Five must-watch games at the Men's Tournament Paris 2024

MIES (Switzerland) - The wait is over with the draw for the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament Paris 2024 now complete. And while the final four participating teams must still be determined, we can already look forward to some amazing matchups in France this summer.

Eight of the 12 teams are already Paris bound and the final four tickets will be handed out at the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments from 2-7 July 2024 in Spain, Latvia, Greece and Puerto Rico. The winners of those four events will then play at the Olympics, which will be played 27 July to 11 August.

Here are five games for which you will want to call off any appointments or meet-ups to make sure you don't miss out.

Winner OQT Greece vs Canada 

27 July 2024

 

The Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus should be very competitive with hosts Greece and FIBA EuroBasket 2017 champions Slovenia as well as Croatia and the Dominican Republic in the field. But most people would assume either Greece or Slovenia win the tournament and qualify for the Paris Olympics.

Neither of them will have an easy time in Group A, which is being called the "Group of Death" as it also features Australia and the OQT Spain winner. On top of that, the OQT Greece winner will start their Olympics campaign against a Canada team brimming with confidence and full of excitement to show the globe that their third-place finish at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 was for real.

Slovenia would love to reach Paris, knowing Canada is their first opponent. The North Americans defeated Slovenia 100-89 in the Quarter-Finals of last summer's World Cup. On the other hand, Canada beat Greece in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2020 Victoria - in their first game against Hellas since the 1998 World Cup.

USA  vs Serbia 

28 July 2024

 

Two of the biggest basketball nations in the world - USA and Serbia - will hook horns in their opening game in Group C. The Americans are shooting for a fifth consecutive Olympics gold medal - and 17th Olympic title in total - and are expected to have a star studded team ready to show the world they mean business.

First up will be a Serbia team that reached the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Final. It really doesn't get much better than this - especially considering USA beat Serbia 129-92 in the 2014 World Cup Final and 96-66 in the 2016 Olympics gold medal game.

France  vs Germany 

02 August 2024

This showdown of the Olympic hosts and the reigning World Cup champions Germany could decide first place in Group B. The other teams in the group are Japan and the winner of the OQT Latvia.

Germany will be anxious to show that their World Cup triumph was no fluke while France want to use the Olympic stage to shine and hopefully win their fourth Olympic medal following silvers in 1948, 2000 and 2020. Though of course, the French would love to move up one place on the podium. These two teams faced off in their opening game of FIBA EuroBasket 2022 and Germany prevailed 76-63. Germany have won three of the last four showdowns at major events.

Australia  vs Winner of OQT Greece

02 August 2024

 

The OQT Greece winner also must face Australia in the thrilling Group A. Again, hosts Greece and Slovenia are the top two favorites in the OQT Greece and either of those teams would come to Paris with a medal as their goal. Beating Australia would go a long way in getting there.

An Australia vs Slovenia matchup would be especially dramatic considering Slovenia downed Australia in the Second Round group stage of the 2023 World Cup to knock them out. And that came after the Boomers downed Slovenia 107-93 to take the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Canada  vs Winner OQT Spain

02 August 2024

It is unclear which team will come out of the OQT Spain but let us assume that Spain get the job done. The three-time Olympic silver medalists Spain (1984, 2008 and 2012) would be out for revenge against Canada. The North Americans beat Spain 88-85 in the final game of the Second Round of the 2023 World Cup to eliminate the Europeans even before the Knockout Phase. Canada, who went on to take third place last summer, had only beaten Spain one other time in a major tournament since the 1988 Olympics.

Which game are you looking forward to watching the most?

FIBA