September 16, 2026 — Gulf Stars Magazine
The United States and France are developing one of international basketball’s most compelling rivalries, and the next chapter could unfold in Qatar.
France’s 79-97 defeat to the US in Sunday’s FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup final in Berlin marked the third major basketball final between the two countries since the 2024 Paris Olympics. In all three, the United States took gold and France finished with silver.
The latest meeting was far from one-sided.
France led the Americans by 14 points in the first half before the US recovered and turned the game around with a dominant third quarter. Breanna Stewart finished with 22 points and was named tournament MVP, while France’s Dominique Malonga scored 21 and Gabby Williams added 20.
For France, the result continued a pattern that began on home soil two years ago.
From Paris to Berlin
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, France reached both the men’s and women’s basketball finals.
The men pushed a US team featuring LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant before losing 98-87. A day later, the women came within one point of an Olympic title, with the US winning 67-66 after a late Gabby Williams basket was ruled a two-pointer because her foot was inside the three-point line.
The two nations met again in Berlin this month, with France reaching its first-ever Women’s World Cup final.
That run included five straight wins by an average margin of 35.6 points before the final, underlining how competitive the French program had become.
Qatar 2027 puts the men's rivalry back in focus
The attention now shifts toward the men’s game and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 in Qatar.
The tournament will be played from August 27 to September 12, 2027, with 32 national teams competing across 92 games. It will be the first FIBA men’s Basketball World Cup hosted in the Middle East.
France is expected to be part of the conversation again, with Victor Wembanyama at the center of its ambitions.
The San Antonio Spurs star is now 22 and has been named France captain ahead of the World Cup qualifying campaign. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, he averaged 15.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists as France reached the final.
His international experience is also growing alongside his NBA career. Wembanyama helped San Antonio reach the 2026 NBA Finals, giving him another major stage before the next international tournament.
France also has established experience around him, including Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier, while younger players such as Bilal Coulibaly and Zaccharie Risacher add another layer to the squad.
France is still chasing its first global title
For all of France’s recent appearances on the biggest stage, there is one major gap in its record.
Neither the French men's nor women's senior team has won an Olympic basketball title or a FIBA Basketball World Cup. The men's team has twice finished third at the World Cup, in 2014 and 2019, while France's biggest men's international title remains its EuroBasket triumph in 2013.
That makes Qatar 2027 more than another World Cup appearance for the French men.
It could be the next opportunity for a generation that has repeatedly come close against the United States to finally break through.
For the US, meanwhile, the standard remains the same. The American women extended their World Cup winning streak to 36 games with the Berlin victory, while the men's program will enter Qatar looking to maintain its position at the top of international basketball.
The rivalry has already moved beyond a single Olympic matchup. With France repeatedly reaching finals and Qatar preparing to host the men's World Cup next year, another US-France meeting in the region would add a new chapter to a rivalry that has been building rapidly since Paris.
