Slovenia meet Poland, Finland face France in Euro semis
Slovenia play Poland at 18.00 Moscow time and Finland take on France at 22.00 in Milan on 25 September, with the two winners going through to the final.
Volleyball national side
Finland
National team · Finland
«Veljekset»
43
Matches
28
wins
15
losses
98–70
Sets
+28
Difference
2.3
Average per match
Form
W
15 Sep · Home Netherlands · 3:2
L
17 Sep · Home Estonia · 2:3
W
20 Sep · Home Greece · 3:2
W
23 Sep · Away Italy · 3:2
L
25 Sep · Home France · 1:3
W
26 Sep · Home Slovenia · 3:0
Volleyball reached Finland as an offshoot of Nordic sporting exchange in the 1950s, and the national men's team played its first major tournament at the 1952 World Championship, finishing eleventh. The federation behind it, the Finnish Volleyball Association, had already been running as a committee since 1956 before it was formally constituted in 1959.
For decades the results stayed modest. A ninth place at the 2014 World Championship and a seventh at the 2007 World League marked the ceiling, and an Olympic place never arrived. The one European Championship high point came in 2007, when Mauro Berruto's side reached fourth, built around captain Tuomas Sammelvuo and setter Mikko Esko.
The team used to go by "Äijät" — the guys. Around 2021, under head coach Joel Banks, that gave way to "Veljekset," the brothers, a rebrand that coincided with the team's sharpest rise. Banks, who splits his coaching duties with the Netherlands national team, oversaw the shift; the breakthrough itself came under Olli Kunnari, who led the squad to the European Golden League title in 2025, beating the Czech Republic 3–1 in the final in Brno. Joonas Jokela was named the final's MVP, with Luka Marttila top-scoring. The following year brought the European League title as well.
Finland has no single home ground. Matches move between arenas around the country — Tampere's Nokia Arena, Helsinki's Veikkaus Arena, Akaa and Salo — and Nokia Arena is set to host EuroVolley 2026 on Finnish soil. Estonia remains the fixture that matters most, contested year after year in the Golden and Silver League ties.
Eleventh at a World Championship in 1952, first in Europe seventy-three years later.
Latest results
Fixtures and results| 26 Sep | CEV European Championship |
Slovenia
H
|
3:0 | W |
| 25 Sep | CEV European Championship |
France
H
|
1:3 | L |
| 23 Sep | CEV European Championship |
Italy
A
|
3:2 | W |
| 20 Sep | CEV European Championship |
Greece
H
|
3:2 | W |
| 17 Sep | CEV European Championship |
Estonia
H
|
2:3 | L |
| 15 Sep | CEV European Championship |
Netherlands
H
|
3:2 | W |
Standing
CEV European ChampionshipGroup stage · Group C
| # | Team | M | W | L | Goals | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Belgium
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 14:6 | 13 |
| 2 |
 Norway
|
4 | 1 | 3 | 5:9 | 3 |
| 2 |
 Finland
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 14:7 | 11 |
| 3 |
 Montenegro
|
4 | 1 | 3 | 4:10 | 3 |
| 3 |
 Serbia
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 9:11 | 7 |
Team statistics
matches counted in total: 43
43
Matches
28
wins
15
losses
98–70
Sets
+28
Difference
2.3
Average per match
wins
losses
scored — above the line
conceded — below the line
| Metric | Total | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | 43 | 21 | 22 |
| Scored | 98 | 53 | 45 |
| Conceded | 70 | 28 | 42 |
| Average per match | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
| Conceded per game | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.9 |
| Difference | +28 | +25 | +3 |
Fixtures of Finland
Honours of Finland
- CEV European Golden League 2025 1
- CEV European League 2026 1
- CEV EuroVolley 2007 1
- CEV European Golden League 2018 1
- CEV European Volleyball League 2005 1
Team news
Euro Volleyball Quarter-Finals: France-Romania, Poland-Germany
Men's EuroVolley quarter-finals run 22-23 September: Sofia hosts France-Romania and Poland-Germany, then Turin has Belgium-Slovenia and Italy-Finland.
EuroVolley Last 16: Poland Face Latvia, Germany Meet Bulgaria
The men's EuroVolley round of 16 kicks off on 19 September with Poland vs Latvia and Germany vs Bulgaria among eight ties across three days.