Germany, Japan and a winner of the qualifying tournament which will take place in early summer. Here are the teams that will stand in the way of the French men’s basketball team during the first round of the Olympic tournament. We will know the name of the last opponent on July 7, and it could be Latvia, who beat the Blues at the last World Cup. Georgia, Philippines, Brazil, Montenegro and Cameroon will also be involved in this qualifying tournament. “This tournament will be one of the toughest in history,” confesses coach Vincent Collet from the United States. I feared that we would come across Serbia and the winner of the TQO from which either Slovenia or Greece would emerge. This is not the case and I am therefore generally satisfied. And I’m not beating around the bush: I was stressed before the draw, I’m now very excited as these Games approach. »
The Blues will also find the German world champions, and it will certainly be a big one with the Wagner brothers and their playmaker Dennis Schröder. The Blues will play against the Germans twice during their preparation, it will not be in vain. Japan should be a rival within reach of Victor Wembanyama’s partners. It is therefore a priori, an affordable first round which awaits the Tricolores in the North. “What worries me,” continues the coach, “is the potential crossover for the quarter-final. For me, the group of death of this first phase is group A. If we finish first in our group, we will meet a team from this group, either Australia, Canada, Slovenia or Greece and the winner of the TQO in Valencia which could be Spain. We will play a strong team for sure but we can’t have everything. » The Blues will begin their tournament against the winner of the TQO, then Japan and finally Germany.
Note that the big poster of this first round will probably be played in group C with a very attractive United States – Serbia, LeBron James against Nikola Jokic.
The group stage will take place from Saturday July 27 to Saturday August 3. The first two from each of the four groups as well as the two best runners-up will qualify for the quarter-finals. These will take place at the Arena at Paris-Bercy.
To preserve their chances of going far and reaching the final, which remains the stated ambition, the Blues of captain Nicolas Batum will have to achieve a flawless performance with these first three matches. The posters for the quarter-finals will be chosen following a new draw. With on one side, the four group winners and the two best second-placed teams, and on the other, the two other second-placed teams and the two best third-placed teams. More simply, this means that if the Blues do not finish at the top of their group, they will take the risk of playing against the United States in the quarter-finals.
