Canada vs. France Women’s Basketball: Picks, Predictions, Odds and Player Props

Group B competition in women’s basketball at the Olympics gets underway on Monday, when host France is going up against Canada.

France is the team to beat in this group, as it captured the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and now owns home-court advantage at these Games.

However, the Canadians cannot be discounted. They advanced to the medal rounds at the 2022 World Cup before losing to the United States in the semifinals and to Australia in the third-place game.

Let’s take a look at the odds and best bets to be made for Monday’s showdown. 

Canada vs. France betting picks and predictions

France -11.5 (-105)

The atmosphere should be electric as the French women’s basketball team tips off its Olympic bid in front of the home crowd on Monday.

Although the United States is a sizable favourite to ultimately win the gold medal, France has high hopes to find itself on the podium next week.

And why not? The Frenchwomen have won two medals all time and those have come in the past two Olympics. In fact, they have reached the medal rounds three times in history – all in the three most recent Games.

France was runner-up to Team USA at the 2012 London Olympics, lost to Serbia in the Bronze-medal game four years later in Rio de Janeiro and beat Serbia for Bronze in Tokyo.

France’s 2024 roster figures to continue such a proud recent history. Perhaps no team outside of the Americans has better top-level talent than the French, who boast Marine Johannes and Gabby Williams.

Johannes is a streaky three-point shooter who also excels in the passing department. She was a double-digit points-per-game scorer for the New York Liberty in 2022 while averaging 3.4 assists per contest.

Williams, who has played five WNBA seasons with Chicago and Seattle, is a force on both ends of the floor.

Canada has never won a medal at the Olympics and has been to the medal rounds just once (1984 in Los Angeles). Although their 2022 World Cup effort was somewhat encouraging, blowout losses to the Americans and Aussies proved that the Canadians remained well below the top tier of teams.

Their current roster does not project to be much different – and France certainly is one of those top-tier teams. It is true that Canada boasts a decent amount of WNBA talent, such as Minnesota forward Bridget Carleton (8.9 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.2 APG).

Nonetheless, it’s hard to see the underdogs having with France for a full 40 minutes, especially in a hostile environment. 

Over 142.5 (-110)

An over bet correlates nicely with France covering the spread, because the home team wants to play fast and showcase its depth by wearing down opponents.

Canada, on the other hand, will get physical and try to turn this contest into a half-court struggle. The Canadians would be happy to play a low-scoring affair in an effort to keep this game competitive.

France is the superior squad on paper and should be able to dictate how this game is played. If that is the case, it will be more of a track meet than a slog.

In addition to primary threats Johannes and Williams, this French club features a ton of depth. At EuroBasket 2023, where the women placed third, not a single player logged more than 23 minutes per game.

Such a deep rotation allows fresh bodies to cycle in and out, so this team can run all day long. A Canadian defense built on physicality rather than speed could suffer as a result.

Read more betting picks and predictions for Canada Basketball on site

Canada vs. France odds

Canada	+500
France	-700
Spread	France -11.5
Total Points	O/U 142.5

Canada vs. France player props

Player Points

Bridget Carleton (CAN)	O/U 12.5
Kayla Alexander (CAN)	O/U 10.5
Natalie Achonwa (CAN)	O/U 6.5
Gabby Williams (FRA	O/U 14.5
Marine Johannes (FRA)	O/U 13.5
Marine Fauthoux (FRA)	O/U 6.5

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.