USA vs. France Box Score, Highlights for Clark, Reese from 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup Bracket Final

The entire 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup built toward Sunday's championship game between powerhouses in the United States and France, and the Americans came away with their fifth consecutive title.

The Red, White and Blue defended their crown with a 97-79 victory and continued their dominance of international play that has seen them capture every Olympic and World Cup gold since 1996 except the 2006 World Cup when they ended with bronze.

Breanna Stewart and Jackie Young were brilliant, Chelsea Gray provided a steadying veteran hand, and Caitlin Clark added a spark off the bench.

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK
Breanna Stewart	22	9	3	0	0
Jackie Young	18	5	5	0	0
Chelsea Gray	14	4	5	2	0
Caitlin Clark	12	1	1	0	0
Angel Reese	3	3	0	1	1

Anything but a final between the United States and France would have been surprising.

After all, these two teams played in a thriller in the gold-medal game at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The United States escaped with a one-point victory in that one, but France returned to the World Cup with Gabby Williams leading plenty of WNBA firepower on its roster.

France also steamrolled all five of its previous opponents in this tournament with a 22-point win over Germany in the semifinals as its closest game. Sunday figured to be a daunting task for a loaded United States roster that features Napheesa Collier, Young, Gray, Clark, Paige Bueckers, Stewart, Angel Reese and more.

It was daunting right from the start.

With Williams spearheading the attack with her drives and outside shooting, France extended its lead to double digits in the second quarter. However, the Americans bounced right back behind the trio of Stewart, Young and Gray.

Young caught fire from deep, Gray did a little bit of everything with her facilitating and drives, and Stewart was a matchup problem in the lane. By the time Clark drilled a three in the final seconds before intermission, the United States had cut the halftime deficit to just two points and seemed to have weathered a significant storm from France.

That momentum went nowhere during the break.

Veterans such as Stewart, Collier and Kahleah Copper were dominant on both ends of the floor before one of the youngsters in Clark hit a jumper right at the buzzer to give the Americans a 16-point lead heading into the fourth. 

They outscored France 30-12 in the third behind suffocating defense and a balanced scoring attack. It was the type of performance one might expect from a group of WNBA stars, and Clark kept it rolling with an early three in the fourth quarter.

It reached a point where there was very little drama in the fourth quarter.

While it seemed like France was going to hand the United States a shocking loss in the first half, the dialed up defensive pressure along with the efficient offense with so many players contributing overwhelmed the challengers.

France simply didn't have the depth of starpower as the Americans, and the result was the gold medal staying with the Red, White and Blue.