Dennis Schröder played a vital role in the historic triumph as he top scored with 28 points on a memorable night in front of 12,022 fans at the Mall of Asia Arena in the Filipino capital.

Serbia pushed Germany close but their search for a first world title continues as they suffered another final defeat having lost to the United States in 2014.

Germany’s previous best performance at a World Cup was a third-place finish in 2002.

But after stunning five-time champions the US 113-111 in an epic semi-final, Germany had their eyes firmly fixed on glory in Manila.

The match was locked at 47-47 at half-time before Serbia suffered a big setback when Ognjen Dobric was forced off with an ankle injury.

Germany’s seized their opportunity as they moved 64-53 in front in the closing moments of the third period.

Serbia refused to give in as they got within four points of Germany at 73-69 thanks to a third-pointer from Aleksa Avramovic with seven minutes left.

Avramovic continued to find his range as Serbia cut the deficit to 78-75 in the closing 80 seconds, setting up a tense finale.

Marko Guduric made it 79-77 before Schröder landed a crucial lay-up and then converted two free throws to secure victory.

As well as Schröder, Franz Wagner also delivered in the final, scoring 19 points and registering seven rebounds.

Avramovic and Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 21 and 17 points respectively but it was not enough to steer Serbia to success.

Canada also had a day to remember as they clinched their first-ever World Cup medal after defeating the US 127-118 in overtime in an incredible bronze-medal match.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillon Brooks thought they had done enough to seal bronze in normal time as Canada held a four-point advantage in the closing moments.

But the US forced the match into overtime when Mikal Bridges levelled the scores at with a three-pointer from the court.

The US would have hoped to kick on in overtime but Canada responded superbly, bursting into a 121-115 lead.

There was no way back for the US as Brooks converted two more free throws to put the seal on the victory.

Brooks finished the match with 39 points while Gilgeous-Alexander also starred with 31 points and six rebounds in the win.

"I'm really proud of Dillon," said Canadian coach Jordi Fernandez.

"This is how it looks when they let Dillon play.

"It's not just on the defensive end that he's the best perimeter defender in the World Cup, offensively he's been extremely efficient."

It was the second successive World Cup where the US failed to make the podium.

"We fought today, I'll take that with me after this, but it hurts," said Bridges.

Latvia sealed fifth place after seeing off Lithuania 98-63, while Slovenia overcame Italy 89-85 in the seventh-place game.