Finland concluded its fairytale performance at EuroVolley 2026 with a historic bronze medal. The big surprise of the championship defeated Slovenia 3:0 (25:23, 25:20, 29:27) in the small final in Milan and will step onto the podium of a European Championship for the first time in its history.
The Finns showed that their sensational reach to the Top 4 was by no means accidental. They controlled the first two sets, and the real drama came in the third. Slovenia had several opportunities to win the set and get back into the match, but "Suomi" withstood the pressure. After missing their first two match points, Finland converted the third for 29:27 and put an end to their historic European Championship.
The top scorer in the match was Noa Marttila with 19 points, of which 15 were in attack, 4 blocks, and an impressive 8 break points. Veikka Lindqvist added 12, and Luka Marttila – 17 points. For Slovenia, Rok Možič finished with 15, and Nik Mujanović with 11. The numbers show how decisively Finland utilized its chances. "Suomi" finished with 11 blocks against 8 for Slovenia, and Noa Marttila's contribution at the net proved especially important – a total of 4 point-scoring blocks. The path to bronze turned Finland into the sensation of EuroVolley 2026. In the quarterfinals, the Scandinavians delivered the biggest surprise of the tournament by eliminating the host and world champion Italy 3:2. In the semi-final, their streak was stopped by the two-time Olympic champion France, who won 3:1, but the Finns found the strength for another big match and crowned their performance with bronze. This success will also have a serious impact on the world rankings. Before the small final, Finland was in 13th place, and the victory came against Slovenia, which was in 6th position. Thus, the historic bronze will bring "Suomi" a valuable new asset of points for the ranking, where they will likely climb to 11th position.

photo:cev.eu