The 2005 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2005, was the 34th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. It also served as Europe qualifier for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, giving a berth to the top six teams in the final standings. It was held in Serbia and Montenegro between 16 September and 25 September 2005. Sixteen national teams entered the event under the auspices of FIBA Europe, the sport's regional governing body. The cities of Belgrade, Novi Sad, Podgorica and Vršac hosted the tournament. It was the third time that the championship was hosted by the city of Belgrade (previous times were in 1961 and 1975). Greece won its second FIBA European title by defeating Germany with a 78–62 score in the final. Germany's Dirk Nowitzki was voted the tournament's MVP. Venues Belgrade Awarded hosting rights in March 2002, Belgrade (the capital of Serbia and Montenegro) was the main stage of the EuroBasket 2005 action. The Pionir Hall hosted Group C's six preliminary round games, while the Belgrade Arena hosted the competition following the preliminary round. This was the third time that championship was hosted by the city of Belgrade. Belgrade previously hosted the European basketball championships in 1961 and 1975. Podgorica Podgorica's Morača Sports Center hosted Group B, where six games were played. Being in Montenegro, it is the farthest locale from the central venue. Novi Sad Novi Sad, nicknamed "The City of Sports", is the capital of province of Vojvodina and home to the Spens Sports Center. The six Group D games were played there. Vršac Vršac was home to Group A during the tournament, and also had a total of six games played in the 5,000-person capacity Millennium Center. Qualification Format The teams were split in four groups of four teams each where they played a round robin. The first team from each group qualified directly to the knockout stage. To define the other four teams that advanced to the knockout stage, second and third-placed teams from each group where cross-paired (2A vs. 3B, 3A vs. 2B, 2C vs. 3D, 3C vs. 2D) and the winner from each match advanced to the quarterfinals. In the knockout quarterfinals, the winners advanced to the semifinals. The winners from the semifinals competed for the championship in the final, while the losing teams play a consolation game for the third place. The losing teams from the