As we head into the Tokyo Olympics, the U.S. women’s basketball team is the most dominant group taking part in the games, but will another country finally be able to end their reign?
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Team USA has won every gold medal at the Olympics since 1996; if they win in Tokyo it will be their seventh in a row. The U.S. players vying for lucky number seven are WNBA legends Sue Bird, Brittney Griner, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi and more.
Who will the U.S. have to face to accomplish their historic feat?
Like the men’s basketball tournament, things will get going with a preliminary group stage before moving to the knockout and medal rounds. Here are the breakdowns of the three groups in the women’s basketball tournament:
Group A: Canada, Serbia, South Korea, Spain
Group B: France, Japan, Nigeria, USA
Group C: Australia, Belgium, China, Puerto Rico
Read on to find how and when to watch all the action for the women’s basketball tournament at the Tokyo Olympics. Plus, here's a guide on how to watch all of the Tokyo Olympics.
Tokyo Olympics women’s basketball tournament schedule
July 25
Spain 73, South Korea 69
July 26
Serbia 72, Canada 68
Japan 74, France 70
July 27
USA 81, Nigeria 72
Belgium 85, Australia 70
China 97, Puerto Rico 55
July 28
Canada 74, South Korea 53
July 29
Spain 85, Serbia 70
Belgium 87, Puerto Rico 52
July 30
USA 86, Japan 69
France 87, Nigeria 62
China 76, Australia 74
July 31
Spain 76, Canada 66
Aug. 1
Serbia 65, South Korea 61
Japan 102, Nigeria 83
Aug. 2
USA 93, France 82 (replays at 4 p.m. ET on USA and 11 p.m. ET on NBCSN)
China 74, Belgium 62
Australia 96, Puerto Rico 69
Aug. 3
Quarterfinals: Serbia 77, China 70
Aug. 4
Quarterfinal: USA 79, Australia 55 (replay at 10 p.m. ET on NBCSN)
Quarterfinal: Japan 86, Belgium 85
Quarterfinal: France 67, Spain 64
Aug. 6
Semifinal: USA 79, Serbia 59
Semifinal: Japan 87, France 71
Aug. 7
Bronze Medal Game: Serbia vs. France, 3 a.m. ET, CNBC
Gold Medal Game: USA vs. Japan, 10:30 p.m. ET, NBC (replay at 9 a.m. ET on Aug. 8 on USA).
How to watch the Tokyo Olympics women’s basketball tournament in the U.S.
For my entire life NBC has held the U.S. broadcast rights to the Olympics. The network continues to expand its coverage of the games and will once again do so this year, including for the women’s basketball tournament.
As of publication, only U.S. women’s basketball games will be shown live on TV, with all the of the group stage games airing on USA, and then replays either playing on USA or NBCSN — a group stage matchup between Canada and Spain is also getting a replay on USA. What to Watch will update this page if any other of the women’s basketball group stage games will air on TV.
To watch the available women’s basketball games on USA, NBCSN or CNBC, viewers will need a subscription either to a traditional cable package or one of Hulu with Live TV, Fubo TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. To watch the semifinal and gold medal games on NBC, any of those subscriptions would work, as would a good old-fashioned TV antenna.
Viewers who subscribe to a subscription package with NBC can also watch the games through the NBC Sports app or NBCSports.com. Full event replays will also be available on the free version of Peacock.
How to watch the Tokyo Olympics women’s basketball tournament in Canada
Fans of team Canada will be able to watch them play through CBC, which is Canada’s broadcast home for the Tokyo Olympics; coverage will also be featured on TSN and Sportsnet. All of the women’s basketball games will be available to stream on CBC Sports Streaming on CBC Gem, the CBC's dedicated Olympic website and the CBC Olympics app.
CBC’s broadcast schedule only shows its overnight, morning, daytime and primetime blocks for Olympics coverage, so it is unclear how much coverage will be devoted to the women’s basketball tournament on TV.
How to watch the Tokyo Olympics women’s basketball tournament from anywhere
As long as they have internet access, sports fans the world over can watch women’s basketball games at the Tokyo Olympics, whether NBC or another broadcasters’ coverage, through a virtual private network.
A VPN routes the network traffic to and from your computer through a specific set of servers in a specific country, allowing for users to watch content on an encrypted feed.
