USA beat France 97-79 in Berlin for a fifth straight women's World Cup

The United States beat France 97-79 at Uber Arena on Sunday, 13 September, to win a fifth consecutive FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup. Captain Breanna Stewart scored 22 points and took 10 rebounds and was named tournament MVP. It was her fourth World Cup gold, level with Sue Bird. Jackie Young added 18 points. Kahleah Copper scored 15. Chelsea Gray and Caitlin Clark each scored 12, Clark coming off the bench.

France led by 14 early in the second quarter. Gabby Williams and Dominique Malonga ran a 21-2 stretch that made the score 31-17. Malonga finished with 21 points. Williams had 20 points, seven assists and three steals, then went scoreless in the third quarter. Clark hit a three at the second-quarter buzzer to send the Americans into the break down two. Copper and Young opened the third with consecutive triples. A later Clark three pushed the lead to 19 at the start of the fourth. The quarter scores were 18-20, 26-25, 30-12, 24-22.

The final was a rematch of the 2024 Olympic gold medal game, which the United States also won. France was in its first World Cup final and leaves with its best finish. The French had beaten opponents by an average of 35.6 points on the way to Sunday. Germany took bronze, beating Spain 81-58 in the third-place game. Spain had lost to the United States 76-66 in Saturday's semi-final. France had beaten Germany 86-64.

A'ja Wilson was not on the roster. Kara Lawson coached a side that mixed Stewart's fourth cycle with World Cup first-timers. The program's last loss at an Olympics or World Cup was the 2006 semi-final against Russia. That unbeaten run is now 20 years and this title is the fifth in a row, after 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022. The next World Cup is in Tokyo from 26 November to 8 December 2030, a winter window that breaks the old September habit.

The 14-point hole is the detail that will travel. France shot its way into a lead that most teams do not hold against this group. The American answer was not a single star run. It was Clark's bench three, then Copper and Young from the same arc, then Stewart's board work. Five players in double figures is how this team closes games when the first quarter goes wrong. France could not score in the third. That is the period the gold was decided.

Lawson's bench use will be read against the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Clark as a 12-point reserve is a luxury most federations do not have. It is also a selection problem. If Wilson returns and the same wings stay healthy, minutes in Tokyo 2030 and in Los Angeles will be tighter than they were in Berlin. Sunday did not solve that. It only showed that the second unit can erase a 14-point deficit against the second-best team in the building.

For France the silver is a marker, not a concession speech. Williams's first-half burst and Malonga's 21 points are a roster that will still be in its prime in 2028. The gap showed up when the United States decided to hunt threes after the break. A 12-point third quarter is not a talent problem. It is a possession problem against length and switching. That is the film Paris will carry home.

Berlin's two-week tournament ends with the same flag on the top step and a new date on the calendar. Twenty years without a loss at this level is now a fact that the next staff has to live with. The first team that beats the United States in an Olympic or World Cup game will end a run that started when some of Sunday's players were in middle school. Until then the scoreboard in Uber Arena is the record: 97-79, fifth title in a row.