Group A was one of eight groups of the preliminary round of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. It took place from 31 August to 4 September 2019, and consisted of China, Ivory Coast, Poland, and Venezuela. Each team played each other once, for a total of three games per team, with all games played at Wukesong Arena, Beijing. [1] After all of the games were played, the top two teams with the best records qualified for the Second round and the bottom two teams played in the Classification Round. [2]
| Team | Qualification | Appearance | Best performance | FIBA World Ranking | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| As | Date | Last | Total | Streak | |||
 Ivory Coast | African Best third placed team | 24 February 2019 | 2010 | 4 | 1 | 13th place (1982, 1986) | 64 |
 Poland | European Second Round Group J Top 3 | 22 February 2019 | 1967 | 2 | 1 | 5th place (1967) | 25 |
 Venezuela | Americas Second Round Group F Top 3 | 2 December 2018 | 2006 | 4 | 1 | 11th place (1990) | 20 |
 China | Host nation | 7 August 2015 | 2010 | 9 | 1 | 8th place (1994) | 30 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 239 | 208 | +31 | 6 | Second round |
| 2 | Venezuela | 3 | 2 | 1 | 228 | 210 | +18 | 5 | |
| 3 | China (H) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 205 | 206 | −1 | 4 | 17th–32nd classification |
| 4 | Ivory Coast | 3 | 0 | 3 | 189 | 237 | −48 | 3 |
All times are local (UTC+8).
This was the first competitive game between Poland and Venezuela.
31 August 2019 16:00 |
| Poland | 80–69 | Venezuela |
| Scoring by quarter: 22–24, 22–12, 16–15, 20–18 | ||
| Pts: Sokołowski 16 Rebs: Hrycaniuk 10 Asts: Slaughter 5 | Pts: Chourio 15 Rebs: Ruiz 10 Asts: Guillent 8 | |
Wukesong Arena, Beijing Attendance: 9,072 Referees: Matthew Kallio (CAN), Matthew Myers (USA), Nicolas Fernandes (TAH) |
This was the fourth meeting between the Ivory Coast and China in the World Cup. The Chinese won the three prior meetings, including their 2010 matchup, which was the most recent game.
This was the first competitive game between Venezuela and the Ivory Coast.
2 September 2019 16:00 |
| Venezuela | 87–71 | Ivory Coast |
| Scoring by quarter:26–17, 23–15, 24–24, 14–15 | ||
| Pts: Guillent 31 Rebs: Ruiz 8 Asts: Guillent 7 | Pts: Abouo 16 Rebs: Pamba 6 Asts: Diabate, Fofana 4 | |
Wukesong Arena, Beijing Attendance: 6,951 Referees: Matthew Myers (USA), Yener Yılmaz (TUR), Harja Jaladri (INA) |
This was the first competitive game between China and Poland.
2 September 2019 20:00 |
| China | 76–79 (OT) | Poland |
| Scoring by quarter:25–15, 10–24, 19–18, 18–15, Overtime: 4–7 | ||
| Pts: Yi 24 Rebs: Wang 9 Asts: Guo, Zhao J. 4 | Pts: Ponitka 25 Rebs: Ponitka 9 Asts: Slaughter 4 | |
Wukesong Arena, Beijing Attendance: 12,546 Referees: Matthew Kallio (CAN), Boris Krejič (SLO), Ahmed Abaakil (MAR) |
This was the first competitive match between the Ivory Coast and Poland.
4 September 2019 16:00 |
| Ivory Coast | 63–80 | Poland |
| Scoring by quarter:24–20, 8–16, 17–19, 14–25 | ||
| Pts: Abouo 23 Rebs: Abouo, Thompson 6 Asts: Diabate 6 | Pts: Waczyński 16 Rebs: Kulig 7 Asts: Waczyński 6 | |
Wukesong Arena, Beijing Attendance: 8,745 Referees: Matthew Kallio (CAN), Nicolas Fernandes (TAH), Samir Abaakil (MAR) |
This was the second meeting between Venezuela and China in the World Cup. The Venezuelans won their first meeting in 1990. The Venezuelans also won their last competitive game against the Chinese, in the 2016 Olympics.