Team USA takes down France for fifth consecutive World Cup gold medal

Team USA continued its reign as the most dominant squad in women’s basketball, claiming its fifth consecutive FIBA World Cup gold medal with Sunday’s assertive 97-79 win over France.

Despite fan and media skepticism that the Americans had met their match with the motivated French, who had dominated the tournament up until the championship game, Team USA proved its dynasty is in good hands.

“There was a lot of noise out there,” U.S. captain Chelsea Gray told TNT’s Allie LaForce postgame. “I’m pretty sure we quieted it.”

Questions started mounting around the United States’ potential to get upset well before the tournament tipped off in Berlin earlier this month — even though the national team had not lost a game in major international competition since 2006. A transitional era for the federation — marked by the World Cup debuts of young stars like Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese — and the seeming ascendance of the French were just enough to cast doubt on Team USA’s rule.

Last-minute injury scratches to A’ja Wilson, USA’s leading scorer at the last three major tournaments, and Kelsey Plum muddied things even more.

But when it came time for the highly anticipated rematch of the 2024 Olympic gold medal game, the United States proved yet again that it is the standard.

“We were ready,” said Breanna Stewart, who was named World Cup MVP for the second time in her career. “This was a game we obviously wanted to get to from the start of this tournament.”

STEWIE (22 PTS, 10 REB, 4 AST, 7-10 FGM) IS YOUR 2026 @FIBAWWC MVP 🔥

Breanna Stewart is the first player to earn MVP honors multiple times (2018, 2026) as she captures her fourth Women’s World Cup Gold!@usabasketball wins their fifth straight title!
pic.twitter.com/u4hMr1QRO4

— NBA (@NBA) September 13, 2026

The gold medal game, and the tournament as a whole, wasn’t as seamless as some in the past. As the global game has caught up with Team USA’s talent, with 51 active WNBA players on World Cup rosters, the Americans were challenged consistently.

For the first 20 minutes of Sunday’s game against France, the Les Bleues made sure the U.S. felt them everywhere on the court.

On defense, France’s overwhelming ball pressure and passing-lane disruption prevented Team USA from establishing any offensive rhythm. Offensively, it unloaded an unrelenting downpour from 3-point range.

An 11-0 run by France put Les Bleues ahead by 14 to start the second quarter — the largest deficit Team USA has faced in World Cup play since its 2006 semifinals loss to Russia. But the Americans responded with a 10-2 run of their own, sparked by a short-range jumper from Stewart off a give-and-go action with Jackie Young, and pulled within two by halftime.

“I wish I could tell you something amazing was said,” coach Kara Lawson said of her halftime speech. “What we talked about was some busted coverages. We showed some film on some actions that were giving us problems. So it was more strategic than motivational.”

Stewart divulged more than Lawson was willing to, sharing that their coach told them, “France might stay with us for three quarters, but by the time we get to that fourth quarter, we’re going to be able to bust this thing open.”

It didn’t take nearly that long as the U.S. emerged from the break with a ferocity that had been absent through the first two quarters.

France came into Sunday’s gold medal game beating opponents by an average of 35.6 points, but Les Blues looked shell-shocked when the U.S. flipped the script to start the third quarter.

Stewart used a screen from Gray to get downhill for a clean look at the rim, tying the game with a layup to start the second half. On the next play, Collier put the U.S. ahead with a backdoor layup off an assist from Young. Before the quarter was over, the U.S. held a 16-point lead, which it extended to as many as 19 in the fourth quarter.

Young was Team USA’s leading scorer coming into the game, averaging 11.2 points throughout the tournament. But Stewart was the team’s steadying force throughout. She finished with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds en route to her fourth World Cup gold medal, joining Sue Bird with the most of any player in tournament history.

Five U.S. players scored in double figures. Young added 18 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Kahleah Copper added 15 points, Gray 12 points and Caitlin Clark 12 points off the bench.

“I pride myself on being consistently great,” Stewart said. “That’s showing up when it’s the big moments, the small moments and all the moments in between. It’s a confidence, an unrealistic confidence that I have in myself especially in those big moments.”

While the U.S. reached a flow state on offense in the second half, Copper and Young wreaked havoc on the defensive end to help the Americans claim their 12th overall World Cup title. Howard finished with four steals, and Copper had one.

All three were tasked with slowing down France’s leading scorer, Gabby Williams, who was averaging 18.4 points per game entering Sunday. Williams was held scoreless in the third quarter and failed to score again until under the two-minute mark in the fourth. She finished with 20 points as the U.S. held France to its lowest scoring output of the tournament. Dominique Malonga led France with 21 points and six rebounds.

Lawson tightened up her rotation significantly, with Bueckers, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen all playing less than three minutes apiece. Clark, Reese and guard Rhyne Howard were the three members of the team’s younger cohort who got the most playing time.

However, the learning experience for the younger players is one Lawson believes will translate well to the Olympics.

“You learn every day you’re here with USA basketball,” Lawson said. “You learn when you’re playing. You learn when you’re not playing… I just saw them picking things up quickly. They have high intelligence. They’re highly skilled. They’re very competitive, and they really wanted to contribute to this team and help us win.”

France’s silver medal was its best World Cup finish in federation history and first medal since 1953 when Les Blues won bronze. Spain, which had six WNBA players on its roster, took home bronze earlier in the day by beating Germany 81-58.

The next World Cup will be played in Tokyo in 2030 with a changed window, running from Nov. 26 to Dec. 8. The schedule change means there will be no overlap with the WNBA schedule as the league’s footprint continues to expand.