The night in Vienna

For all the recent near-misses, few players in the men’s game can match Stojačić’s record: World Cup MVP and Europe Cup MVP in 2023, two World Cup titles, two Europe Cup gold medals, three World Tour MVP awards in 2022, 2023 and 2025, and a place in the World Cup Team of the Tournament at each of the last three editions.

He does not make much of the individual honours.

“It is not about which [person] is first,” he said of the rankings. “We want our team to be the best team in the world, and that’s it, just focus on the team, and to play every time better and better.”

With that said, there is one memory for the 34-year-old that stands out above the rest: Vienna, 2023.

Serbia beat the USA 21-19 in the World Cup final to retain their title, despite Jimmer Fredette scoring 10 points for the beaten finalists.

“The second gold in the World Cup, in Vienna, 2023,” he said. “This is the tournament where we really played very well, and I played maybe the best game of my life. The crowd was amazing, we had so many fans. We had so much luck in the end, but we won this game and we won the gold.”