The United States is set to challenge France for the Women’s Basketball World Cup title in Berlin this Sunday, following a pair of intense semifinal matches. The Americans, aiming to extend their dominance, advanced by holding off a persistent Spanish side with a 76-66 win, while France secured their first-ever final appearance with an 86-64 victory over host nation Germany.
In the first semifinal, the defending champions faced a stern test against Spain, a team whose tournament history peaked with a 2014 final appearance against the US. The contest remained deadlocked at 58-all at the conclusion of the third quarter. However, the American squad’s depth proved decisive in the final frame, as they outscored their opponents by 10 points to secure the win. Breanna Stewart led the effort with 16 points, supported by Kahleah Copper, who added 13, extending the team’s tournament winning streak to 35 games—a run stretching back to 2006.
Despite the win, it was a difficult outing for Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, who was held to a single point while facing heavy defensive pressure, contributing to two turnovers. While Spain enjoyed strong support from a crowd of 12,650, the US responded to the pressure with a critical 12-2 run early in the final quarter to regain control. Reflecting on the upcoming final—a rematch of the 2024 Paris Olympics gold-medal game—Stewart emphasized that the focus is solely on Sunday. “That’s over, you know what I mean? We won that game and that game is over, and this is a completely new game tomorrow,” she stated, adding that the team’s priority is purely winning the World Cup gold.
Earlier in the day, France asserted their quality against Germany to book their historic spot in the final. Gabby Williams was the standout performer, contributing 22 points, five assists, and four steals to maintain the French side’s undefeated tournament record. Williams, who stated she is “on a mission,” remarked, “You never know when you’ll get an opportunity like this. You don’t know if it’ll be the last one. So, I’m just going to give everything.”
France took control early in the second half, mounting nine unanswered points to establish a 16-point advantage. Although Germany—playing in their first semifinal as a unified nation—attempted a comeback in the fourth quarter behind three-pointers from Alexis Peterson and Emily Bessoir to narrow the gap to nine, France responded with a 12-0 burst to comfortably close out the match.
France player Marieme Badiane dismissed the notion that facing the American juggernaut would be an insurmountable task. “We all realise that we can go for the ultimate prize. That’s the goal now. We aren’t stopping here. No one is going to let up,” she noted.
The Sunday decider promises to be a high-stakes encounter, mirroring the tight margins of their previous Olympic meeting, which the United States won by only a single point. Both teams enter the arena in Berlin with distinct goals: the Americans look to maintain their nearly two-decade-long winning streak, while France seeks to cement its status as a premier global basketball power. The report also notes that whose best-ever result was reaching the 2014 final against the Americans, levelled the scores at 58-all at the end of the third quarter against the defending champions on Saturday, underdogs Spain. The report also notes that but the experience of the 11-time champions told in the final period as USA outscored their opponents by 10 to seal victory. The report also notes that spain made a fast start and built an eight-point lead midway through the first quarter. The report also notes that edging ahead as Copper and Stewart kept the scoreboard ticking over, the Americans found their rhythm and controlled much of the second and third quarters.
Comments