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Germany is the 2023 FIBA World Cup champion after defeating Slovenia, 83-77, to clinch the gold medal Sunday in Manila. In the process, Germany completed an unexpected and undefeated run throughout the tournament that included an upset victory over a heavily favored Team USA in the semifinals.

Germany was led by the same two players in its gold medal-winning effort as it was throughout the tournament. Dennis Schroder, eventually named the tournament's MVP, scored 28 points in the title game to help seal the victory for Germany. Not to be outdone, Franz Wagner was named player of the game for the final after finishing with 19 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists. 

That has largely been the formula for Germany throughout the tournament: Schroder leads the way on offense, while Wagner does a little bit of everything to support him. The result was a historic moment in German basketball history.

This was the first gold medal for Germany not only at the World Cup, but at any truly global competition. Its only other gold medal had previously come at EuroBasket in 1993. Germany earned Bronze at EuroBasket last summer, and that effort helped vault Germany to the top of the World Cup this summer. Its best finish in a World Cup prior to this gold medal came in 2002, when a group led by tournament MVP Dirk Nowitzki earned bronze.

Serbia, meanwhile, came up just short in a tournament nobody expected them to win. Though the Serbians have performed well in recent international competition, including a silver medal at the 2014 World Cup, they entered this tournament without many of their best players, including new Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Vasilije Micic, former Los Angeles Clippers point guard Milos Teodosic, former Golden State Warriors big man Nemanja Bjelica and, most importantly, reigning NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic. 

Despite those absences, Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic led Serbia to silver and ensured its qualification for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. There, Serbia will presumably have its full roster available and enter the tournament as one of the favorites. In that sense, this run could prove quite beneficial, as it gave players who might not otherwise have played major roles experience that could help out in a crowded Olympic field.

Canada rounded out the medal podium Sunday by taking bronze in an overtime victory over heavily-favored Team USA. Now, all four teams, as well as host France and qualifiers Australia, Japan and South Sudan will turn their attention to Paris next summer, when the entire field will attempt to take Germany's new crown.