Six times. Six defeats.
Six World Cup quarter-finals in the 21st century. Six exits. France had been carrying that baggage for 20 years.
It is over.
France beat China 90-61 in Berlin on Thursday in the World Cup quarter-finals to book a place in the last four. A first in the history of the country’s women’s basketball team. The 1953 bronze medal does not quite count here: that came via a final group stage, not a genuine semi-final.
A 29-point gap. Against China, last edition’s runners-up.
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Defense, pace and 38% from three
There was plenty there to worry them. Across the floor stood the giants: Xu Han at 2.05m and Zhang Ziyu at 2.23m. Jean-Aime Toupane’s players had no interest in trying to match the Asians at their own game.
Hard defense. Turnovers forced. Fast breaks flying the other way. And real accuracy from outside: 14 from 37 beyond the arc, good for 38%.
Gabby Williams finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Marine Johannes had 15 points and 7 assists. Leila Lacan added 12 points. The game turned in the second quarter: 31-48 at the break. Then 41-68 by the 28th minute. Twenty-seven points up. China, drained by the previous day’s game, simply had nothing left in the tank.
And now Germany
Xu Han did her best with 21 points. Shuyu Yang chipped in with 19. Too little, too late, and far too isolated.
This France side arrived in Germany with serious credentials: bronze at the 2021 Olympics, silver in Paris in 2024. What had been missing was this World Cup. The quarter-final had become a mental wall, a hurdle France kept hitting with the ghosts of previous tournaments hanging over them.
The wall has finally come down. Germany will stand in their way in the semi-finals, at home, with the crowd behind them. Toupane now has a group with nothing left to shake off.
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