On the eve of the football tournament, Wednesday, the draw for the men's and women's basketball tournaments for the Paris Olympics will be made this Tuesday, in Switzerland.
Remember that the events will take place from July 27 to August 10, at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve d'Ascq for the group stage and at the Accor Arena in Paris from the quarter-finals.
The format ?
Three hens of four.
The first two and the two best thirds will see Paris.
To discover
Paris 2024: the map of Olympic sites
Among the men, we already know eight qualifiers out of 12, France obviously, as well as seven selections which obtained their sesame during the 2023 World Cup (South Sudan, Canada, United States, Japan, Germany, Serbia, Australia ).
The last four qualifiers will have to obtain their ticket on the floor, during one of the four Olympic qualifying tournaments (July 2-7), in Valencia (Spain, Angola, Lebanon - Bahamas, Finland, Poland), Athens (Greece, Dominican Republic, Egypt - Slovenia, Croatia, New Zealand), Riga (Latvia, Georgia, Philippines - Brazil, Montenegro, Cameroon) and San Juan (Puerto Rico, Italy, Bahrain - Lithuania, Mexico, Ivory Coast ).
Beautiful people on stand-by.
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Spain, Greece and Slovenia in waiting room
As for the draw, we already have two pieces of information: title holders, the Americans will be in group C, while France, the host country, will be in A or B. There will therefore be no France-USA shock in the first round.
Why is that ?
A choice linked to questions of broadcasting matches on television.
The same had already happened during the last Olympics, thus allowing Team USA and Japan not to play on the same day.
Among the other constraints, there will be two or three European teams in each group, and no more than one selection from another continent.
Note that we will know the order of matches and therefore the schedule of all the teams this Tuesday.
We will obviously wait for the outcome of the TQO to have the complete picture, with Spain the big favorite in Valencia and an expected duel between Greece and Slovenia in Athens.
One thing is certain: there will only be one left between NBA superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic…
The Blues will therefore avoid Team USA in the first round, a US selection which should rely on LeBron James, Stephen Curry and other Kevin Durant, to name a few, very, very, very heavy.
However, they could inherit a complicated, or even very complicated, draw.
Out in the first round at the 2023 World Cup, they only appear in pot 3. The worst draw?
A group with the German world champions, Australia and Greece or Slovenia.
One thing is certain: Vincent Collet's players will not come across Canada, their tormentor in Jakarta last year during the World Cup.
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A one in two chance of meeting Team USA in the women's category
For the ladies, we know the 12 qualified teams (Nigeria, Canada, Puerto Rico, United States, China, Japan, Belgium, France, Germany, Serbia, Spain, Australia).
Some differences with the men's draw, knowing that there will be one or two European teams in each group.
As with the men, no more than one team from other confederations per group.
Jean-Aimé Toupane's daughters are in hat 3, like coach Collet's Olympic vice-champions.
For reasons linked to TV broadcasting, they will be in group B or C, like… the Americans.
A one in two chance of having a France-USA clash among the women.
The innocent hand of Australian Penny Taylor and American Carmelo Anthony will do the rest when it comes to shooting the balls this Tuesday, at the Maison du Basketball Patrick Baumann, the headquarters of Fiba, in Mies, near Geneva .