Will France win the 2024 Summer Olympics men’s basketball gold-medal game in Paris?

France will play Team USA at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in the gold-medal game in a rematch from 2021. This is the fourth time Team USA and France have played in the gold-medal game. 

France beat Germany 73-69 in the semifinals to set up this matchup. Team USA beat Serbia 94-89. 

France also benched Rudy Gobert in the quarterfinal matchup against Canada. Gobert is dealing with a finger injury, too. Still, Victor Wembanyama is part of a team that has four NBA players. Will France use the home-court advantage to make history? 

A look inside France’s men’s basketball team. 

MORE: The smart decision that fueled France’s upset of Canada

Who are France’s basketball coaches? 

Vincent Collet – a long-time European League basketball coach – has been France’s coach since 2009 – and the national team has had prolonged success. 

France won the FIBA EuroBasket tournament in 2013 and won silver in 2022. The team won bronze at the FIBA World Cup in 2014 and 2019 and took silver in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2020. That run of success has continued in Paris in 2024. 

France men’s basketball roster, 2024 Olympics 

France’s starting five has more than enough NBA experience to be competitive in the Olympic tournaments. 

Wembanyama – the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft – averages 13.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the Olympics. Gobert has played 11 NBA seasons and is a three-time All-Star. He averaged 14 points and 12.9 rebounds for Minnesota last season.

Nic Batum – the team captain – is a 16-year NBA veteran. Evan Fournier – who is currently a free agent – is a 13-year NBA veteran. 

Bilal Coulibaly was a first-round pick by the Washington Wizards in 2023 who averaged 8.4 points per game last season. Frank Ntilikkina – a first-round pick by New York in 2017 – averaged 4.8 points in seven NBA seasons. Nando de Colo also played three NBA seasons. 

A look at the 12-man roster: 

France 2024 men’s basketball roster

Is Zaccharie Risacher playing in Olympics? 

Risacher, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks, is not on the France men’s basketball team in the Olympics. The 19-year-old small forward played on the U19 Team in the World Cup and helped the team win a silver medal in 2023. He would be a candidate to play for France in the next Olympics.

How France reached the Olympic final

France won its first two games in Pool B. Wembanyama scored 19 points with nine rebounds in a 78-66 victory against Brazil, and he had 18 points in a 94-90 victory against Japan. Gobert had 15 rebounds in that win. 

Wembanyama had 14 points and 12 rebounds in the Aug. 2. loss to Germany. France beat Canada 82-73 in the quarterfinals to set up a rematch with Germany. France then defeated Germany 73-69 to advance to the championship round.

Win or lose in the final, France will win a medal for the third time since 2000. 

France basketball history in the Olympics 

This is France’s 11th Olympic appearance, and the team has advanced to the medal round in the Olympics in each of its last five Summer Olympics appearances since 2000. 

Team USA beat France 87-82 in the gold-medal game in the 2020 Olympics. Team USA also beat France 85-70 in the 2000 Summer Olympics gold-medal game in Sydney, Australia. Laurent Sciarra was the star player for that France team. 

France’s only other gold-medal appearance was in 1948 – and Team USA beat France 65-21. 

A look at how France has fared in men’s basketball in the Summer Olympics: