The 2024 Paris Olympics begin July 26 with women’s 5×5 basketball being one of the most anticipated events. Among the teams aiming for glory is the Belgian National Team, poised to make a memorable run on the global stage.

A strong pre-Olympic outlook

FIBA currently ranks Belgium No. 6 in the world, and the team has put together some remarkable wins in recent international competitions. Belgium is riding an eight-game winning streak in international play, with their last loss being to No. 1-ranked Team USA in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in February by only two points. So it’s safe to say that this Belgian team can, in fact, beat anyone.

One of the crucial factors for Belgium will be their roster, which includes several players with WNBA experience. This international exposure and high-level competition have equipped the Belgian team with the chemistry and talent to challenge the world’s best.

Without Allemand, Meesseman is even more important

Unfortunately, Belgium will not be able to take advantage of the dynamic duo of Emma Meesseman and Julie Allemand, who will miss the Games with an injury.

Meesseman, known for her versatility and scoring ability, has been a cornerstone of the Belgian team. Her experience in the WNBA with the Washington Mystics, where she was named Finals MVP in 2019, is so invaluable to this squad. Her ability to dominate in the paint and stretch the floor with her shooting makes her a matchup nightmare for any defense. Belgium will play through Meesseman in the post, and because she has such a size advantage, teams will double her, which leads to open shots for teammates.

Allemand would have complemented Meesseman perfectly. As a guard with great court vision and playmaking skills, Allemand has an ability to control the tempo of the game and create scoring opportunities for her teammates that the Belgians will miss. They also will be less dangerous without her knocking down open shots when the ball swings to her or attacking closeouts with either her scoring or playmaking. Without this type of inside-outside threat from Meesseman and Allemand, Belgium will not be as tough to stop for opposing defenses.

Julie Vanloo is the x-factor

Belgium boasts another key player in Julie Vanloo. Known for her sharp shooting and pick-and-roll synergy, Vanloo is a 31-year old WNBA rookie with plenty of international experience that has helped her perform well in the league.

Her 3-point shooting can swing the momentum of a game, making her a vital component of Belgium’s attack. During last year’s KBSL league, Vanloo shot 38 percent from 3 on 7.5 attempts per game. According to Synergy, Vanloo and Caitlin Clark are tied for most times trapped and doubled in PNR situations during this WNBA season.

Vanloo’s ability to create 4-on-3 opportunities for the rest of her teammates will be extremely valuable in Olympic competition. I’ve highlighted some of the other strengths and weaknesses in Vanloo’s game in the video below. These skills will be helpful to consider as Belgium navigates group play.

Closing thoughts

The Belgian National Team has their eyes on the gold. With a roster featuring experienced WNBA players and a blend of complimentary offensive pieces, Belgium is ready to challenge the powerhouses. Their quest for gold begins Monday, July 29 in the preliminary round against Germany.

The 2024 Paris Olympics will begin on July 26 and end on Aug. 11. During that span, hundreds of medals will be awarded for multiple sports, including women’s 5×5 basketball.

Team USA will be heavily favored, given that the country has won nine gold medals and seven-straight since 1996. While the rest of the world may still be behind the States, they are catching up, and France is a team that will have as good a chance as any at toppling the basketball superpower.

Tale of the tape

FIBA ranks France No. 7 in the world, and Les Bleues were impressive in their exhibition games, winning all five matchups. So, they’re entering these Olympics in good form. It’s also not just a recent hot streak; they had a strong showing at the last Olympic games, winning the bronze medal by defeating Serbia 91-76.

France also has a homecourt advantage, with the games taking place in Lille and Paris. It’s difficult to quantify how much that will factor in, but one has to imagine it will, at the very least, give France a slight boost and could create a scenario where every game they play is in front of a heavily pro-France crowd.

The one-two-punch

France has a powerful inside-out game with Iliana Rupert as the big and Marine Johannès as the guard. Johannès is known for her 3-point range and has the nickname “The Wizard” for a reason. Rupert is a player who, once she gets going, is tough to slow down. Their comfort, chemistry and leadership are a big reason why France is expected to get out of their group and medal in Paris.

Gabby Williams, the x-factor

Basketball is a team sport, but with only five players on the court, the individuals matter. You’ll need players who can play at a superstar level to pull off some upsets and potentially defeat Team USA. Gabby Williams fits that description.

She has the size, speed and strength you want in a dynamic forward and can still be a menace with the ball in her hands. Her quality has been on full display worldwide with stints with the Chicago Sky and Seattle Storm in the WNBA and ASVEL Féminin in France and the EuroLeague.

Williams also was a big part of the French team at the last Olympics, and while she may have lost a step since 2021, she’s still an impact player who can get a double-double in any given game. She was sensational in France’s 117-59 win versus Finland earlier this month, when she scored 14 points, grabbed four boards, and dished out two assists.

Closing thoughts

The Olympics matter, and this French team and its players take them seriously. After the last Olympics, when Williams decided not to play in the WNBA in order to prepare to represent France, she said, “I made the right choice,” when they took home the bronze.

Now, France is at home and aiming for gold. They will be a force to reckon with and whoever faces them in an elimination situation will have their hands full, Team USA included.

Yes, Team USA is the best in the world, heavily-favored to win an eighth-straight gold. But, what national teams could credibly challenge the Americans for the spot on the top of the podium? Swish Appeal’s newest contributor Beckett Harrison power ranks the top five teams in the women’s 5×5 basketball competition at the 2024 Olympic Games:

1. United States

Strengths: Everything

Weaknesses: Minimal preparation

Active WNBA players: Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Sabrina Ionescu, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Alyssa Thomas, A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young

Since 1992, three things in life have been certain: death, taxes and Team USA winning gold in women’s basketball. Not only was the 1992 semifinal loss to the Unified Team (athletes representing recently-dissolved Soviet Union countries) the last time that the Americans failed to secure gold, it was the last time that they lost an Olympic game. Since then, it’s been nothing short of ascendancy. Seven-straight gold medals. Fifty-five-straight wins.

Not much needs to be said about the talent on the roster. A’ja Wilson is the best women’s basketball player in the universe. Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas and Napheesa Collier headline a generational supporting cast. Diana Taurasi is looking to become the first basketball player with six Olympic golds.

The only lingering question surrounding Team USA stems from their rushed schedule. All 12 players are coming off a competitive half-season in the WNBA. They’ve only played two games as a group, losing to Team WNBA in the All-Star Game on Saturday before defeating Germany in London on Tuesday in their lone international friendly match before group play begins. Concern is at a minimum, but don’t be surprised if Team USA debuts with a slow start as chemistry is ironed out.

2. Australia

Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

Strengths: Experience, depth

Weaknesses: Lack of an “x-factor”

Active WNBA players: Rebecca Allen, Isobel Borlase*, Ezi Magbegor, Jade Melbourne, Alanna Smith, Stephanie Talbot, Kristy Wallace, Sami Whitcomb

*denotes a “draft & stash” player who hasn’t yet made their WNBA debut

Predicting which team has the best chance to upset Team USA is like predicting which color unicorn you’re going to see on your mid-morning walk. Australia is the second best team in the Olympics on paper, but the likelihood of that resulting in anything but a silver medal feels slim.

The Opals join Germany and Canada as the only non-American teams with multiple, active WNBA players. Germany has three and Canada has four. Australia has eight, making up the majority of their 12-player roster. They also have the legendary 43-year-old Lauren Jackson, who’s still competing in the WNBL after her illustrious 12-year WNBA career, in which she won a record-tying three MVP awards. It’s hard to believe that Jackson will see meaningful minutes in Paris, but her presence is a story nonetheless.

Australia has talent, they have depth and they have experience. It’s actually difficult to quantify their team success, as WNBA commitments prevent the majority of their roster from competing in non-Olympic international competitions. In the February Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Australia defeated Brazil, Germany and Serbia en route to a perfect 3-0 record.

The biggest gap in this Australian team is the lack of a needle-mover. Liz Cambage, who embraced the “x-factor” role in previous Olympics, has been disgraced from the pantheon of women’s basketball and no longer competes for the Opals. Ezi Magbegor likely will inherit much of the team’s offensive usage, and while she’s become a bonafide star with the Seattle Storm, keeping step with the likes of A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart will be an uphill battle if the two teams meet.

Without a notable edge, the ability of the Opals to compete with Team USA is in question. They don’t do anything better than the dynamic American squad. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Australia’s poor 1-2 record in group play was rewarded with a first-round cage fight versus the Americans. Australia was routed 79-55. Nonetheless, this Aussie pack is fit to contend with every other team in the competition, and a berth in the knockout round should be somewhat of a guarantee.

3. France

Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images

Strengths: Shot-creation, length

Weaknesses: Inconsistency

Active WNBA players: Leïla Lacan*

*denotes a “draft & stash” player who hasn’t yet made their WNBA debut

France, who finished third in the 2020 Olympics, is looking to make waves as the host nation this year in Paris. Since a loss in the 2022 FIBA World Cup to China, France is 23-1 in international competition. They’ve won each of their four recent Olympic friendlies by an average of 43 points (although aided by two 50-plus point victories over an unremarkable Finland team). In their group stage meeting with Team USA in Tokyo, they only lost by 11 points.

Offensively, France may be the most “WNBA-coded” team in the Olympics. They don’t shy away from isolation basketball as a way to create advantages. Although Leïla Lacan is the only “active” WNBA player for Les Bleues, Marine Johannès and Gabby Williams are two of the most proficient bucket-getters in the international scene. Johannès, who has periodically come off the bench for France, is an absolute flamethrower who can change the trajectory of any game. Williams is the likely candidate to lead the French in points. Williams and Johannès were both unable to play in the WNBA this year due to the league’s prioritization restrictions, but will undoubtedly make their stateside return in 2025.

The defensive end of the court is where France has the most potential to do damage. They have extremely long defenders who consistently push catches out past the perimeter and bother ball handlers. Their aggressive style of defending can disrupt offense and create transition opportunities for easy points.

A clash with China showed France’s ability to handle size, which is a necessity when previewing a potential matchup with Team USA. They held the 6-foot-11 Han Xu, formerly of the New York Liberty, to only four points in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament earlier this year. Los Angeles Sparks 6-foot-7 center Li Yueru also struggled in the game, notching only eight points compared to her tournament average of 19.

The biggest battle that France will face will be with their own offensive inconsistencies. As they rely heavily on isolation guard play, they don’t have a reliable outlet for scoring when shots aren’t falling. Alexia Chery and Marième Badiane aren’t consistent scoring threats despite taking up many of the minutes at forward for Les Bleues. 6-foot-6 center Dominique Malonga has shown promising flashes of efficiency, but the 18-year-old may be one Olympic cycle removed from contributing in a meaningful way.

4. Japan

Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

Strengths: Shooting, analytics

Weaknesses: Size

Active WNBA players: None

Japan is not a country known for their basketball prowess, but they may have the most transparent win condition of any team looking to dethrone the Americans: They are going to try to shoot the roof off the gym.

As the hosts of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Japan led the tournament in 3-point percentage, 3-point volume and was second in scoring to Team USA. They were penciled in by many as non-contenders, but a silver medal campaign marked the first time that any Japanese basketball team (men or women) earned a spot on an Olympic podium. They lost to Team USA in the final 90-75, shooting only 8-for-31 (25.8 percent) from 3, well below their 38.4 percent tournament average.

Much of the reason that they shot poorly was because of the suffocating defense of Team USA’s guards. However, it’s not inconceivable that a rematch could yield a different result. Japan plays into modern basketball analytics, shooting almost exclusively 3s and layups. They can blow opposing teams out of the water in any given game if their shots are falling. Their star of the 2020 Olympics was Rui Machida, the 5-foot-4 guard who led the tournament in assists per game at 12.5 (five more than the next best player) and set an Olympic record for assists in a game with 18. Machida, whose Olympic performance landed her a one-year stint with the Washington Mystics in 2022, will be reprising her role as Japan’s offensive engine in Paris.

Japan finished 4-1 in the 2023 Women’s Asia Cup. They led the tournament in points and only lost to China (5-0), although it’s important to note that the majority of Australia’s Olympic roster did not compete in the Asia Cup due to aforementioned WNBA commitments.

With the most defined edge unfortunately comes the most glaring flaw. To call Japan’s roster small would be generous. They are tiny at every position. The average height of their players is 5-foot-8. Maki Takada and Himawari Akaho, the tallest players on Japan’s squad, stand at 6-foot-1. Japan’s size has manifested itself exactly as one would expect. They have no answers when it comes to containing interior threats, and therefore rely on outpacing opponents from the 3-point line. They conceded 30 points on 14-for-18 shooting to Brittney Griner in the 2020 final. Although Japan is 5-2 in their friendlies in preparation for Paris, they were outrebounded by 11 and 14 in their losses to Belgium and France, respectively. Japan’s ceiling is in the stratosphere, but their floor lies somewhere beneath the depths of the Seine River.

For the second straight Olympics, Japan has found themselves in the same group as the United States. A rematch of the Tokyo final on July 29 will be the first game for both teams in group play.

5. China

Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images

Strengths: Size, connectivity

Weaknesses: Perimeter impact

Active WNBA players: Li Yueru

The final spot in this top five could have easily gone to a number of countries. Parity is alive in this year’s tournament. Spain and Belgium especially deserve recognition, but China has been too consistent in recent years to be omitted. It also helps that China is situated in Group A (China, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Spain), which has a strong argument to be the weakest group in Paris.

In Tokyo, China was undefeated through group play. They handled Puerto Rico, Australia and Belgium, but were sent home in a heartbreaking fourth-quarter collapse against Serbia in the initial knockout round. They redeemed themselves in the 2022 FIBA World Cup, defeating France and Australia before losing to Team USA in the final. Last year marked another triumphant international campaign, as China won both the Asia Cup and the Asian Games basketball tournament.

China’s roster is spearheaded by intimidating size and unrelenting consistency. Yueru and Xu are exceptional screeners who roll hard to the basket and demand collective defensive attention. The limited mobility of China’s bigs means that defensive switching is out of the question, but their ability to anchor near the restricted area and contest shots allows China’s guards to aggressively navigate screens and funnel ball-handlers inwards. Head coach Zheng Wei has done a phenomenal job of getting her team to execute at the highest level since taking over in 2022. When watching China play, it’s apparent that all players are on the same page and are comfortable within Wei’s system.

To put their downside plainly, China has been horrific in recent friendlies. They’ve been defeated by seven of the 12 Olympic teams since the beginning of June, scraping up a lone win against the mostly-absent Australia. Li Yueru has not been with the team due to her WNBA commitment, but it’s unlikely that she would have altered many of the disappointing results. China’s most noticeable limitation is their backcourt. None of the Chinese guards have an exceptional ability to beat defenders off the dribble. They forfeit a significant amount of athleticism to most opponents at the position. Li Meng, the former Washington Mystic sharpshooter, is a lethal threat from beyond the arc, but relies heavily on set plays to get open. Assuming they are able to recenter themselves before group play, China should still be a strong candidate to progress in the knockout round.