How the Order of Countries in the Olympics Opening Ceremony Is Determined

The Olympics Opening Ceremony will kick off this year’s games on July 26— but this time with a twist.

Athletes in Paris will forgo the traditional march down an athletic track, and instead float along the river Seine with their teammates in a boat parade for what is expected to be the largest Opening Ceremony in both audience and geographic coverage. Almost 100 boats will carry roughly 10,500 athletes.

Read More: Everything to Know About the History-Making Paris 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony

While viewers can look forward to a historic ceremony in certain ways, the order of the parade itself typically follows closely to tradition. Greece, where the first Olympics games took place, always leads the parade of delegations. As the 2024 host, France would be last, with the United States, set to host the 2028 summer Olympic games in Los Angeles, marching second to last. The nations in between typically enter in alphabetical order based on the language of the host nation, with a refugee team marching second after Greece. Athletes from Russia and Belarus are barred from participating in the Opening Ceremony because of the war in Ukraine.

Not every delegation will get its own boat. The International Olympic Committee would not confirm the order of countries when asked for comment on Thursday, saying they wanted to "keep as many surprises as possible for the Opening Ceremony tomorrow!"

If the Parade of Nations hews to tradition, this would be the expected order of countries:

1. Greece

2. Refugee Olympic Team

3. Afghanistan

4. South Africa

5. Albania

6. Algeria

7. Germany

8. Andorra

9. Angola

10. Antigua and Barbada

11. Saudi Arabia

12. Argentina

13. Armenia

14. Aruba

15. Austria

16. Azerbaijan

17. Bahamas

18. Bahrain

19. Bangladesh

20. Barbados

21. Belgium

22. Belize

23. Benin

24. Bermuda

25. Bhutan

26. Bolivia

27. Bosnia and Herzegovina

28. Botswana

29. Brazil

30. Brunei

31. Bulgaria

32. Burkina Faso

33. Burundi

34. Cayman Islands

35. Cambodia

36. Cameroon

37. Canada

38. Cape Verde

39. Central African Republic

40. Chile

41. China

42. Cyprus

43. Colombia

44. Comoros

45. Republic of the Congo

46. Democratic Republic of the Congo

47. Cook Islands

48. South Korea

49. Costa Rica

50. Ivory Coast

51. Croatia

52. Cuba

53. Denmark

54. Djibouti

55. Dominican Republic

56. Dominica

57. Egypt

58. El Salvador

59. United Arab Emirates

60. Ecuador

61. Eritrea

62. Spain

63. Estonia

64. Eswatini

65. Ethiopia

66. Fiji

67. Finland

68. Gabon

69. The Gambia

70. Georgia

71. Ghana

72. Great Britain

73. Grenada

74. Guam

75. Guatemala

76. Guinea

77. Guinea-Bissau

78. Equatorial Guinea

79. Guyana

80. Haiti

81. Honduras

82. Hong Kong

83. Hungary

84. India

85. Indonesia

86. Iran

87. Iraq

88. Ireland

89. Iceland

90. Israel

91. Italy

92. Jamaica

93. Japan

94. Jordan

95. Kazakhstan

96. Kenya

97. Kyrgyzstan

98. Kiribati

99. Kosovo

100. Kuwait

101. Laos

102. Lesotho

103. Latvia

104. Lebanon

105. Liberia

106. Libya

107. Liechenstein

108. Lithuania

109. Luxembourg

110. North Macedonia

111. Madagascar

112. Malaysia

113. Malawi

114. Maldives

115. Mali

116. Malta

117. Morocco

118. Marshall Islands

119. Mauritius

120. Mauritania

121. Mexico

122. Federated States of Micronesia

123. Moldova

124. Monaco

125. Mongolia

126. Montenegro

127. Mozambique

128. Myanmar

129. Namibia

130. Nauru

131. Nepal

132. Nicaragua

133. Niger

134. Nigeria

135. Norway

136. New Zealand

137. Oman

138. Uganda

139. Uzbekistan

140. Pakistan

141. Palau

142. Palestine

143. Panama

144. Papua New Guinea

145. Paraguay

146. Netherlands

147. Peru

148. Philippines

149. Poland

150. Puerto Rico

151. Portugal

152. Qatar

153. North Korea

154. Romania

155. Rwanda

156. Saint Kitts and Nevis

157. Saint Lucia

158. San Marino

159. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

160. Solomon Islands

161. Samoa

162. American Samoa

163. Sao Tome and Principe

164. Senegal

165. Serbia

166. Seychelles

167. Sierra Leone

168. Singapore

169. Slovakia

170. Slovenia

171. Somalia

172. South Sudan

173. Sudan

174. Sri Lanka

175. Sweden

176. Switzerland

177. Suriname

178. Syria

179. Tajikistan

180. Chinese Taipei

181. Tanzania

182. Chad

183. Czech Republuc

184. Thailand

185. East Timor

186. Togo

187. Tonga

188. Trinidad and Tobago

189. Tunisia

190. Turkmenistan

191. Turkey

192. Tuvalu

193. Ukraine

194. Uruguay

195. Vanuatu

196. Venezuela

197. British Virgin Islands

198. Virgin Islands

199. Vietnam

200. Yemen

201. Zambia

202. Zimbabwe

203. Australia (2032 Olympics host)

204. United States (2028 Olympics host)

205. France (2024 Olympics host)