The teams renew the Balkan rivalry and play against each other at the Olympics for the first time. Not since 2010 have the teams met in a major tournament. Serbia won that encounter at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Istanbul, 73-72. Both teams had to win FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) to make it this far and Croatia may be more battle tested because they had to travel to Turin to play theirs and beat Greece and Italy. Serbia had the luxury of hosting an OQT in Belgrade and they have also had an easier pool in Rio to advance from. Their only victories have come against Venezuela and China, although Serbia did play Australia, France and the USA tough.

FIBA