Paris 2024: Canada learns their opponents for Olympic basketball 

Both the Canadian men’s and women’s basketball teams found out their opponents in this summer’s Olympic Games and their pathway to golden glory. 

In the men’s tournament, Canada – the seventh-ranked nation in the world – are in Group A and will face Australia (fifth-ranked) on July 30^th and two yet-to-be-determined opponents on July 27^th and Aug. 2^nd, who still need to qualify at their respective last-chance qualifying tournaments. 

The men’s team, who are competing in the Olympics for the first time since 2000 after beating Spain in the quarterfinals at the 2023 FIBA World Cup to advance to the Olympics en route to a bronze medal-winning performance, will likely face the Spaniards again in Paris. The second-ranked team in the world are heavy favourites to win their qualifying tournament which includes Angola, Bahamas, Finland, Lebanon and Poland. 

In the other qualifying tournament, Luka Doncic’s Slovenia are the favourites to advance but Dominican Republic, Egypt, Greece and New Zealand are all hoping to earn one of the final spots in the 12-team tournament and book their ticket to Paris. 

Group B consists of France, Germany, Japan and the winner of the Olympic qualifying tournament in Latvia (Brazil, Cameroon, Georgia, Latvia, Montenegro and the Philippines), while Group C includes Serbia, South Sudan, the United States – 16-time gold medalists – and the winner of the Olympic qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico (Bahrain, Ivory Coast, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico and Puerto Rico). 

All Olympic qualifying tournaments will occur from July 2^nd to 7^th. 

On the women’s side, the Canadians (fifth-ranked) battle hosts France (seventh-ranked) on July 29^th and the Aussies (third-ranked) on Aug. 1^st before rounding out their group play schedule against Nigeria (12^th-ranked) on Aug. 4^th.  

The women’s team, who are still searching for their first podium finish at the Olympics, will be competing in their eighth Olympic Games after squeaking into the tournament with some help after Spain’s comeback victory over Hungary booked Canada’s spot in Paris this summer. 

Spain, the fourth-ranked team in the world, will be in Group A alongside Serbia, China and Puerto Rico; while Group C includes Germany, Japan, Belgium and nine-time Olympic champion United States. 

All group games will be held in Lille, as the top two teams from each group and the two best third-place teams overall advance to the quarterfinals in Paris. 

A draw will be held to determine the quarterfinal matchups after the preliminary round with the knockout round beginning on Aug. 6^th in the men’s tournament and Aug. 7^th in the women’s tournament. 

The semi-finals will occur on Aug. 8^th for the men and Aug. 9^th for the women, before the highly anticipated gold (and bronze) medal games are played on Aug. 10^th and 11^th, respectively. 

For more information on basketball at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games, head to paris2024.org.