Team USA is one win away from claiming its fifth consecutive FIBA Women’s World Cup title.
The Americans will meet France in the gold medal game on Sunday, Sept. 13, in Berlin, Germany. It will be a rematch of the 2024 Olympic gold medal game in Paris, where USA narrowly defeated France, 67-66.
"My message to the team is this is our standard here with Team USA, and It's about us. It's literally about us," Brenna Stewart said. "Everything that we do is literally going to dictate what happens in tomorrow's game and making sure that that's the main focus − is we continue to look inward.
"There's gonna be a ton of emotions in this game, and it's gonna be the team that really kind of regulates that and handles that best that will have the advantage."
Team USA punched its ticket to the final with a 76-66 semifinal victory over Spain to extend its World Cup win streak to 35 games.
"We got the biggest (game) tomorrow," Breanna Stewart said. "We're going for gold and that's what we're going to do."
USA TODAY Sports rounded up the winners and losers from Team USA's semifinal win on Saturday:
Winners
USA's Breanna Stewart
Breanna Stewart led USA with 16 points in the win and the Americans needed every last one, but it was Stewart's defense that made a difference down the stretch. Stewart got a steal with 7:01 remaining in the fourth quarter, which lead to a fast break layup for Aliyah Boston to give USA a 66-60 lead. Stewart's stat line was rounded out by six rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. She had an efficiency rating of 20, Team USA's best.
"Just continue to do the little things, honing in on the rebounding, making sure that we were getting to the offensive glass," Stewart said after the win. "Defensively, we picked up in the second half, but this is going to be challenging and obviously."
Her experience was on display. Stewart, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, is appearing in her fourth World Cup, joining Sue Bird (5) and Diana Taurasi (4) as the only American women to make at least four appearances. If USA goes on to win gold, Stewart will tie Bird for the most World Cup gold medals.
USA's Kahleah Copper
Kahleah Copper's breakout game of the tournament came Saturday. She turned in a gritty performance, putting her head down and getting to the basket in the tightly-contested matchup. Copper finished with 13 points, four rebounds and two assists, shooting 5-of-12 from the field. Lawson had Copper on the floor down the stretch, a vote of confidence in her ability to impact both sides of the ball. She was pivotal in limiting Spain to eight points in the fourth quarter.
Spain's Iyana Martin
The FIBA Women's World Cup served as Iyana Martin's official coming out party. Martin was selected No. 7 overall by the Portland Fire in the 2026 WNBA Draft earlier this year, but she delayed her debut to focus on national team responsibilities. The move proved dividends for Martin, who led Spain in scoring across the tournament with 17 points per game.
Saturday's semifinal matchup against USA was no different. Martin finished with a game-high 17 points, three rebounds and three assists in the loss. Nine of Martin's points came in the third quarter. The 20-year-old had many highlight reel-worthy shots on the day, but Martin sidestepping Jackie Young in the second quarter to make a 3-point heave to beat the shot clock will surely end up on ESPN's Sportscenter.
Spain's World Cup run may be over, but Martin's future is bright.
Iyana Martin is improvising a three, much needed for Spain 🪄#FIBAWWC pic.twitter.com/tBIvJY9Ejp
— FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWWC) September 12, 2026
Losers
Team Spain
Entering Saturday’s semifinal, Spain was the underdog against team USA. It might have been able to change that narrative, but couldn’t keep its foot on the gas.
Spain had lost its five previous World Cup matches against the U.S. by an average margin of 24 points, including in the 2010 semifinal. Despite that, Spain coach Miguel Mendez emphasized to reporters that he was preparing his team to use that history as fuel.
"I don't know how many games we've played against the United States, but it's always been on these kinds of big stages. So this generation needs to take note of that,” he said. “Enjoy competing, enjoy putting them on the ropes, enjoy pushing them back, enjoy trying to beat them with the respect we have for them, but try to beat them.”
For the first three quarters Spain looked like a team prepared to deliver on its coach’s orders; getting off to a 9-1 start to open the game − the USA’s largest deficit of this World Cup − and tying the game at 58 points entering the fourth quarter.
That all fell apart in the final frame, as Spain scored eight points in the fourth quarter.
"We were a little out of rhythm. Certainly, they had something to do with that," Team USA coach Kara Lawson said. "We had something to do with that as well. We were a little sped up ourselves. So you're trying to find it throughout the course of the game.
"When you don't have it, you're trying to get it back. And then when you get it back, you're trying to extend it as long as you can. So I think it was just part of the game, part of basketball. We're not gonna be perfect on every possession, but we found the momentum at the right time."
Spain is 0-12 against the U.S. all-time.
USA's 3-point shooting
For the tournament, the Americans are shooting 31.8% from deep − surprising given the number of sharp shooters on the team. The United States has shot 28% or worst from 3-point range in three of it's five World Cup matchups. The bright spots were against China (37.5%) to open the tournament and against Hungary (52%) in the quarterfinals.
That doesn't exactly inspire confidence headed into a gold medal game against a motivated France team that is shooting 52% from the field and a blistering 44.2% from deep. If the U.S. can't get its 3-point shot to fall on Sunday, it might be cooked.
Fans rooting for a chaotic tournament
This was the gold medal matchup that most folks predicted: USA vs. France in a rematch of the 2024 Olympics final. The oddsmakers out in Las Vegas thought this was the most likely title game, as Team USA and France had the top two odds to win it all at the 2026 FIBA World Cup.
France advanced to the final by defeating Germany, 86-64, Saturday behind 22 points from Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams. In 2024, she gave Team USA all they could handle with 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals. If France wants to pull off the upset this time, she'll need to play a key role.
Meanwhile, the Americans will need someone else to step up. In the final game of the 2024 Olympics, A'ja Wilson led all players in scoring and rebounding with 21 points and 13 boards, while tallying five blocks. The Las Vegas Aces star isn't playing in the World Cup for health reasons.
"This is one game to win the gold medal and the World Cup in Berlin and that's our entire focus," USA forward Breanna Stewart said. "And we're gonna make sure our scout is great and we're locked in and ready to go.
"The emotional part of it is really what's really gonna kind of teeter teams to kind of not go their way. And my team, we're gonna be locked in. We're gonna be very composed. Doesn't matter what happens to us. We know it's gonna be a long game."
USA miscues
Self-inflicted wounds threatened to end USA's reign at the World Cup. The Americans were getting to the free-throw line early and often in Saturday's semifinal matchup, but weren't cashing in. USA was 27-of-35 from the free-throw line, shooting 77%.
"We did get to the free-throw line, but we missed more than usual," USA head coach Kara Lawson said at halftime. "I feel like we left some points out there on the floor."
Ball security was also an issue. The Americans had eight turnovers in the first half, leading to eight points for Spain. USA's turnovers swelled to 15 by the end of the game, as did Spain's points off turnovers (15). Team USA had more turnovers than assists (13) in the game.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Breanna Stewart, lack of 3-pointers among USA vs. Spain winners and losers
