Basketball at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification facts for kids
The men's basketball tournament qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics happened between August 2023 and July 2024. Twelve teams earned their spots to compete. Teams from all five areas of FIBA (the International Basketball Federation) were expected to be part of the Olympic basketball event.
France, as the host country, automatically got a spot in the men's 5×5 basketball tournament. This was decided by FIBA on April 30, 2023. The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup helped seven teams qualify directly for Paris 2024. The last four spots were given to the winners of special tournaments called "wild card" tournaments.
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How Teams Qualified for the Olympics
Twelve teams played in the men's basketball tournament at the Olympics. Each country sent a team of 12 players.
Host Nation: France's Automatic Spot
Since France was hosting the Olympics, their men's basketball team automatically got a spot. This was confirmed by FIBA in April 2023. It meant they didn't have to play in the qualifying games.
Qualifying Through the World Cup
Just like in 2019, the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup was a big way to qualify. Seven teams earned their spots directly from this tournament. These spots were given to the best teams from different parts of the world:
- FIBA Africa – 1 team
- FIBA Americas – 2 teams
- FIBA Asia – 1 team
- FIBA Europe – 2 teams
- FIBA Oceania – 1 team
Qualifying Through Special Tournaments
The final four spots for the Olympics were decided through two rounds of special tournaments. These were called the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
- The first round was the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournaments (FOPQTs). These were played within each continent.
- The second round was the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (FOQTs). These were played globally.
Who Played in the Pre-Qualifying Tournaments
Forty teams that did not qualify for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup could play in the FOPQTs. Teams were chosen based on how they did in earlier World Cup qualification games or their FIBA ranking.
- From Africa, 8 teams played.
- From the Americas, 8 teams played.
- From Asia and Oceania, 8 teams played.
- From Europe, 16 teams played.
The winner from the Africa, Americas, and Asia tournaments moved on to the next stage (FOQTs). Two teams from the European FOPQTs also moved on.
Who Played in the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments
Twenty-four teams played in four different tournaments. The winners of these four tournaments earned the very last spots at the Olympics. These 24 teams included:
- The five teams that won their FOPQTs.
- Nineteen teams chosen based on how they performed at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. This included the highest-ranked teams from each continent that didn't qualify directly, plus the next sixteen best teams overall.
Teams That Qualified
| How They Qualified | When | Where | Spots | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host nation | N/A | N/A | 1 |  France |
|
| 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup | Africa | August 25 – September 10, 2023 |  Philippines Indonesia Japan |
1 |  South Sudan |
| Americas | 2 |  Canada |
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 United States |
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| Asia | 1 |  Japan |
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| Europe | 2 |  Germany |
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 Serbia |
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| Oceania | 1 |  Australia |
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| 2024 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments | July 2–7, 2024 |  Valencia |
1 | Spain |
|
 Riga |
1 |  Brazil |
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 Piraeus |
1 | Greece |
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 San Juan |
1 | Puerto Rico |
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| Total | 12 | ||||
World Cup Ranking and Olympic Qualification
The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup was very important for Olympic qualification. Teams were ranked by their performance within their FIBA zone.
| Qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics directly from their zone. | |
| Qualified for the 2024 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. | |
| Qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics as the host country. |
| # | FIBA Africa (1 of 5 teams) |
FIBA Americas (2 of 7 teams) |
FIBA Asia (1 of 6 teams) |
FIBA Europe (2 of 12 teams) |
FIBA Oceania (1 of 2 teams) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Wins–Losses | Team | Wins–Losses | Team | Wins–Losses | Team | Wins–Losses | Team | Wins–Losses | |
| 1 | South Sudan |
3–2 | Canada |
6–2 | Japan |
3–2 | Germany |
8–0 | Australia |
3–2 |
| 2 |  Egypt |
2–3 | United States |
5–3 |  Lebanon |
2–3 | Serbia |
6–2 |  New Zealand |
2–3 |
| 3 |  Angola |
1–4 | Puerto Rico |
3–2 |  Philippines |
1–4 | Latvia |
6–2 | ||
| 4 |  Ivory Coast |
1–4 | Brazil |
3–2 |  China |
1–4 |  Lithuania |
6–2 | ||
| 5 |  Cape Verde |
1–4 |  Dominican Republic |
3–2 |  Iran |
0–5 |  Slovenia |
5–3 | ||
| 6 |  Mexico |
2–3 |  Jordan |
0–5 |  Italy |
4–4 | ||||
| 7 |  Venezuela |
0–5 | Spain |
3–2 | ||||||
| 8 |  Montenegro |
3–2 | ||||||||
| 9 | Greece |
2–3 | ||||||||
| 10 |  Georgia |
2–3 | ||||||||
| 11 | France |
3–2 | ||||||||
| 12 |  Finland |
2–3 | ||||||||
FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (FOQTs)
These tournaments decided the last four Olympic spots. Teams qualified for these FOQTs in different ways:
| How Teams Qualified for FOQTs | Number of Spots | Qualified Team |
|---|---|---|
| From the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup | ||
| Highest-ranked team from Africa | 1 | Egypt |
| Highest-ranked team from Americas | 1 | Puerto Rico |
| Highest-ranked team from Asia and Oceania | 1 | New Zealand |
| Top 16 other eligible teams | 16 | Latvia |
| Lithuania |
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| Slovenia |
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| Italy |
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| Spain |
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| Montenegro |
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| Brazil |
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| Dominican Republic |
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| Greece |
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| Georgia |
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| Finland |
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| Lebanon |
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| Philippines |
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| Mexico |
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| Angola |
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| Ivory Coast |
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| From the 2023 FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournaments (FOPQTs) | ||
| Winner from FIBA Africa | 1 |  Cameroon |
| Winner from FIBA Americas | 1 |  Bahamas |
| Winner from FIBA Asia | 1 |  Bahrain |
| Winner from FIBA Europe (Tournament 1) | 1 |  Poland |
| Winner from FIBA Europe (Tournament 2) | 1 |  Croatia |
| Total | 24 | |
FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournaments (FOPQTs)
These tournaments happened from August 12 to 20, 2023. They were the first step for many teams hoping to reach the Olympics.
Teams in FIBA Africa FOPQT
| How They Qualified | Spots | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| From 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers – Africa | Third (worst-ranked) | 1 |  Senegal |
| Fourth place teams | 2 |  Nigeria |
|
 Tunisia |
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| Fifth place teams | 2 |  Guinea |
|
 DR Congo |
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| Sixth place teams | 2 |  Uganda |
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| Cameroon |
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| Based on FIBA World Rankings – Africa (November 2022) | 1 |  Mali |
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| Total | 8 | ||
Teams in FIBA Asia and Oceania FOPQT
| How They Qualified | Spots | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| From 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers – Asia | Round 2 – Fifth place | 2 |  Saudi Arabia |
 Kazakhstan |
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| Round 2 – Sixth place | 2 |  India |
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| Bahrain |
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| Round 1 – Fourth place | 4 |  South Korea |
|
 Chinese Taipei |
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 Indonesia |
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 Syria |
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| Total | 8 | ||
Teams in FIBA Americas FOPQT
| How They Qualified | Spots | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| From 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers – Americas | Fourth (worst-ranked) | 1 |  Argentina |
| Fifth place teams | 2 |  Panama |
|
 Uruguay |
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| Sixth place teams | 2 | Bahamas |
|
 Colombia |
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| Based on FIBA World Rankings – Americas (November 2022) | 3 |  Virgin Islands |
|
 Chile |
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 Cuba |
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| Total | 8 | ||
Teams in FIBA Europe FOPQT
| How They Qualified | Spots | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| From 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers – Europe | Fourth place teams | 4 |  Turkey |
 Sweden |
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 Hungary |
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 Iceland |
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| Fifth place teams | 4 |  Belgium |
|
 Israel |
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 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
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 Ukraine |
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| Sixth place teams | 4 |  Great Britain |
|
 Estonia |
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 Czech Republic |
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 Netherlands |
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| From EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers | First place teams | 3 |  Macedonia |
| Poland |
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 Portugal |
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| Extra spot given | 1 | Croatia |
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| Based on FIBA World Rankings – Europe (November 2022) | 1 |  Bulgaria |
|
| Total | 16 | ||
