Finland’s fairy tale journey ends with historic #EuroVolleyM bronze
News
Finland’s fairy tale at the CEV Enel EuroVolley 2026 Men had its happy end on Saturday afternoon at Unipol Forum di Assago where the players coached by Olli Kunnari cruised to a 3-0 victory in the bronze medal match with Slovenia thereby securing their first podium finish in the history of the competition. The CEV Volleyball European League winners completed a remarkable journey that included edging reigning World champions Italy in the quarterfinals to write a page of Volleyball history – but also achieve a real milestone for Finland’s sports community at large. This way the Finns improved on the fourth place achieved in 2007 by a legendary (up to this day) team that included their current head coach Olli Kunnari.
Finland vs. Slovenia 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 29-27)
Finland were chasing history and their first ever #EuroVolleyM podium finish, whereas Slovenia had the opportunity to secure a fifth medal in the last six editions of the continental championship under the eyes of their President, Ms Nataša Pirc Musar. The two teams had opted to cancel their training earlier in the morning to recover mentally and physically from the previous day’s setbacks in the semi-finals and the rhythm was high right from the start of the match. Finland were without their injured setter Fedor Ivanov – replaced by the experienced Eemi Tervaportti on their roster specifically for this match – but the Finns did not show any signs of rustiness whatsoever, as they stormed to an early 9-6 lead. Slovenia raised their imposing block to tie the score at 11-all before the Finns broke away again at 14-12. This back and forth continued with Finland failing to capitalise on a four-point advantage (21-17) with Slovenia responding with a series of four unanswered points. A block by Petteri Tyynismaa eventually secured two set points for the Finns, Nooa Marttila got blocked on the first such opportunity before Klemen Cebulj sent the ball out of bounds for the final 25-23 Finland’s way.
Finland trailed early in the second set (4-6) before quickly restoring equality at 7-all. Siblings Luka and Nooa Marttila had scored as many as five points apiece in the previous set and Nooa was especially effective in the second set (eight points) as the Finns seemed to steadily grow in self-confidence as the match progressed (16-11). Slovenia, however, looked undeterred and fought back to 19-17 after an ace by their captain Alen Pajenk. Finland’s head coach Olli Kunnari – a member of the team that had finished fourth in 2007 in Moscow – asked for a timeout to stop Slovenia’s dangerous comeback and he succeeded in achieving his goal – as two straight errors by Nik Mujanovic and an ace by Luka Marttila moved the score to 22-17. Finland did not look back anymore and Veikka Lindqvist closed the set 25-20 after finding a way through the Slovenian block.
At this point, Finland were just one set away from making history and with the passionate support of the audience, they maintained full composure to lead 13-11 and even when Slovenia closed in at 14-all, the Finns responded with another massive series of three straight points (17-14). Slovenia mounted another comeback to restore parity at 19-19 before Rok Mozic scored the next point to reignite Slovenia’s hopes. The drama reached its climax as Slovenia failed to use a set point, Finland reversed a decision of the referee via a successful challenge but it took as many as four match points for the party to begin – as Finland eventually closed it all out 29-27 to celebrate their first EuroVolley medal in history!
Nooa and Luka Marttila top scored with 19 and 17 points, respectively, with Veikka Lindqvist adding another 12 to Finland’s account. In a rather sub-par performance, Rok Mozic and Nik Mujanovic recorded 15 and 11 for Slovenia in their losing effort.
Luka Marttila“I really do not know what to say. I am left speechless.”
Player of Finland
Olli Kunnari“We are a young team but we improved match by match and the guys enjoyed the time they spent together this summer, that is very important when you have to play that much. When I was on the court in 2007 it was a different time, everything was different: yes it was history, but today is different, we won a medal! I want to thank also all the fans: they were great in Finland and this helped us a lot and I hope it will help the Finnish Volleyball movement to grow in next years.”
Head coach of Finland
Santeri Välimaa“I am so happy for the team, the staff, the fans: the atmosphere in Tampere was crazy and we wanted to give something back to them. Our goal was to achieve something but we didn’t expect that, we wanted to leave a mark and we did it. Now we are going to celebrate all together with a lot of joy and maybe a late night!”
Player of Finland
Alen Pajenk“I think everything was missing on our side. We expected a tough match because we were in that position 11 years ago, chasing the dream, so we knew how they were going to approach the game. We expected this, and they showed it, but on the other hand, we tried and it just didn’t go our way today. In the third set, we pushed a little more to get at least one set, prolong the game and try to take it to a fifth set. But in the end, Finland were just too strong, and they played an amazing game today.”
Captain of Slovenia
Fabio Soli, head coach of Slovenia: “We knew how Finland played at this European Championship, and to the people asking me why Italy were out and Finland made it to the Final Four, I think now there is one more answer to that question: they are playing very good Volleyball. They are stable and competitive in all the skills, from serve to reception. They are amazing. Their setter almost always has the middle available with a perfect reception, and we were not able to do the same job we did yesterday against Poland. We suffered a lot, but I think we stayed in the right mood and in the right condition in block and defence, like yesterday. What was not working today was our side-out. We were in a rush to score when we had opportunities in counter-attack. We had some chances that we didn’t use, and at this level, just a couple of balls can make the difference. So now is the moment to be a little bit sad, of course, but we cannot forget what we did throughout the summer. I think we did an amazing job combining the two generations and trying to play, in my opinion, different Volleyball considering the history of this team.”