As we outlined in a story earlier today, eight men’s basketball teams have secured their spots for the 2024 Olympics in Paris so far.
The host nation automatically qualifies. Additionally, seven berths were handed out at the World Cup to the top two FIBA Americas teams, the top two European teams, and the top team from each of Asia, Oceania, and Africa.
Those eight qualifiers are as follows:
- Australia (Oceania)
- Canada (Americas)
- France (host)
- Germany (Europe)
- Japan (Asia)
- Serbia (Europe)
- South Sudan (Africa)
- United States (Americas)
That leaves four spots up for grabs for the 12-team Olympic tournament in Paris.
Twenty-four teams will be vying for those openings in a series of four qualifying tournaments next summer. They’ll be split into groups of six clubs apiece and will have to come out on top of their six-team group in order to make the Olympics.
Five teams won Olympic pre-qualifying tournaments this summer to earn spots in next year’s qualifiers. The other 19 participants were determined based on the World Cup results — of the squads who didn’t already qualify for the Olympics, the top team from each of Africa, the Americas, and Asia and Oceania earned automatic entry to the qualifiers. Those three clubs will be joined by the other 16 best finishers in the World Cup.
Here’s the full 24-team list of nations that remain in the hunt for a spot in the Olympic men’s basketball tournament:
- Angola
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Brazil
- Cameroon
- Croatia
- Dominican Republic
- Egypt
- Finland
- Georgia
- Greece
- Italy
- Ivory Coast
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lithuania
- Mexico
- Montenegro
- New Zealand
- Philippines
- Poland
- Puerto Rico
- Slovenia
- Spain
Cape Verde, China, Venezuela, Iran, and Jordan are the only World Cup teams who have been fully eliminated from Olympic contention.
The full details on next summer’s Olympic qualifying tournaments – including the groups, dates, and locations – will be announced at a later date. They typically take place in late June or early July, after the NBA’s postseason ends, so healthy NBA players with interest in representing their respective countries will be available to do so.