Like the Blues, the French women's team will know this March 19 from 7 p.m., the names of its three opponents for the first round of the Olympic basketball tournament.
This will take place in front of 27,000 people for each match within the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq near Lille between Sunday July 28 and Sunday August 4.
The qualifiers will then head to Paris for the final phases (quarters, semis and final) at the Accor Arena.
The draw, as for the boys, takes place at the FIBA headquarters in Mies, Switzerland.
The Australian Penny Taylor and the American three-time Olympic champion (2008, 2012, 2016) Carmelo Anthony will shoot the balls.
Céline Dumerc, the manager of the French team, is on hand to represent it.
We know all the qualified people
Unlike the boys where the last four qualifiers are still missing who will not be known after the TQO at the beginning of July due to the NBA calendar, the field for the women's Olympic tournament is complete.
We know the 12 invited nations, the last ones won their ticket at the end of the various TQOs which took place in February.
The 12 nations expected in the North are therefore France (host country), Belgium, Serbia, Spain and Germany for the Euro zone;
the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico for the American continent;
China and Japan representing Asia, Australia as ambassador for Oceania and Nigeria to defend the African continent.
Among the ten best nations in the FIBA rankings updated on March 1, only Brazil (8th) is missing.
France is 7th in a table dominated by the United States who have won all the Olympic gold medals since 1996. This tournament promises to be close, indecisive and grandiose.
France placed in pot 3 before the draw
Before the draw, the 12 teams are divided into four pots composed according to their world ranking and composed as follows.
Pot 1: United States, China, Australia;
Pot 2: Spain, Canada, Belgium.
Pot 3: France, Japan, Serbia and finally pot 4: Puerto Rico, Nigeria and Germany.
First consequence: France is sure not to fall against Japan and Serbia in the first round.
The teams will then be divided into three groups of 4 teams.
In each of its groups, there will systematically be one or two European formations.
If we already know that among the men, for reasons of alternation so that the two countries play in the evening every other day, the United States will be in group C and France in A or B, this will not be not the case for girls.
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A France - United States possible in the first round
The United States will be placed in group B or C. France, as host country, too.
There is therefore a one in two chance of having a duel between the two nations in the first round.
This wouldn't be such terrible news: Jean-Aimé Toupane's Bleues would thus have the assurance of not meeting the Americans again in the quarter-finals.
French and American women placed in their group, the draw will then be complete respecting the presence of a minimum of one European nation in each group.
As an example to explain the terms of the draw, the FIBA software places the Blues in group C with Canada, Nigeria and Australia.
Remember that the first two in each group and the two best third-placed teams will qualify for the final stages.
There is obviously no doubt about France's qualification for the quarter-finals.
The challenge will be to play the most affordable opponent possible.
We must therefore aim for a flawless performance and three victories in the North to make the journey easier.