The final time France and Staff USA met, there was an Olympic gold medal on the road. The U.S. gained by a single level after France’s potential game-tying 3-pointer on the buzzer was dominated a two-pointer.
Now, two years later, the 2 nations meet once more — this time with World Cup gold up for grabs.
Staff USA faces France within the 2026 World Cup remaining Sunday at 2 p.m. in Berlin. The winner takes dwelling the gold, whereas the loser walks away with silver. Germany and Spain will battle for the bronze.
Whereas Staff USA appears to increase its dominant, unbeaten streak, France will look to play spoiler, avenge its Olympic loss, and proceed to rewrite its ladies’s basketball historical past.
The U.S. is the four-time reigning World Cup champs and has gained 35 consecutive video games within the event. A gold on Sunday wouldn’t solely give the People a fifth straight title however tie them with the Soviet Union for many consecutive World Cup championships.
France is taking part in in its first World Cup remaining. By defeating Germany in Saturday’s semifinal, the French are assured to medal for the primary time within the World Cup since its inception in 1953.
Right here’s what you have to know:
Bronze-medal sport: Germany vs Spain at 10:30 a.m. ET on TNT, truTV and HBO Max
Jackie Younger leads the People with 11.2 factors per sport, adopted by Stewart with 11.0. The previous Husky leads the squad with 6.8 rebounds per sport.
Fellow former Husky star Gabby Williams led France in its victory over host Germany in Saturday’s earlier semifinal. Williams led all gamers with 22 factors, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals within the 86-64 win. France’s protection stole the present with 14 steals and 29 factors off Germany’s 25 turnovers.
Williams leads France with 18.4 factors, 3.4 assists and a couple of.8 steals per sport. France additionally leads the event with 96.2 factors per sport (Staff USA is second with 87.6), a 51.6 area aim proportion and a 44.2 clip from the 3-point line.
“They seem to be a actually robust staff,” Stewart instructed TNT following Saturday’s semifinal win. “They’re taking pictures the (expletive) out of the ball this event, however we’ve got a fast turnaround.”
Whereas France will hope to avenge its Olympic remaining loss to the People and win its first major-tournament gold medal, Staff USA has extra on the road heading into Sunday’s assembly.
The People haven’t misplaced a serious worldwide event sport since falling to Russia within the World Cup semifinals in 2006. That’s 35 straight victories within the World Cup and 61 straight within the Olympics. In truth, Staff USA has solely misplaced a complete of thrice within the final 4 a long time throughout the World Cup and Olympics.
From UConn to the Connecticut Solar, there are a handful of acquainted native faces in Sunday’s gold-medal sport:
Staff USA – Breanna Stewart
Staff USA – Napheesa Collier
Staff USA – Paige Bueckers
Staff France – Gabby Williams
Connecticut Solar
Staff France – Leïla Lacan
Staff France – Migna Toure (performed 18 video games for the Solar in 2025)
