The draw for the men’s and women’s Olympic basketball tournaments is set to take place on Tuesday, and despite being the host country, France will not be in pot 1 with the competition favorites. This promises to give the French teams a tough group.
Both the French men’s and women’s basketball teams will have to wait a few more hours to find out which nations they will face in the group stage of the Olympic tournament. The draw will take place in Mies, Switzerland at the headquarters of the International Basketball Federation (Fiba). Despite being the host country, the French teams are unlikely to have an easy draw.
France could potentially face team USA in the group stage
France will be placed in pot 3 due to their poor performance at the last World Cup, which saw them drop to 9th in the Fiba rankings. This means they will face tough opposition from nations in pots 1 and 2. The worst-case scenario for the vice Olympic champions would be to be drawn in a group with team USA (pot 1), Serbia (pot 2), and either Greece or Slovenia in pot 4.
Pot 1: United States, winner of the TQO in Spain, Germany
Pot 2: Serbia, Australia, winner of the TQO in Latvia
Pot 3: Canada, France, winner of the TQO in Puerto Rico
Pot 4: winner of the TQO in Greece, Japan, South Sudan
The French women’s team will also be in pot 3
For the women’s tournament, the French team will also be in pot 3 due to their ranking outside the top 6 in the Fiba rankings. With the Olympic qualification tournaments already completed, they know the identity of all 12 qualified teams.
Pot 1: United States, China, Australia
Pot 2: Spain, Canada, Belgium
Pot 3: France, Japan, Serbia
Pot 4: Puerto Rico, Nigeria, Germany.
