism from some fans, but it has not stopped the U.S. from reaching another semifinal with a 4-0 record.<\/p>\n

\"Caitlin <\/p>\n

Caitlin Clark of USA reacts during the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Germany 2026 quarter-final between USA and Hungary at Berlin Arena on Sept. 10, 2026 in Berlin, Germany. (Christina Pahnke – sampics\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Spain will enter as a significant underdog based on the countries\u2019 history. The U.S. has won all 11 previous meetings listed by FIBA, including the 2014 World Cup championship game and the gold-medal game at the 2016 Rio Olympics.<\/p>\n

The Americans have also won 34 consecutive World Cup games since losing to Russia in the 2006 semifinals. They are two victories away from claiming a fifth straight World Cup championship.<\/p>\n

Spain, meanwhile, is back in the tournament after failing to qualify in 2022. The country has won three World Cup medals but has never captured gold.<\/p>\n

OUTKICK IS NOW AVAILABLE ON THE FOX NEWS APP: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s semifinal will begin at 6 p.m. local time in Berlin. DiLeo will be trying to lead Spain to its first victory over the U.S., even if doing so requires eliminating the player she once helped bring to Iowa.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BERLIN \u2014 Megan DiLeo will be looking to lead Team Spain to an upset win over the U.S.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":832670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[453,7,455,89434,6113,458],"class_list":["post-832669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-angel-reese","tag-basketball","tag-caitlin-clark","tag-outkick-sports","tag-paige-bueckers","tag-wnba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117249729561813276","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=832669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/832670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}