Team USA arrived in Berlin carrying the weight of being the standard in international women’s basketball. Ten days and six games later, they left Germany exactly where they started — on top of the world.
The United States defeated France 97–79 Sunday in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Final, securing its fifth consecutive World Cup championship and 12th overall. The victory also extended Team USA’s World Cup winning streak to 36 games.
But the final score doesn’t tell the whole story of either the championship game or the road it took to get there.
A Dominant Start — Then an Early Warning
Team USA opened the tournament September 4 with a 94–61 win over China, immediately establishing itself as the team everyone else would have to chase.
Two days later, Italy made sure the Americans knew this tournament wasn’t going to be six straight blowouts.
Italy held USA to just 55 points and pushed the defending champions all the way to the finish before Team USA escaped with a 55–52 victory. It was the kind of game that exposed just how little room for error existed against a disciplined opponent, even for the deepest roster in the tournament.
USA responded exactly how a championship team is supposed to.
The Americans closed group play by beating Czechia 105–64, then rolled past Hungary 108–56 in the quarterfinals. Four games in, Team USA had experienced both ends of tournament basketball — overwhelming opponents when everything clicked and surviving when it didn’t.
Spain Makes Them Work for It
Spain presented another test in the semifinals.
This time, USA couldn’t simply overwhelm its opponent from the opening possession. Spain stayed within striking distance and forced the Americans into another grind before Team USA pulled away for a 76–66 victory.
Breanna Stewart led the United States with 16 points, helping send USA into yet another World Cup Final.
Waiting there was France.
And France came ready to make things uncomfortable.
France Lands the First Punch
France didn’t play the championship game like a team content just to have reached it.
The French built a 14-point second-quarter lead, using a 21–2 run to put Team USA in its biggest hole of the tournament. But before halftime, the Americans began cutting into it. Caitlin Clark’s buzzer-beating three brought USA within two at the break and changed the feel of the game heading into the third quarter.
Then Team USA took over.
The Americans erased the deficit, grabbed control in the third and never gave it back. Stewart finished with a game-high 22 points, while Jackie Young added 18, as USA turned what had briefly looked like a possible upset into a 97–79 championship victory.
Stewart Leaves Berlin with More Hardware
Stewart’s tournament didn’t end with just another gold medal.
The Team USA captain was named FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup MVP, the second World Cup MVP honor of her career. She was also named to the tournament’s All-Star Five after once again serving as one of the anchors of an American roster filled with elite talent.
For Stewart, it was another championship in a USA Basketball career already filled with them.
For Team USA, it was another reminder that while the rest of the world continues to challenge the Americans — and both Italy and France showed they can — knocking them off remains another matter entirely.
Six games. Six wins. Five consecutive World Cups. Thirty-six straight World Cup victories.
Team USA came to Germany as the defending champion.
They left as the standard.
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