2024 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments facts for kids

The 2024 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments were big basketball events. Sixteen national teams competed to earn a spot in the 2024 Summer Olympics basketball tournament. These exciting games took place from February 8 to 11, 2024.

How the Tournaments Worked

The 16 teams were split into four different groups. These groups were named Group A, Group B, Group C, and Group D. Each group played its own set of games to decide which teams would qualify for the Olympics.

Teams That Qualified

Teams earned their spots in these tournaments by doing well in other major basketball championships. This table shows how each team qualified and from which event.

How Teams Qualified		When	Where	Spots	Team
2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup		September 22 – October 1, 2022	Sydney	1	United States
EuroBasket Women 2023		June 15–25, 2023	Ljubljana Tel Aviv	6	Belgium
					Spain
					France
					Hungary
					Serbia
					Germany
2023 FIBA Women's Asia Cup	June 26 – July 2, 2023	Sydney	4	China
Japan
Australia
New Zealand
2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup		July 1–9, 2023	León	1	Brazil
2023 Women's Afrobasket	July 28 – August 6, 2023	Kigali	2	Nigeria
Senegal
FIBA Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament – Americas	November 9–12, 2023	Medellín	2	Canada
Puerto Rico
Total				16

The Draw: How Teams Were Grouped

The "draw" is like a lottery. It decides which teams play in which group. This draw happened on October 5, 2023.

Seeding: Ranking the Teams

Before the draw, teams were ranked based on their performance in past games. This ranking is called the FIBA Women's World Ranking. Teams were put into different "Pots" based on their rank. Teams in Pot 1 were the highest ranked, and so on.

Pot 1 Team Pos  United States 1  China 2  Australia 3  Spain 4

Pot 2 Team Pos  Canada 5  Belgium 6  France 7  Brazil 8

Pot 3 Team Pos  Japan 9  Serbia 10  Nigeria 11  Puerto Rico 12

Pot 4 Team Pos  Hungary 19  Senegal 20  New Zealand 23  Germany 25

Rules for the Draw

There were special rules to make sure the groups were fair and balanced:

• The four countries hosting a tournament (Belgium, Brazil, China, and Hungary) automatically played in their home country.
• France and the USA could not be in the same tournament group.
• Each tournament had to have at least one, but no more than two, teams from Europe.
• China and Japan could not be in the same tournament group.
• Australia and New Zealand could not be in the same tournament group.
• Every tournament had to include one team from North or South America.
• The two teams from Africa, Nigeria and Senegal, had to be in the same tournament group. This made sure all parts of the world were represented.

The Tournaments Themselves

The 16 teams played in four different tournaments. Each tournament was held in a different country. The best teams from these tournaments earned their spot in the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Tournament 1: Xi'an, China

This tournament took place in Xi'an, China.

Tournament 2: Antwerp, Belgium

This tournament was held in Antwerp, Belgium.

2024 FIBA World Olympic
Qualifying Tournament for Women

Tournament details
Host country	Belgium
City	Antwerp
Dates	8–11 February
Teams	4 (from 3 confederations)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	United States
Runners-up	Belgium
Third place	Nigeria
Fourth place	Senegal
Tournament statistics
Games played	6
Attendance	55,653 (9,276 per match)
MVP	Emma Meesseman
Top scorer	Yacine Diop (19.7 ppg)
Official website
WOQT Belgium

The 2024 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Antwerp was a major basketball event. It was one of four tournaments held worldwide. These events helped decide which women's teams would play in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. This specific tournament took place in Antwerp, Belgium, from February 8 to 11, 2024.

Teams Competing in Antwerp

Four national basketball teams played in this tournament. Each team earned its spot by doing well in other big competitions.

•  United States: The United States team qualified by winning the 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup. They were already set to go to the Olympics.
•  Belgium: Belgium earned their spot by being one of the top six teams at EuroBasket Women 2023. They were also the host country for this tournament.
•  Nigeria: Nigeria qualified by being one of the top two teams at the 2023 Women's Afrobasket tournament.
•  Senegal: Senegal also qualified from the 2023 Women's Afrobasket, finishing in the top two.

The Tournament Venue

The games were all played at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp, Belgium. This is a very large arena. It can hold over 18,500 people for basketball games.

How Teams Ranked (Standings)

The teams played against each other to see who would qualify for the Olympics. Here's how they finished:

The United States team had already qualified for the Olympics. This meant that the other three teams were competing for two spots. Belgium and Nigeria earned their spots in the Olympics from this tournament.

Game Results

Six exciting games were played over four days. All times listed are local to Belgium.

Day 1: February 8, 2024

• Nigeria vs. Senegal: Nigeria won a close game against Senegal, 72 to 65.
• USA vs. Belgium: The United States narrowly defeated Belgium, 81 to 79. It was a very exciting match!

Day 2: February 9, 2024

• USA vs. Nigeria: The United States showed their strength, beating Nigeria 100 to 46.
• Belgium vs. Senegal: Belgium had a strong performance, winning against Senegal 97 to 66.

Day 3: February 11, 2024

• Belgium vs. Nigeria: Belgium secured their Olympic spot by defeating Nigeria 78 to 61.
• USA vs. Senegal: The United States finished strong, winning against Senegal 101 to 39.

Player and Team Statistics

Basketball fans love to look at player and team statistics. These numbers show who performed best in different areas of the game.

Top Players

Here are some of the players who stood out in different categories:

• Points (PPG - Points Per Game): Yacine Diop from Senegal was the top scorer, averaging 19.7 points per game.
• Rebounds (RPG - Rebounds Per Game): Emma Meesseman from Belgium led in rebounds, grabbing 7.7 per game.
• Assists (APG - Assists Per Game): Julie Allemand from Belgium was amazing at passing, with 10.0 assists per game.
• Blocks (BPG - Blocks Per Game): Ndioma Kané from Senegal had the most blocks, averaging 2.0 per game.
• Steals (SPG - Steals Per Game): Napheesa Collier from the USA was best at stealing the ball, with 3.7 steals per game.
• Efficiency (EFFPG - Efficiency Per Game): This stat combines many actions. Emma Meesseman from Belgium was the most efficient player, with 26.7 efficiency points per game.

Team Performance

Here's how the teams performed overall in different stats:

• Points Per Game: The USA team scored the most points per game, with 94.0.
• Rebounds Per Game: The USA also led in rebounds, averaging 44.0 per game.
• Assists Per Game: Belgium was the best at sharing the ball, with 27.7 assists per game.
• Blocks Per Game: Senegal had the most blocks as a team, with 3.7 per game.
• Steals Per Game: Belgium led in steals, with 12.0 per game.
• Efficiency Per Game: The USA team had the highest overall efficiency, with 119.3.

Awards

After the tournament, special awards were given out.

All-Star Team

An "All-Star Team" was chosen, featuring the best players from the tournament:

• Guards: Rhyne Howard
• Forwards: Yacine Diop, Amy Okonkwo, Emma Meesseman, Napheesa Collier

Most Valuable Player (MVP)

The Most Valuable Player (MVP) award went to Emma Meesseman from Belgium. This award goes to the player who was most important to their team's success.

Images

• 

  The Sportpaleis arena in Antwerp, where the tournament was held.

Tournament 3: Belém, Brazil

This tournament happened in Belém, Brazil.

Tournament 4: Sopron, Hungary

This tournament was played in Sopron, Hungary.

See also

• 2024 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments
• Basketball at the 2024 Summer Olympics