The U.S. women’s basketball team is headed back to the FIBA Women’s World Cup gold medal game.
But the road to get there should serve as a reminder that the Americans aren’t as invincible as in previous years.
The Americans pulled away from Spain late in the semifinals Saturday in Berlin, winning 76-66 to punch their ticket to Sunday’s championship game. They will face France in a rematch of the gold medal game at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“This is our standard here with Team USA,” said Breanna Stewart, who scored a team-high 16 points. “It’s literally about us. Everything that we do is going to dictate what happens in [Sunday’s] game and making sure that’s the main focus as we continue to look inward.”
Stewart is right. For the U.S., reaching the World Cup final has become almost routine. The Americans entered this year’s tournament as four-time defending champions and had not lost a World Cup game since the 2006 semifinals (when it was known as the FIBA World Championship for Women).
Saturday marked Team USA’s 71st consecutive win between Olympic and FIBA World Cup/Championship action.
But the road back to the final hasn’t been seamless for the U.S., which has shown flashes of mortality in Berlin.
The Americans needed a late escape against Italy in the group stage to win 55-52 before rediscovering their dominant form against Hungary in the quarterfinals Thursday.
Spain, however, presented a far different challenge.
The U.S. trailed Spain for most of the first quarter. Spain’s early 9-1 lead marked the largest deficit the Americans had faced in the 2026 World Cup. Prior to Saturday, the U.S. hadn’t been down by more than three points in this competition.
Spain’s defense strained the Americans, forcing turnovers and contesting shots.
When Spain’s offense got cold, the Americans didn’t consistently capitalize.
The two were tied at 58 entering the fourth quarter. That’s when Team USA’s experience and composure took over.
The Americans went on a 12-2 run to start the quarter and pulled ahead by 10, their largest lead of the day, with 5:20 left.
It was game over from there.
“Really happy with the way that we continued to kind of learn throughout the game,” Stewart said. “Spain is a tough team, obviously a young team, but they’re really feisty and energetic, and we don’t overlook any of our opponents. So we’re happy to be moving on and we know that we have the biggest one yet [Sunday].”
For the Americans, another gold medal remains the expectation, though that doesn’t mean it’s inevitable.
France, which earned its spot in the gold medal game after beating Germany 86-64 hours before the U.S. played, enters the final not only unbeaten but on a red-hot run, beating opponents by an average of 35.6 points.
Led by Gabby Williams, Dominique Malonga, Janelle Salaun and Marine Johannes, the French handled the pressure and physical play amid a hostile environment against Germany.
Though this is France’s first time in the World Cup gold medal game, eight of its players represented the nation in Paris. Meanwhile, only six Americans were part of the U.S. team that captured Olympic gold there.
“We won that game,” Stewart said of the last high-stakes meeting between the two countries. “That game is over. This is a completely new game [Sunday]. … We’re going to make sure our scout is great, and we’re locked in and ready to go.”
