Top 10 greatest achievements in French basketball of all time

French basketball fans distinguish themselves from one another by their particular fondness for a club or franchise. While most follow the NBA, others prefer the EuroLeague or Betclic ÉLITE. A multitude of passions united by a shared love for our French team.

From Marseille to Paris via Navarre, everyone gets excited when these blue-clad basketball players take on other nations. So here are the top 10 greatest achievements of our Tricolores, ranked according to the following criteria: unexpectedness, importance of the match, standing of the opposing team and scenario.

10) France 76 – 67 USSR, 1956 Olympic Games : To begin with, let’s take a leap back in time. But really far back. More precisely, to 1956 during the Melbourne Olympics. While the United States was already a bit of a thorn in the side, it was the USSR that dominated European basketball. To give you an idea, we’re talking about 10 EuroBasket titles in 11 years between 1949 and 1971. This was in stark contrast to our French team, which, despite its strong playing identity, remained unknown. So when the French team faced the Soviet giants in the group stage, on paper it was no contest, and on the court it was the same. The favourites of the competition… were crushed! The final score of 76-67 speaks volumes about the outsiders’ performance. According to several accounts, the dejected faces of the opposing players reflected how unexpected the final score was. Monclard’s teammates will forever be remembered as the first to have beaten the USSR. The fact that it was only a group stage match justifies this impressive 10th place finish.

9) France 57–53 Russia, EuroBasket 2009 final : ‘Les Braqueuses’ (The Robbers). This nickname says it all about the epic journey of our French women’s team at EuroBasket 2009. Arriving in Latvia with no guarantees, our players racked up a series of hard-fought victories. First Belarus and Israel in the group stage, then Greece in the final phase, followed by Russia again. In the final, however, the French faced the real Russia. The Russia of Becky Hammon and Maria Stepanova. The Russia that terrified the continent. But the Russia that had also been defeated by Céline Dumerc’s team in the qualifying round. Although they were considered underdogs, our Tricolours knew the path to victory. And, as in 2001, the Russians were no match for their new nemesis. Even though France played with fire at the end of the match, their mobile and aggressive defence got the better of the reigning European champions. It was certainly a huge achievement, but it was more about the competition as a whole than this particular match. Especially since they had already beaten this team before.

8) France 73 – 69 Germany, 2024 Olympic semi-final : The 2024 Olympic chapter is officially open. Yes, we are talking about a chapter here, because this Parisian truce is made up of many pages. The preface is this men’s semi-final between France and Germany, between a team that was almost knocked out by Japan and the reigning world champions. The balance of power is uneven, especially since the Mannschaft crushed Les Bleus in a warm-up match. In short, there are few positive signs for Vincent Collet’s team. Except for the wave of optimism that has swept through since their huge victory over Canada in the quarter-finals (remember that match). And the first quarter confirms the concerns. The Lille nightmare seems to be resurfacing, with our serial shooters failing to score and already trailing by 7 points. But Isaïa Cordinier had warned us: our players are now ‘cailleras’! The blue fortress was in place and Germany was unable to get going offensively. Eight small points for the visitors in the second quarter, a flurry of blocks from both Batum and Wembanyama, led to a huge victory in crunch time (73-69). The Bercy arena definitely gives our team wings. Why eighth place? Because in reality, there were already small signs of hope.

7) France 81 – 75 Belgium, 2024 Olympic semi-final : Team USA vs the Belgian queens. The final of the women’s basketball competition at the 2024 Olympics was a foregone conclusion: the two-time world champions against the European champions. Although the Lionesses did not achieve the expected results in the group stage, they crushed Spain in the quarter-finals, while our players lived up to their status as favourites against Germany. The last time the two teams met in international competition, Belgium came out on top. And in general, in recent years, matches between the two teams have rarely gone in favour of Gabby Williams’ teammates. History is about to repeat itself. Despite a huge 19-1 run, France trailed at the break (36-31). The second half was more of the same. The Lionesses forced our Bleues to take difficult shots and took advantage of this to build a ten-point lead. Just as the ship was heading straight for an iceberg, our Frenchies suddenly changed course. They pulled out all the stops to race towards victory (81-75). The match-up was already not in favour of our Tricolores, but the scenario made this game even more legendary. The feat is there for all to see, but objectively speaking, our French women arrived with top seed status.

6) France 76 – 52 Australia, 2000 Olympic semi-final : After a frustrating fourth place finish at EuroBasket 1999, the French team approached these Olympics as the second-ranked European team. Admittedly, a young star was beginning to emerge at point guard, but otherwise there was nothing exceptional about the team. This was confirmed in practice. The group stage almost turned sour, with defeats against the United States, Italy and Lithuania. Our Blues qualified thanks to an extremely hard-fought victory over China. Facing the top team in Group B in the quarter-finals, the Tricolores defied the odds for the first time. Makan Dioumassi played guard dog on Steve Nash and led the EDF to the semi-finals against the Australian hosts. In front of more than 14,500 spectators, this time it was Fred Weis who won his battle with Luc Longley. Without their key player, the Boomers’ mechanism completely broke down. France led by 15 points at half-time (29-44) and ended up winning by a huge 24 points (52-76). Beyond the victory, it was the manner of the win that made this match particularly surprising. Nevertheless, the achievement was more about the entire journey than this one match. And, much like France-Germany, the seeds of this achievement were sown against Canada (once again). This 6th place finish still reflects the scale of the feat.

5) France 82 – 73 Canada, quarter-final, 2024 Olympic Games : Nothing was going right. The warm-up matches were more than worrying, the Wemby-Gobert duo wasn’t clicking, Evan Fournier was missing shot after shot… And above all, France’s place in the final stages was down to a totally mind-blowing and-one by Matthew Strazel from 3 points. Opposite them were the Canadian vice-world champions. In addition to recently knocking Team USA out of the World Cup, SGA’s team had literally rolled over all their opponents in the group of death. All French basketball fans agreed on the final prediction: a big win for Canada. The EDF did indeed explode, but in the wrong way. Right from the start, Isaïa Coordinier set the pace for the game. Clearly, our Frenchies didn’t appreciate the Canadians taking the night off the day before. Led by the duo of Lessort and Yabusele, the French came out firing on all cylinders. The visitors took three quarters to get into the game. And with the Canadians trailing by just four points, Evan Fournier sealed the deal with a shot that came out of nowhere. The final score? 82-73, with a match that will go down in the history of the French team no matter what. This match would have its place on the podium. It’s just that the level above is very high.

4) France 74 – 71 Serbia and Montenegro, EuroBasket 2005 play-off : This EuroBasket was supposed to be the last bridge between the Sydney 2000 generation and Ljubljana 2013. The French team included a mix of Antoine Rigaudeau, Tony Parker, Fred Weis and Boris Diaw. This transition ended in failure in Sweden. And two years later in Serbia, Les Bleus were on the same track, heading straight for disaster. The French came out of the first phase with two defeats and only one win. This result meant a play-off against the second-placed team in Group D, Serbia and Montenegro. In other words, a knockout match in the heated atmosphere of Novi Sad against the two-time defending world champions. On the court were the Avengers of the Balkans in the form of Bodiroga, Jaric, Rakocevic and Krstic. It promised to be hell for Claude Bergeaud’s men. Hopes were slim, especially as Les Bleus were three possessions behind at half-time. Worse still, until the middle of the fourth quarter, Les Tricolores had never taken the lead. But thanks to 28 points from the TP-Rigaudeau duo, the visitors took Serbia and Montenegro into crunch time, where the home side completely lost their composure. To everyone’s surprise, France won the play-off (71-74) and went on to clinch the bronze medal. The fact that it was ‘only’ a play-off match, coupled with the fact that it is less memorable, cost them a place in the top three.

3) France 89 – 79 United States, 2019 World Cup quarter-finals 🥉 : Bad luck. This post-Tony Parker French team had been playing well throughout the tournament. Undefeated in the first round, our Frenchies lost by just two points to Australia in the second round. The verdict was final. Team USA would face France in the quarter-finals. Yes, the United States was without LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard. But we’re still talking about Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Khris Middleton… In short, a stellar line-up. It should also be noted that the Americans are two-time defending world champions, three-time defending Olympic champions and, above all, undefeated in international competition for 13 years! He may not be very popular across the Atlantic, but in France Rudy Gobert is THE centre. The four-time DPOY literally walked all over Team USA, scoring 21 points and, more importantly, grabbing 16 rebounds. On the outside, the Fournier-De Colo duo reached the 40-point mark. Apart from a small run in the third quarter, the United States did not really worry Les Bleus, who were simply superior. The 79-89 score, which seemed utopian before the game, became a reality. It was an all-time performance, but we are talking about our best enemies!

2) France 75 – 72 Spain, EuroBasket 2013 semi-final 🥈 : You’ve been eagerly awaiting them, and here they are! Yes, we’re going to open the Spanish file. To understand the significance of this match, you have to remember the years of frustration. Summer after summer, France suffered at the hands of Spain with no fewer than eight consecutive victories. The latest episode: the quarter-final of the 2012 Olympics, marked by Nicolas Batum’s outburst against Juan Carlos Navarro. But in Slovenia, things are different. At least in the words of our Frenchies, because on the court, their old demons still seem to be omnipresent. Qualifying without shining in the quarter-finals, Vincent Collet’s team defeats Slovenia. Spain, meanwhile, is also gaining momentum. As luck would have it, the French will face their nemesis (and incidentally, the two-time defending European champions) in the semi-finals. It’s hard to put into words what happened in the first half, as Les Bleus couldn’t seem to get their act together. It was a disaster, and history seemed to be repeating itself. Trailing by 14 points at half-time, Captain TP delivered a legendary tirade. And as if by magic, the team turned things around completely in the second half. Spurred on by Tony Parker’s 32 points, Les Bleus dominated Spain for 20 minutes before sealing the game in overtime. Today, it seems obvious that this match was like a final before its time. Without a doubt, this was the greatest match in the history of French basketball. However, in terms of pure and simple achievement, the result of France v Spain V2 the following year was even more unexpected.

1) France 65 – 52 Spain, 2014 World Cup quarter-finals 🥇 : It was Spain’s World Cup. Playing at home, their ambition was clear: to defeat Team USA in the final! And they certainly gave it their all. The Gasol brothers, Sergio Lull, Serge Ibaka, Rudy Fernández, Ricky Rubio, Juan Carlos Navarro… All killers. They played in the group stage, beating Brazil by 19 points, Egypt by 47 points and France by 24 points. Yes, our Frenchies were in the game. However, the Euro 2013 ‘all-in’ has evaporated, as have the absences of big names such as Tony Parker and Nando de Colo. These shortcomings were reflected in mixed results, with two defeats already on the board at the start of the quarter-finals. In addition to the imbalance in terms of individual talent and momentum, the Spanish women were hungry for revenge. In the middle of a red and yellow arena, all systems were go for the Iberian team, ready to put the church back in the centre of the village. Finally, before a young Rudy Gobert came along and put up a big stop sign in the middle of Madrid, on which Pau Gasol could read 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. Florent Pietrus also got in on the act by harassing Sergio Llull. Then Thomas Heurtel showed his clutch ability at the end of the game with the famous ‘Oh maman the shoot!’. That day, our Frenchies didn’t just win. No, they crushed a team that we thought was out of reach. The essence of the feat lies in this feeling of the unexpected. The Tricolores’ victory in the quarter-finals really came out of nowhere. And the way they did it added another layer of incredible.