Spain defeated Argentina 95-75 in the 2019 FIBA World Cup Final on Sunday, to win their second world championship title. The Spanish national team became the ninth team ever in history to finish their world championship campaign unbeaten. During the tournament final, the Argentine attack was unable to take the lead even for a single instance.

Ricky Rubio was declared the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament. He scored 20 points in the final, while Sergio Llull added 15 more. At half-time, Spain led 43-31, courtesy to two big runs. The Spaniards quickly achieved a lead of 14-1, but Argentina came back with an 11-0 run. However, the eventual champions were brilliant enough to counter with a 17-1 spurt. Since then, the match was completely in Spanish control. For Argentina, it was Gabriel Deck who scored 24 points.

FIBA Logo
FIBA World Cup Logo (FIBA Basketball Website)

As Fox Sports reports, Marc Gasol secured the rare achievement of winning both the NBA and the World Cup in a single year. He became only the second player ever to do so. He also scored 14 for the world champions. The first player to have achieved a similar feat was Lamar Odom. In 2010, he won the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers, and his world cup triumph came with the United States of America.

The Spanish centre also became the 19th player overall to have won an NBA or WNBA together with a gold medal in either the World Cup or the Olympics in the same year. The Spaniard also became the first non-USA player to achieve such a historic feat.

Historically, Spain's first FIBA World Cup glory came in 2006. Gasol's elder brother, Pau Gasol, led the way for the Spanish national team to win their first World Cup title. Coincidentally enough, this time, it's another Gasol who ended up on the victory podium for the Red Fury. It was three months ago that the junior Gasol won the NBA's Larry O'Brien Trophy.

In the play-offs, France defeated Australia to win Bronze, and Serbia triumphed over the Czech Republic to secure the fifth position. USA and Poland ended up in seventh and eighth place, respectively.