a place in the quarter-finals assured, France managed to drop their third match, this time a 77–65 defeat to Serbia. In their quarter-finals match France were up against the EuroBasket 2013 host Slovenia. However, the team dispelled any notion there would be carryover from their prior game, as they prevailed 62–72. The win also setup a EuroBasket 2011 final rematch between Spain. Heading into the semi-finals, France was resolute to make amends for their 2009 and 2011 eliminations. But it was the Spaniards who began this duel with more urgency, as they outplayed the French in the first half to lead 34–20. To begin the third quarter France slowly started cutting into Spain's lead with their defensive tenacity to trail 49–43 going into the fourth quarter. Entering the final period France continued their harassing defensive pressure, which started to wear the Spaniards down. France eventually fought all the way back, to pull even with their nemesis 65–65 to send the game into overtime. In extra time, France did not let this golden opportunity slip away, as they finally pulled ahead to win 72–75. Led once again by Tony Parker and his (32 points), along with the clutch performance from Antoine Diot, France were heading back to the title game. Ensuing their emotional win against Spain, France entered the final against Lithuania ready to seize the moment and create history. France, after years of coming up short in these situations finally became European champions. Additionally, the stellar play from Tony Parker throughout the tournament earned himself MVP honors. Due to their rousing accomplishment at EuroBasket 2013, France qualified for the 2014 FIBA World Cup. Although without the services of Tony Parker, other players stepped up to try and fill the void. France was drawn into Group A at the finals, which many viewed as the Group of Death. Their first opponent was Brazil, which resulted in a tightly contested match the French would lose 63–65. Next up for France, was a date with Serbia. France looking to pick up their first win during the finals, battled back and forth with the Serbians until they escaped with a narrow 73–74 victory. Now at a record of (1–1), France easily put away Egypt in their third match of the group stage before they faced the tournament hosts Spain. There, the team was thoroughly outplayed by the Spanish, who handed France a heavy defeat