Team USA was able to avert a big crisis against Spain in the semifinal of the 2026 FIBA World Cup. After trailing for most of the first quarter and tied at 58-58 before entering the fourth quarter, the Americans were able to get away with a 76-66 win. Ahead of facing France in the gold medal game tomorrow, Breanna Stewart had an important message for her teammates.
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“My message to the team is, ‘This is our standard here with Team USA, and it’s about us.’ Everything that we do is is going to dictate what happens in tomorrow’s game and and making sure that that’s the main focus as we continue to look inward,” Stewart told Alexa Philippou during the postgame press conference with head coach Kara Lawson.
Stewart knows what is at stake in Berlin. Team USA has won four consecutive gold medals before 2026, and the New York Liberty star has been part of the last three World Cup teams. Stewart has perhaps never seen an opposing team with the ability to give the Americans a neck-and-neck fight. She saw France almost take Team USA to overtime in the gold medal game at the 2024 Paris Olympics, before they secured the 67-66 win.
She has been in the trenches with her national team. Two years later, she finds herself in the same situation, and she knows that it’s all about them on Sunday, and not her opponents.
“Whether that’s lifting a teammate up, high-fiving them, or challenging them to shoot the next shot. There’s going to be a ton of emotions in this game. It’s going to be the team that really kind of regulates that and handles that best that will have the advantage right here in the front.”
The US team showed great chemistry in their win over Hungary in the quarterfinal. However, just two days after, things didn’t look as smooth as their chemistry should have dictated. In the quarterfinal game, they had 31 assists, but against Spain, it was limited to just 19. Almost half of their points in the first half came through free throws. They looked out of rhythm throughout the game.
“When you play against a team of that quality and in a game like a semi-final, although we all wish it would be perfect and beautiful and perfect execution on every play from the beginning, it’s not that way all the time,” head coach Kara Lawson told reporters.
“We were a little out of rhythm. Certainly, they had something to do with that. I think we had something to do with that as well. We were a little sped up ourselves… But we found the momentum at the right time, right here at the end.”
The Americans had a disappointing first half. They led the first period by just three points after trailing for the most part. With both sides scoring 18 points apiece in the second quarter, the US team had only a three-point lead. Lawson had to address her team’s uncharacteristic turnovers and urged them for precision in their coverage. The USA stepped up in crunch time entering the fourth quarter with the score tied at 58-58.
They were able to hold Spain to just 8 points in the fourth quarter. However, it is worth remembering that Lawson and her team cannot afford to make similar mistakes against France. They are arguably the best team in this World Cup, having dominated every opponent, with their largest margin of victory coming against Nigeria who they beat 111-56.
Prior to the 2026 World Cup, Team USA has won 11 gold medals and defeated their opponents by an average of 32.4 points. But the gold medal game against France on Sunday may not be anything like what they have come across in recent memory.