The 2026 FIBA World Cup has concluded. Unfortunately, the much-anticipated Gold Medal rematch between the USA and France turned into a blowout in the second half, where the United States outscored France 54-34. USA defeated France in the Gold Medal game by a final score of 97-79. The best team in the world proved it once again, winning its 5th consecutive Gold Medal in the World Cup games.
The good news for Storm fans was that Dominique Malonga played very well in the game. She led France with 21 points and six rebounds. While she scored a fair amount of those points in the 4th quarter once the game was all but decided, she did have some strong moments in the third period to keep France’s head above water before the USA put the game out of reach.
Former Storm legend, Breanna Stewart, proved she is still arguably the best player in the world. She led the USA to the Gold medal with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds. Stewart was named the tournament MVP. Jackie Young could have earned that honor, as she was excellent throughout the tournament. Young was named the player of the Gold Medal game and finished with 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
Three other USA players scored in double figures: Kahleah Copper added 16 points, Chelsea Gray had 12 points, and Caitlin Clark contributed 12 points off the bench. Besides Malonga, Gabby Williams was the only other player for France who scored in double figures. She scored 16 of her 20 points in the first half. The USA’s defense held her to four points over the final 20 minutes, and that played a huge factor in how the game became a blowout.
USA’s Path to the Gold:
USA beat China 94-61
USA beat Italy 55-52
USA beat Czechia 105-64
USA beat Hungary 108-56 - Quarter-Finals
USA beat Spain 76-66 - Semi-Finals
USA beat France 97-79 - Gold Medal Game
Final Record: 6-0
France’s Path to the Silver:
France beat Hungary 99-53
France beat Korea 95-69
France beat Nigeria 111-56
France beat China 90-61 - Quarter-Finals
France beat Germany 86-64 - Semi-Finals
France lost to USA 97-79 - Gold Medal Game
Final Record: 5-1
Bronze Medal
Earlier in the day, the Storm’s Awa Fam won the Bronze Medal as Spain beat Germany 81-58. This game had a similar story to the USA/France game as the two teams played a competitive first half against one another. After Spain jumped out to a 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter, 25-15, Germany outscored them 21-15 to close the gap to four at the midway point (40-36). It was all Spain in the second half, as they outscored Germany 41-22 over the final 20 minutes.
Iyana Martín, the Portland Fire’s first-round pick, was sensational throughout the tournament and led Spain with 22 points on 8-15 FG. She also had a game-high nine assists. The Liberty’s Raquel Carrera pitched in 15 points and five rebounds. The Toronto Tempo’s Maria Conde added 12 points and five rebounds. Seattle’s Awa Fam nearly had a double-double with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Awa made 5-6 FG in the game.
Spain’s Path to the Bronze:
Spain beat Germany 83-53
Spain lost to Mali 82-73
Spain beat Japan 79-59
Spain beat Australia 89-66 - Quarter-Finals
Spain lost to USA 76-66 - Semi-Finals
Spain beat Germany 81-58 - Bronze Medal Game
Final Record: 4-2
Storm Injuries
Unfortunately, Ezi Magbegor’s injury-plagued year that started in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers in March ended in Berlin, Germany, after Magbegor suffered a torn ACL in her right knee in Australia’s narrow 82-80 win against Italy that sent the Opals to the Quarter-Finals. That’s where Australia’s World Cup run ended as they were without Magbegor. Storm point guard, Jade Melbourne, only played three minutes in the Quarter-Finals matchup due to flu-like symptoms.
Magbegor suffered a left foot injury in March, a facial fracture and broken nose in July against the Atlanta Dream, and now a torn ACL. Unsurprisingly, the Storm announced that she would miss the remainder of the 2026 WNBA season (Seattle has four games remaining). Between all three injuries, Ezi only played 14 of the team’s 44 games this season. Worse yet, since she suffered a torn ACL in September of this year, that significant injury will almost certainly cost her most, if not all, of the 2027 WNBA season. The recovery timetable for a torn ACL is usually between 9 and 12 months. I believe both Jordan Horston and Katie Lou Samuelson ended up taking at least 12 months (if not 13-14 months) before they were able to return to 5-on-5 professional basketball. Realistically, Magbegor will miss at least 1/2 of the 2027 season.
Speaking of Katie Lou, the team also announced on September 11th that Samuelson had successful arthroscopic surgery on her left knee. Samuelson tweaked her left knee in August and missed a few games, but was able to return. However, with the Storm already eliminated from the playoffs, Samuelson and the team decided to do a cleanup procedure. This surgery will keep Samuelson out of the team’s final four games of the 2026 season, but should not be severe enough to cause her to miss any games in 2027 (to my understanding).
The Storm return to action on Thursday, September 17th, as they host the Las Vegas Aces at 7 p.m.
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I’m really sad about Ezi‘s new injury. I don’t know why she is so injury plagued of late. Bad luck? Needs better strength and conditioning coach? I don’t know. But my heart goes out to her.
I thought that Dom played really well especially in the Gold Medal game. She was about the only French player who did anything in the second half. The rest of their team kind of fell apart and went really cold from long distance. I'm sure that the FIBA experience will really help Dom and Awa's confidence when they return and they will both be able to start together for the last 4 games of the season. They'll have a great test going up against the Aces twice with or without A'ja Wilson who is arguably the best player in the WNBA and probably the world.