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One year ago, Finland gave France one of the biggest shocks of the 2025 World Championship. Tonight, the two teams meet again, this time with a place in the EuroVolley final at stake — and neither side needs reminding of what happened in Quezon City.
For Finland, that victory was much more than an isolated result.
Head coach Olli Kunnari now describes it as one of the defining moments in the development of his team, a result that helped a young group believe that it belonged on the biggest stage: “the victory against France last year is a key moment in the progression of this team. It gave us confidence: we were on the right path. Our players are still young, but they started to believe in themselves,” he said ahead of Friday’s semi-final.
The result he refers to came in the second match of the 2025 World Championship, when Finland defeated the reigning Olympic champions 3-2.
France eventually recovered from that setback and progressed from the group, but the Finnish performance offered an early indication of what this generation could become.
Twelve months later, the context is very different. Finland are no longer an emerging team hoping to make an impression. They arrive in Milan as one of the four best teams at EuroVolley 2026, having already eliminated Italy in a dramatic five-set quarter-final in Turin.
They survived an 11-8 deficit in the deciding set before winning 15-13, reaching the European Championship semi-finals for only the second time after their historic run in 2007.
The progress has also been visible beyond this tournament.
Under Kunnari, Finland successfully defended their European League title in 2026, winning all ten of their matches, and followed that campaign by making an unprecedented run through the latter stages of EuroVolley.
France, meanwhile, have arrived in Milan with the status of reigning Olympic champions and with a clear understanding that Finland cannot be treated as a surprise opponent.
Captain Antoine Brizard was particularly direct when asked about the team waiting on the other side of the net.
“The Finns completely deserve their place in the semi-finals. They are playing very well. The three attackers — opposite Joonas Jokela and reception attackers Luka and Nooa Marttila — are very effective and difficult to control. And they are well organised in block-defence. Honestly, they are surprising. They have improved. They are gaining confidence and experience. But we won’t be surprised this year. We will be ready to play a big match.”
There is good reason for that caution. Finland’s quarter-final against Italy showed precisely the qualities Brizard highlighted: patience under pressure, a willingness to defend for long stretches and, above all, the ability to keep playing when the match appeared to be slipping away.
Joonas Jokela was the central figure in that comeback, producing 28 points against Italy, while Luka Marttila added 22. Their ability to carry the offensive load has become one of the defining features of Finland’s campaign, alongside the contribution of Nooa Marttila and a team structure that has become increasingly difficult to disrupt.
The Marttila brothers, Luka and Nooa, have become perhaps the most recognisable symbols of Finland’s new generation, but Kunnari’s team is increasingly difficult to reduce to individual names. Their development has been collective, built through repeated exposure to high-level competition and reinforced by results that have gradually changed the team’s expectations.
France will bring an entirely different level of experience into the equation. Andrea Giani’s side moved into the semi-finals with a convincing 3-0 victory over Romania, controlling the match from the opening exchanges and avoiding the kind of fluctuations that had cost them against Romania earlier in the tournament.
That previous encounter is another reason this semi-final carries an unusual sense of unfinished business for both sides. Finland may have the memory of Quezon City, while France have the experience and expectations that come with being Olympic champions.
But the Finnish story is no longer about trying to prove that one famous victory was not a fluke.
Their results have already answered that question.
They won the European League in 2025 and again in 2026, completing the latest campaign with ten victories from ten matches. They defeated Italy on Italian soil to reach the last four of the European Championship, and they have now earned their place among the continent’s elite.
Now comes another test against France — the same opponent that helped convince Finland, a year ago, that this generation could go somewhere special.
Kunnari remembers what that victory meant.
Brizard remembers what Finland can do.
And this time, there will be no element of surprise.
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