Group B 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 Argentina, Nigeria, Russia, and South Korea. Each team played each other once, for a total of three games per team, with all games played at Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan. [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 | |||
 Russia | European Second Round Group K Top 3 | 24 February 2019 | 2010 | 5 | 1 | Runners-up (1994, 1998) | 10 |
 Argentina | Americas Second Round Group E Top 3 | 2 December 2018 | 2014 | 14 | 9 | Champions (1950) | 5 |
 South Korea | Asian Second Round Group E Top 3 | 2 December 2018 | 2014 | 8 | 2 | 11th place (1970) | 32 |
 Nigeria | African Second Round Group F Top 2 | 15 September 2018 | 2006 | 4 | 1 | 13th place (1998) | 33 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argentina | 3 | 3 | 0 | 258 | 211 | +47 | 6 | Second round |
| 2 | Russia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 230 | 219 | +11 | 5 | |
| 3 | Nigeria | 3 | 1 | 2 | 266 | 242 | +24 | 4 | 17th–32nd classification |
| 4 | South Korea | 3 | 0 | 3 | 208 | 290 | −82 | 3 |
All times are local (UTC+8).
This was the first meeting between Russia and Nigeria in the World Cup. The Russians won against Nigeria in the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men, the last competitive game between the two teams.
31 August 2019 16:30 |
| Russia | 82–77 | Nigeria |
| Scoring by quarter:18–13, 22–22, 18–23, 24–19 | ||
| Pts: Kulagin 16 Rebs: Kurbanov 7 Asts: Fridzon, Zubkov 4 | Pts: Okogie 18 Rebs: Metu 6 Asts: Okogie 4 | |
Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan Attendance: 4,888 Referees: Omar Bermúdez (MEX), Takaki Kato (JPN), Ahmed Al-Shuwaili (IRQ) |
This was the second game between Argentina and South Korea in the World Cup, with the Argentinians winning the first matchup in 1994. Argentina also won their last competitive game against South Korea in the 1996 Olympics.
31 August 2019 20:30 |
| Argentina | 95–69 | South Korea |
| Scoring by quarter:22–11, 21–17, 28–16, 24–25 | ||
| Pts: Laprovíttola 17 Rebs: Scola 9 Asts: Campazzo 6 | Pts: Ra Gun-ah 31 Rebs: Ra Gun-ah 15 Asts: Lee 7 | |
Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan Attendance: 5,486 Referees: Cristiano Maranho (BRA), Zdenko Tomašovič (SVK), Carsten Straube (GER) |
This was the third game between Nigeria and Argentina in the World Cup. Argentina won the two prior meetings, and also won its last competitive game against the Nigerians at the 2016 Olympics.
2 September 2019 16:30 |
| Nigeria | 81–94 | Argentina |
| Scoring by quarter: 17–28, 26–15, 18–29, 20–22 | ||
| Pts: Okogie 18 Rebs: Aminu 8 Asts: Okogie 5 | Pts: Scola 23 Rebs: Scola 10 Asts: Campazzo 8 | |
Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Cristiano Maranho (BRA), Takaki Kato (JPN), Ahmed Al-Shuwaili (IRQ) |
This was the first game between South Korea and Russia in the World Cup. The Russians won against South Korea in the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men, the last competitive match between the two teams.
2 September 2019 20:30 |
| South Korea | 73–87 | Russia |
| Scoring by quarter: 18–27, 19–13, 12–23, 24–24 | ||
| Pts: Ra Gun-ah 19 Rebs: Ra Gun-ah 10 Asts: Lee 5 | Pts: Fridzon, Vorontsevich 13 Rebs: Kurbanov, Vorontsevich 7 Asts: Kurbanov 9 | |
Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan Attendance: 2,537 Referees: Omar Bermúdez (MEX), Zdenko Tomašovič (SVK), Markos Michaelides (SUI) |
This was the first competitive game between South Korea and Nigeria.
4 September 2019 16:30 |
| South Korea | 66–108 | Nigeria |
| Scoring by quarter: 15–17, 16–32, 19–30, 16–29 | ||
| Pts: Ra Gun-ah 18 Rebs: Ra Gun-ah 11 Asts: Lee, Park 4 | Pts: Eric 17 Rebs: Eric, Metu 9 Asts: Iroegbu 6 | |
Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan Attendance: 4,047 Referees: Omar Bermúdez (MEX), Carsten Straube (GER), Markos Michaelides (SUI) |
This was the fourth game between Russia and Argentina in the World Cup. The Russians won their last competitive game against Argentina, in the 2012 Olympics.
4 September 2019 20:30 |
| Russia | 61–69 | Argentina |
| Scoring by quarter:17–12, 16–27, 7–14, 21–16 | ||
| Pts: Zubkov 18 Rebs: Vorontsevich, Zubkov 7 Asts: Sopin 4 | Pts: Campazzo 21 Rebs: Scola 9 Asts: Campazzo 7 | |
Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan Attendance: 7,155 Referees: Cristiano Maranho (BRA), Zdenko Tomašovič (SVK), Takaki Kato (JPN) |