International Olympic women’s basketball qualification is about to start

Four teams will play in a round-robin competition hosted by Belgium, China, Hungary, and Brazil. Hungary and Brazil’s top three teams will go to the Olympics. The top two teams outside of France and the United States in Belgium and China will also be qualified for the Games.

In women’s basketball, the United States and France have already qualified for the Summer Olympics in Paris. This week, four worldwide qualifying events will be held to fill the remaining ten seats.

Beginning on Thursday, four teams from each of Belgium, China, Hungary, and Brazil will host in a round-robin format. This summer, the best three teams from Hungary and Brazil will go to the Olympics. The top two teams outside of France and the United States in Belgium and China will also be qualified for the Games.

With a WNBA-heavy lineup, the Americans traveled to Belgium for the competition. They will play the host country on Thursday and Senegal and Nigeria in the other two games this weekend. Olympians A’ja Wilson, Brittney Griner, and Chelsea Gray—all of whom have a great chance of making the squad in Paris—are not present on the American squad.

The teams competing in Brazil have a few collegiate players on them, whereas the United States is fielding a large number of professionals. The leading Gamecocks’ next two games will be without South Carolina standout Kamilla Cardoso so that they can play the Brazilian squad. Angela Dugalic plays for the Serbian team, and Lina Sontag of UCLA is a forward for the German team.

Before tearing her right ACL late last month, Charlisse Leger-Walker of Washington State was scheduled to play for New Zealand as well.

On the opening night in Belgium, Nigeria will play Senegal; the victor will probably represent the continent at the Olympics. Since their debut at the Olympics in 1996, African teams have had difficulty competing; at the 2004 Games, they managed just one victory. In that match, South Korea was beaten by Nigeria.

In the 2018 World Cup, Nigeria achieved a significant milestone when they advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to the United States. Reaching the quarterfinals was a first for any African nation.

There will be at least one more chapter in Lauren Jackson’s international basketball career with the Australian national team. The 42-year-old Opals team member, a three-time WNBA MVP and four-time Olympic medallist with Australia, will compete in Brazil.

At the 2022 World Cup, Jackson completed an amazing comeback by assisting the host country in winning a bronze medal. In that game, she scored thirty points, which helped Australia defeat Canada 95–65. After knee issues wrecked her career, she resigned from competition in 2016, missing the Olympics in Rio. She gradually came back, spending the past five years competing in an Australian domestic league.

Under the leadership of the Sabally sisters, Satou and Nyara, Germany is attempting to secure its first Olympic ticket. It would provide an additional impetus for the nation hosting the 2026 World Cup.
In April, Lisa Thomaidis, a former Canadian coach, took over the German team that is competing in Brazil alongside Serbia and Australia.

Kia Nurse, a guard for Canada, announced during a conference call that she would be missing the competition due to a minor injury. The victor of the match between Puerto Rico and New Zealand will probably receive the other bid from that region, as France has already secured a spot in the Olympics and China is hosting the qualification tournament.