Team USA Is One Win Away

Team USA didn't dominate Spain. It had to survive it. After a 76–66 semifinal victory, the Americans are headed back to the World Cup championship game with one victory separating them from a fifth consecutive title.

Earlier in this World Cup, Team USA gave us three different versions of itself.

Against China, the Americans overwhelmed their opponent.

Against Italy, they struggled.

Against Czechia, they responded.

That raised the question entering the knockout stage: Which Team USA would show up when the tournament became unforgiving?

Saturday against Spain provided perhaps the most meaningful answer yet.

Not because the United States played its best basketball.

It didn't.

Because it didn't have to.

Team USA defeated Spain 76–66 in Berlin to advance to its fifth consecutive FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup final. The Americans extended their World Cup winning streak to 35 games and will face France on Sunday with an opportunity to capture a fifth straight world championship.

This wasn't the 108–56 destruction of Hungary from the quarterfinals.

Spain made the United States uncomfortable.

Spain made the Americans work.

And when the game reached the fourth quarter tied, Team USA showed it could win another way.

Spain Gave Team USA the Test It Needed

There was no early knockout punch.

Spain led during the opening stages and refused to disappear even when Team USA began gaining control.

Every time it seemed as though the Americans were preparing to create separation, Spain answered.

María Conde and Iyana Martín each scored 17 points as Spain continued applying pressure deep into the second half. The game was tied 58–58 entering the fourth quarter.

That situation matters.

Team USA entered Saturday having just scored 108 points against Hungary in one of the most dominant quarterfinal performances in Women's World Cup history. The Americans had 31 assists, forced turnovers and made the game feel finished long before the fourth quarter arrived.

Spain wasn't interested in playing that game.

Instead, the semifinal became physical, slower and uncomfortable.

The United States shot only 40 percent from the field and made just 3 of 18 three-point attempts. The Americans finished with more turnovers than assists, committing 15 turnovers while recording only 13 assists.

Those aren't numbers that normally accompany a comfortable Team USA victory.

And maybe that's exactly why this game was valuable.

Championship teams eventually encounter a night when everything doesn't work.

Saturday was that night.

The United States still won by 10.

Breanna Stewart Reminded Everyone Who She Is

When the game became difficult, Team USA leaned on championship experience.

Breanna Stewart led the Americans with 16 points, while Kahleah Copper added 13 and Jackie Young scored 12.

Stewart's impact went beyond the scoring column.

There is a different responsibility that comes with being one of the veterans on a roster filled with players experiencing their first senior World Cup.

Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers have already produced important moments during this tournament. Angel Reese has provided energy and rebounding. Team USA's depth remains one of its greatest advantages.

But when a semifinal becomes a possession-by-possession fight, experience becomes another weapon.

Stewart has been here before.

She's won Olympic gold.

She's won World Cups.

She understands what these games become when talent alone isn't enough.

Against Spain, Team USA needed that steadiness.

The Americans got it.

The Fourth Quarter Told the Story

Three quarters produced uncertainty.

The fourth produced separation.

With the game tied at 58, Team USA finally took control.

The Americans outscored Spain 18–8 in the final period, turning what had been a legitimate upset threat into a double-digit victory.

That's the part of the performance that should matter most going into Sunday.

Team USA didn't panic because the game was close.

It didn't start forcing the issue because Spain had survived three quarters.

It defended.

It executed.

It finished.

That sounds simple until a season is 10 minutes from potentially ending.

There are teams capable of playing beautiful basketball when everything is comfortable.

Championship teams have to win when it isn't.

Spain gave Team USA its toughest knockout-stage test.

The United States passed.

Remember Italy?

The Spain semifinal should also bring us back to the game that first exposed some vulnerability.

Italy held Team USA to 55 points during group play. The Americans shot 29 percent from the field and just 8.3 percent from three in a 55–52 escape.

At the time, that game looked like a warning.

It still is.

But we now have more information.

Team USA can survive when its offense doesn't look right.

That matters.

Against Italy, the Americans survived by three.

Against Spain, they once again struggled from outside, dealt with offensive inconsistency and entered the fourth quarter tied.

This time, instead of merely escaping, they controlled the final 10 minutes.

That's development within a tournament.

The United States hasn't simply gone from opponent to opponent collecting wins.

It has encountered problems and found different solutions.

China required one style.

Italy required another.

Hungary couldn't handle Team USA's overwhelming depth and pace.

Spain forced the Americans into a fight.

Team USA is still standing.

Now Comes France

And there could hardly be a more appropriate opponent waiting in the championship game.

France defeated host Germany 86–64 in the other semifinal behind 22 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals from Gabby Williams. The victory sent France to its first Women's World Cup final and guaranteed the country its first medal in the event since 1953.

But the history between these teams makes Sunday even bigger.

The last time the United States and France met with a major championship on the line, the result came down to inches.

Team USA defeated France 67–66 in the 2024 Olympic gold-medal game, surviving when Williams' potential game-tying shot was ruled a two-pointer because her foot was inside the three-point line.

Two years later, they meet again.

Different tournament.

Different rosters.

Same prize: gold.

France isn't arriving simply happy to have made history.

The French have already proven throughout this World Cup that they belong among the tournament's elite, and now they have another opportunity to end one of the most remarkable runs in international sports.

Team USA hasn't lost a Women's World Cup game since falling to Russia in the 2006 semifinals. It has won the tournament in 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 and is now one victory away from making it five straight.

France gets the opportunity to stop that streak.

The United States gets the opportunity to extend it.

One More Answer

When the group stage ended, we wrote that Team USA had already shown it could dominate, survive and respond.

The question was whether those qualities would hold up once elimination basketball began.

Now we know more.

Against Hungary, Team USA looked unstoppable.

Against Spain, it looked vulnerable.

Both games ended the same way.

With the United States advancing.

That might be the most dangerous thing about this team.

It doesn't appear to need one specific formula to win.

If the shots are falling, Team USA can bury an opponent.

If the offense becomes ugly, it can defend.

If the game becomes tight late, its veterans know how to manage the moment.

And if someone has a quiet night, another player is capable of becoming the difference.

That's why America's pursuit of another world championship is still alive.

But Sunday is different.

There is no next round.

There is no opportunity to learn from a bad performance and fix it two days later.

France is waiting.

A fifth consecutive World Cup championship is waiting.

And after five victories in Berlin, Team USA has reached the only game that ultimately determines how this tournament will be remembered.

One game.

One opponent.

One win away.