It wasn’t the complete confidence-builder Team USA wanted as it punched its ticket to World Cup finals, but in a survive-and-advance setting, the American national team cleared the bar. It survived with Saturday’s  76-66 semifinal win over Spain.

The win in Berlin set up an anticipated meeting in Sunday’s final against France, which lost by only one point to the U.S. in the 2024 Olympic gold-medal game.

The win over Spain was Team USA’s smallest margin in a World Cup semifinal since its winning streak began in 2006 — the previous smallest margin was a 12-point victory over Australia in 2010 — and the closest game between the U.S. and Spain since 1998 (11 points). While the U.S. led for most of the game in Berlin, Spain punched first — leading through most of the first quarter — and didn’t allow the Americans to exhale comfortably until the final minutes.

Now, the U.S. turns the page — but not without critique. That has been true during the last two weeks of the World Cup.

For the second game this tournament, which the U.S. has consistently dominated for decades, Team USA waited until the fourth quarter for a player to take over and seal the win. Against Italy in pool play, it was Breanna Stewart and Chelsea Gray. Against Spain, it was Stewart again. The player with the most international experience scored six of the team’s 18 points and added an assist, steal, two offensive rebounds and drew four fouls in the final quarter.

Breanna Stewart’s contributions helped @usabasketball punch their ticket to the #FIBAWWC Finals 🚨

She logged 16 PTS, 6 REB & 2 AST while going 4-6 from the field!#USABWNT | #FIBAWWC pic.twitter.com/D70z6bOesE

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 12, 2026

Stewart led Team USA with 16 points, while Kahleah Copper and Jackie Young added 13 and 12, respectively. Spain’s Iyana Martín, the No. 7 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft (Portland Fire, though she sat out this season to focus on the World Cup) and Maria Conde (Toronto Tempo) led all scorers with 17 points apiece.

Stewart’s late push got the U.S. where it expected to be, but the Americans could be considered underdogs heading into the finals — an almost inconceivable thought over the past several decades. Given the Americans’ inconsistent play and how the French are putting together some of the best basketball they’ve ever played, Sunday’s finals could shake up a women’s basketball world order that’s been firmly established since the late ’90s.

France is averaging 96 points a game through the World Cup, scoring efficiently and sharing the ball well. It has numerous ballhandlers and is averaging 24 assists a game through a committee approach. The French have assisted on nearly 70 percent of their buckets, while averaging just 11 turnovers a game.

France drew attention by sinking 22 3-pointers, a FIBA record, in its group stage win against Nigeria, but that wasn’t an anomaly. Through five World Cup games, the French are shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc, hitting 15 triples a game. Six players are hitting 40 percent or better on 3s through the tournament.

The French advanced to the finals with an 86-64 semifinals victory against Germany, making 10 3s on Saturday.

In her postgame television interview, Stewart might’ve outlined it best (and most succinctly): “They’re a really tough team. They’re shooting the s— out of the ball this tournament.”

Defensively, France has been stout. It held each of its opponents under 70 points and has averaged 13 steals a game.

The U.S., by contrast, has struggled to find a consistent offensive rhythm. Against Italy, the Americans hit just 1 of 12 3-pointers, and in their semifinal win against Spain, they shot 3 of 18 from beyond the arc. Only one player, Rhyne Howard (1.8), is averaging more than one 3-pointer per game. There also hasn’t been a dominant force in the paint, making A’ja Wilson’s absence that much more notable.

The recent history of this matchup — and its potential as a budding rivalry — is impossible to ignore as the French program has picked up steam in recent years, especially with more of the core roster playing in the WNBA. While Team USA might want to paint the World Cup finals as a rematch of the Olympic finals just two years ago, when the French nearly dethroned the Americans en route to their eighth consecutive gold, Sunday’s matchup could be a measuring stick for both squads.

But Stewart said she doesn’t want that shadow of the past to cloud their focus.

“We won that game. That game is over,” she said. “This is a completely new game. Everybody has their own things that continue to motivate them, but I think that what I’ll continue to be preaching to this team is, we’re going to continue to turn the page on everything. This is one game to win the gold medal in the World Cup in Berlin, and that’s our entire focus.”

Against Spain, the play of one key player in one final quarter was enough to push the U.S. over the edge. Survive and advance. Against France, there’s no advancing. It’s just one game — gold or bust.

For the first time in recent memory, anything less than a complete game and its best performance of the last two weeks could spell the latter for Team USA.