USA vs. France score, live updates: Fifth straight FIBA World Cup on the line for U.S. in Olympics gold medal rematch

Caitlin Clark hits a 3 from the left elbow just before the second-quarter buzzer and cuts France’s lead to 45-43 going into halftime.

Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young are making sure France doesn’t pull away again. Gray hits a 3 to cut the deficit to 42-39 with 1:44 remaining before halftime.

Gray has 10 points for Team USA, while Young has 13. Breanna Stewart is also in double figures with 12 points.

France continues to shoot well from behind the arc. Gabby Williams and Marieme Badiane knock down 3-pointers to restore France’s lead to 8 points, 39-31.

Williams has 16 points and has swished 3 of 4 3-point shots thus far.

Team USA has answered with a 10-2 run of its own, including two 3-pointers from Jackie Young, and has cut France’s lead to 33-27.

France begins the second quarter on an 11-0 run to open up a 31-17 lead on USA.

Carla Leite scored 5 points during the surge, followed by 3-pointers from Valeriane Ayayi and Gabby Williams. France is 5-for-8 on 3s thus far.

France closed out the first quarter with a 10-2 run to lead by three.

Gabby Williams leads France with 6 points, followed by 4 from Dominque Malonga. Les Bleues is shooting 50% (3-of-6) on 3-pointers.

USA has 6 points from Breanna Stewart and Chelsea Gray.

It’s clear Napheesa Collier and Caitlin Clark haven’t played a ton of time together. Collier had trouble a handful of times now handling quick Clark passes in the paint, resulting in turnovers or broken plays. She was not on the 2026 qualifying tournament team while rehabbing surgeries on both of her ankles. It points at the disjointed compilation of talent for Team USA this cycle.

Following an Aliyah Boston basket, France takes an 18-17 lead on a 3 from Marine Johannes.

France ties the score at 15-15 on a 3-pointer from Gabby Williams and a (wide-open) fast-break layup by Dominque Malonga.

Breanna Stewart scores Team USA’s first two points on free throws and with that, she passes Cheryl Miller with 268 points.

Ahead of Stewart in the top four all-time:

Lisa Leslie 393
Teresa Edwards 371
Diana Taurasi 363
Katrina McClain 310

As we head into tip-off, a big question to consider for Team USA:

Will head coach Kara Lawson trust the young players?

They’ve played well together (thanks to previous youth national team experience) and pulled the U.S. out of the early hole against Spain. That should have given them more run in that game, but Lawson reverted back to the veterans (who, to her credit, stepped up in the end).

The trio of Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese in particular push pace and offense. They have some of the best on/off numbers of Team USA. It might be time to make the future the now, whether vets like that or not. If the standard is winning, winning should be all that matters.

As already mentioned here in our live blog, today’s FIBA Women’s World Cup Gold Medal game is a rematch of the 2024 Paris Olympics Gold Medal matchup.

That title game was a thriller with Team USA defeating France 67-66 for the gold medal. Williams hit what could have been the game-tying shot at the buzzer, but her foot was on the 3-point line and the shot was only good for 2 points. She finished with 19 points.

There was a reason Team USA had a tough time closing things out against Spain at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup. Turns out, Spain was a pretty talented squad. It proved as much Sunday, blowing out Germany in the third-place game.

Spain won the contest 81-58. Ayana Martin led the way, dropping 22 points and dishing out nine assists in the win. Three other players on Spain, Maria Conde, Awa Fam and Raquel Carrera all scored in the double digits.

It was an impressive performance from Spain, which did not appear at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in 2022.

It’s the rematch everyone desired. Team USA will face France two years after the Stewart finger-point seen ’round the world. The Americans walked away from the 2024 Paris Olympics with gold after French star Gabby Williams stepped over the 3-point line, hitting instead a 2-pointer at the buzzer that prevented overtime.

The French have not been quiet that the loss has sat with them, and they intend to knock the Americans out. It would be the first time in five World Cups that Team USA had not won gold. They’re also well-versed in the skillsets of the U.S. players, as eight of their 12 rostered players are in the WNBA.

France leads the tournament in scoring (96.2 points per game, to the U.S.’ 87.6) and field goal percentage (51.6%). Or as Stewart put it:

“They’re shooting the s*** out of the ball this tournament,” she said on the broadcast’s postgame interview.

Read more on the matchup here.