Gabby Williams put on a clinic but it was the sheer depth of France that carried them to the final of the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup. Emmet Ryan on how a game Germany just didn’t have enough to cope with an impressively business-like display by the French.
Absolute goosebumps. The French, to their credit, brought a solid travelling support but there was no doubt about who the hosts were. A packed Uber Arena arrived in hope more than expectation at this semi final of the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup.
France exist to crush dreams and this side has been determined, from the off, to let nothing get between them and a shot at the USA in the final.
Gabby came to play
The arena rose as the opening tip went up. Germany won possession and were working it nicely along the perimeter. Gabby Williams was in no mood to wait around. She smartly stole the ball from Leonie Fiebich and made a beeline for the left elbow to drain a three. This is a business trip for her but one with a point to be made.
Gabby has spoken a lot about how she struggled to find her place in life as someone of mixed race and dual nationality. On this France team, as its clear leader, she is at home. A couple of assists quickly followed her opening score as she sought to leave no doubt at the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup.
Just as Germany were rallying, she nailed a low probability bucket. A long two under pressure off one leg and it was perfect. Williams had seen what happened when Emma Meesseman was contained by Germany, she wasn’t going to let that happen here.
Forcing a track meet
Tactically, the French were sound and simple. With the deepest bench in the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup outside of the US, they decided to push the offensive tempo from the off. While the scoreboard gap wasn’t enormous, the plan had merit.
Forcing an offensively heavy game with shorter possessions was going to ask questions of Deutschland. While Germany had great success off the bench in their quarter final win over Belgium, this was an entirely different challenge. France could park Gabby Williams and Dom Malonga at their leisure and still have high quality contributors ready to maintain the pace.
Malonga however was having a mixed bag. She was drawing fouls on the inside at will but was still struggling to finish through contact. That changed the nature of the bill for Germany, it could bite them later but they’d take it for now.
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Taking advantage of the gaps
The offensive struggles of Malonga were the best thing going for Germany. With the France big opening an ugly 0 of 5 from the field, she was directly limiting the ability of her side to stretch the advantage.
That gave Germany just enough breathing room to maintain this as a contest. Lina Sontag has said throughout this tournament that her team needs to punch. Saturday was more about making sure any punch landed after France missed.
Collectively they were finding just enough to not get in an insurmountable hole. One one play it could be Marie Guelich, on another Nyara Sabally. It was all about finding someone, anyone, that could get the job done at a given time.
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Yet that sheer depth
Even when Gabby Williams sat, France could look to Valeriane Ayayi, Migna Toure, or Janelle Salaun. Carla Leite and Marine Johannes were on hand to contribute at will too. There was a clear rotation of 10 being used, with Jean Aime Toupane keen to keep everyone fresh.
It began to truly wear down the Germans by the midpoint of the second quarter. Toupane was no fool, he knew Deutschland may have a second wind in them. His goal was to force them to find a third, fourth, or even fifth one.
The hosts showed their second one through the back end of the first half. Yet Gabbly was out there making sure they had to use all of that gas. The French plan was simple and its execution was superb.
Valeriane Ayayi helped France turn their depth into a decisive advantage as Germany began to run out of answers. (PIC: FIBA)
This is the big time
Germany had managed to win over a lot of new admirers over the course of the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup. Their sheer relentless approach in wins over Japan, Mali, Korea, and Belgium, showed that they’ve taken a step up.
France showed there are higher rungs that aren’t quite within reach yet. Marieme Badiane and Valeriane Ayayi made light work stretching the lead beyond anything reasonable for Germany to reel in.
That’s where the depth comes to the fore. Gabby Williams showed that France could maintain this tempo all day. A simple deflection of a pass out of bounds took the wind out of yet another German possession. That’s all it takes. France have the depth of talent to ensure no assignment gets missed and every possible blow gets landed.
They got what they came here for
At the time of writing, France’s opponents in the final have yet to be decided. It would be an enormous upset were Spain to beat the USA in the later game. Getting the shot at the World Cup title, being the ones to finally end the streak.
For Gabby Williams in particular, this matters. The questions of her identity never stop coming from the trolls. The idea that someone could have the temerity to, checks notes, have parents from two different countries is too much for some dunderheads.
On this France team, she feels at home. She is the leader and she wants that gold. When La Marseillaise plays on Sunday, she’ll likely be playing against the country of her birth. A child of two countries, she has embraced being from both. Still, it’s Vive la France for those 40 minutes.
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