Sweden triumph at IESF World Championship over Germany

The champions did not concede a single map throughout the event.

Plopski's average 1.18 rating was Sweden's highest at the event

Sweden have been crowned champions of IESF World Championship 2023 after taking down Germany 2-0 in the final. Erik "⁠ztr⁠" Gustafsson's team cruised through the tournament unbeaten to claim the $50,000 top prize in Romania.

The Swedes breezed past the likes of Poland and Australia to top Group C with a flawless 5-0 record, gaining a quarter-final bye in the process. The eventual champions then secured victories over Romania and Serbia in the knockout stage to claim a spot in the final, where they met Marcel "⁠hyped⁠" Köhn and company.

Date	Matches
IESF World Championship 2023
01/09/2023	Sweden 2:0 Romania	Match
02/09/2023	Serbia 0:2 Sweden	Match
03/09/2023	Sweden 2:0 Germany	Match

Nicolas "⁠Plopski⁠" Gonzalez Zamora was the team's highest-rated player with a 1.18 rating over the last six maps while powering his team to victory. ztr also played a big role in the team's championship run with his consistent clutching, and topped the charts with six separate 1vsX situations won.

Germany's Tom "⁠skyye⁠" Hagedorn was one of the event's most consistent players with a 1.24 rating in the knockout stage. The 21-year-old rifler proved crucial in his nation's victories over Astralis Talent and TRAFFIC Tashkent, but a slow start against Sweden contributed to the team's overtime loss on Mirage (16-19). Despite skyye's return to form on Inferno (9-16), the Germans failed to match ztr and Jonatan "⁠bobeksde⁠" Persson's intensity, and fell apart after an atrocious defensive start.

The tournament had its share of controversy as Ukraine suddenly withdrew from the event and forfeited their match against Serbia. This came as a result of IESF's decision to allow Russian players to participate in their events starting from 2024.

Sweden follow in the steps of BLUEJAYS, who won the previous two editions of the tournament. The Pavle "⁠stYleEeZ⁠" Stojanovski, Daniel "⁠dan1⁠" Gligorov, and Jane "⁠aidKiT⁠" Apostoloski core returned to the 2023 event, but were stopped by Astralis Talent in the first playoff round.

The final standings for the IESF World Championship are as follows:

1. Sweden - $50,000
2. Germany - $30,000
3. Serbia - $20,000
4. TRAFFIC Tashkent
5-8. Romania
5-8. Hungary
5-8. Astralis Talent
5-8. Ukraine
9-12. Poland
9-12. Czech Republic
9-12. North Macedonia
9-12. Australia