Basketball · International
Spain edge France 65–64 to reach Women's EuroBasket final
Awa Fam produced 21 points and nine rebounds as Spain recovered from a double-digit deficit and survived France's final free throws.
Event date:
Spain win by a single point
Spain defeated France 65–64 in the Women's EuroBasket semi-final on 27 June in Piraeus, securing a place in the championship game for the fourth time in five editions. Awa Fam led the Spanish effort with 21 points and nine rebounds, adding three assists and two blocks. France had an opportunity to tie the score in the final second, but Iliana Rupert missed her second free throw.
The result guaranteed Spain at least another silver medal after their runner-up finish in 2023. France moved into the bronze-medal game, ending their attempt to win a first European championship since 2009. Their presence in the semi-finals had continued a remarkable sequence: this was their ninth consecutive appearance at that stage.
A defensive run changes the outcome
Spain had trailed by as many as 10 points. With France ahead 44–36, Spain's defensive pressure helped produce a 15–2 run. France scored only three points over a stretch of almost eight minutes, allowing Spain to transform the position of the match rather than merely keep pace with their opponents.
Spain recorded seven blocks, while France made five of 30 three-point attempts. Fam's overall performance efficiency valuation was 31. The late free throws left the final margin at one point, but the sustained disruption of France's scoring was the earlier passage that made Spain's narrow finish possible. It also gave Spain a second knockout comeback after their quarter-final recovery against Czechia.
A rivalry with strong recent records
FIBA's preview had identified this as Spain's 12th semi-final appearance and France's 13th, the highest French total in the competition. Before the meeting, Spain had won their three most recent games at this stage. France's preceding major-tournament encounter with Spain had been a 67–64 win at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The teams entered with notable defensive strengths. France's opponents had averaged 21 turnovers per game during this edition before the semi-final, while Spain averaged 4.8 blocks. Both sides had made 84.8 percent of their free throws. Those pre-game figures provide useful context for a contest ultimately shaped by Spain's ability to slow France's scoring and by one unsuccessful attempt from the line.
Different routes into the closing weekend
Spain had overcome a 14-point deficit against Czechia in the quarter-finals, with Raquel Carrera's production central to that recovery. France, by contrast, had reached the semi-final through an 83–61 victory against Lithuania. Alba Torrens passed 100 career points in Women's EuroBasket semi-finals during Spain's win over France.
France's campaign had carried the longer historical burden. Since their 2009 title, they had finished second in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021, then third in 2023. The 2025 team was also competing without Gabby Williams, Marine Johannès and Marine Fauthoux. This semi-final extended the wait for the trophy, while Spain's comeback sent them into another final after surviving two demanding elimination games.
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