The FIBA U17 World Cup has been played seven times since its inception back in 2010. Thanks to Sunday’s 129-88 win over Italy in Istanbul, the United States have now won the gold medal seven times and moved their all-time record in the event to 51-0.
The run to the 2024 gold medal completed an utterly dominant stretch. In seven games, Team USA doubled up their opponents by an average score of 128.6 to 64.3 points per game.
Early in Sunday’s gold medal game against Italy, the USA trailed 3-2 which marked only the third time they had trailed in the entire tournament. They trailed France in the opening game of the event 3-0 and Guinea 2-1. That’s it.
As was the case for the entire tournament, the USA’s suffocating defense, balance and athleticism were simply too much for the Italians to overcome.
Five stars dominate
Leading the way for the USA on Sunday were five-stars Koa Peat, Cameron Boozer, Tyran Stokes, AJ Dybantsa and Brandon McCoy.
The No. 5 prospect in the 2025 class, Peat led all scorers with 26 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists. Ranked No. 2 overall in 2025, Boozer racked up his fifth double-double of the World Cup. He finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds. For his efforts, Boozer was named the World Cup’s MVP.
The top-ranked player in the class of 2026, Stokes continued to play his role as Team USA’s sixth man with aplomb when he finished with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists in an outstanding all-around effort. The No. 1 player in the rising senior class, Dybantsa went for 14 points, four rebounds and three assists and earned a place alongside Boozer on the All-Star five team for the World Cup.
McCoy, the No. 2 ranked player in 2026, added 13 points, four assists and three steals. He finished second in the World Cup averaging 3.4 steals per game.
Though he went scoreless, 2025 four-star JJ Mandaquit finished with 10 assists to just one turnover. Those 10 assists moved him into second place overall for the World Cup. He trailed only four-star teammate Cayden Boozer in assists and just edged out Stokes. Team USA had the top three assist men in the event.
For the game, the USA finished with 44 assists to bring its tournament average to an astounding 40.3 per game. They were just as impressive defensively. Team USA racked up another 19 steals to finish the World Cup with an absurd 23.2 steals per game average while holding their opponents to just 34.7% shooting over the course of the week.
As they did the entire event, the USA set several records in the gold medal game. Among them were most points (beating their previous gold medal high of 111), most assists, most made field goals, most points in a half and most points in a quarter.
The performance capped what is arguably the best run ever by a United States team at the U17 World Cup.
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