Finnish national basketball team

Early years

The Finnish Basketball Association was founded in February 1939. A few months earlier the Finnish Football Federation had decided to add basketball to its own repertoire. Finland first competed at the European championship at its third installment, the EuroBasket 1939. In the round-robin, they initially struggled and lost to each of the other seven teams and finished with a 70–541 overall point differential.

1950s

Finland's next European competition was 12 years later, at the EuroBasket 1951 in Paris. Overall, they fared much better and split their four preliminary round games and finished at third place in the group at 2–2 but were eliminated from championship contention. They had success after that, winning all three of their classification round 1 games and both round 2 games to finish in 9th place of the 18 teams.

In 1952, by virtue of hosting the games in Helsinki, Finland played at the Summer Olympics for the first time. The national team finished at the bottom of Group B in the preliminary round losing all of its game to the Soviet Union, Bulgaria and Mexico, and failing to advance.^[2]

Finland used this international experience when they competed again at the EuroBasket 1953 in Moscow. In the preliminary round, they finished with 1 win and 3 losses for 4th place of the 5 teams in the group. They fared significantly better in the first classification round, winning 3 and losing only 1 to finish in the middle of a three-way tie in the group. They lost both the 9–12 and 11/12 classification games, however, taking 12th place of 17 overall.

At the next event, Finland had some difficulty in the preliminary round of EuroBasket 1955. They lost all three early games in Budapest and were relegated to the classification round. Once again, not faced with the world elite opponents anymore, the Fins shone in the classification round and won all four of the pool play games. They won their classification 9–12 match as well, but lost to France in the 9/10 final to finish 10th of 18 in the tournament.

In Sofia, at the EuroBasket 1957, the Finns finished third in their preliminary group after going 1–2. They moved to the 9–16 classification pool and won five games there with only one loss. They took 11th place overall in the tournament.

Modern era

At the EuroBasket 1995 in Greece, was Finland's first qualification to the top European basketball tournament since 1977. The national team did not fair too well at the event though. As they were routed in their first match against Russia 126–74, and ultimately led to them finishing with an 0–6 record (13th place) and were eliminated.

Finland qualified for the EuroBasket 2011. The tournament berth was the first for Finland in 16 years. There they finished third out of six teams in EuroBasket 2011 Group C and defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 92–64 and Montenegro 71–65. This allowed them to qualify for the EuroBasket 2011 Group F. In their first match they were easily defeated by Russia but afterwards they defeated Georgia, before losing to Slovenia in their final match of the tournament. Despite not making it to the best of 8 tournament, Finland ended up making it to their first ever FIBA World Cup as a wild card team alongside Greece, Turkey, and Brazil.

Finland was selected one of the co-hosts for the EuroBasket 2017. Tournament's Group A was played in Helsinki, at the venue then called Hartwall Arena. Finland finished second in the group with wins against France, Poland, Greece and Iceland, and advanced to the round of 16 where they were defeated by Italy. They ultimately finished 11th in the competition

After not qualifying for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Finland performed well at the 2022 EuroBasket. They finished second in their group again, after Serbia. Led by Lauri Markkanen and his historical 43-point performance, they defeated Croatia in the round of 16. Eventually they were knocked out of the competition in the quarter-finals by Spain and finished 7th in the tournament. This was the nation's best finish since 1967, when they were sixth. The event was also a farewell for the captain Shawn Huff and long-served point guard Petteri Koponen as they both announced their retirement after the tournament.

Finland also qualified for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, as the first nation from Europe to make it through in the qualifiers. They lost their group stage games against Australia, Germany and Japan in Okinawa, but performed well in the classification games against Cape Verde and Venezuela, finishing the tournament with two wins in the 21st place.

In early July 2024, Finland competed at the 2024 FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament in Valencia, Spain. Without Markkanen, they unexpectedly made it through to the tournament's final round, but were knocked out of the competition by Spain again. Mikael Jantunen was named in the tournament's All-Star Five.

At the 2025 EuroBasket, Finland finished third out of six teams in Group B, which was played at home in Tampere. They defeated Serbia in the round of 16 game in Riga and advanced to the semi-finals for the first time in the country's EuroBasket history. The team finished ultimately 4th in the tournament, after being defeated by Greece 92–89 in the bronze medal game. Miikka Muurinen, the youngest player in the tournament, was awarded the inaugural EuroBasket Rising Star trophy after delivering multiple highlight reel dunks throughout the tournament. Lauri Markkanen was named in the All-Tournament Second Team. After the tournament, Hanno Möttölä left the coaching staff to join the Canada national team, and later it was announced that Joonas Iisalo would replace him.

Summer World University Games

Summer World University Games
Year	Position
2007	11th
2009	10th
2011	7th
2013	10th
2015	14th
2017	7th
2019	9th
2021	5th
2025	7th

Participated in other competitions

• FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup: (2018)
• Adecco Cup: (2015)
• Friendship Games: (1984)

2025

Finland  v  Serbia

21 February 2025 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Finland	95–105	Serbia	Espoo, Finland
18:30 EET (UTC+2)	Scoring by quarter: 26–24, 31–27, 14–28, 24–26
	Pts: Jantunen 18 Rebs: Jantunen 6 Asts: Maxhuni 7	Boxscore	Pts: Petrušev 34 Rebs: Petrušev 8 Asts: Avramović 9	Arena: Espoo Metro Areena Attendance: 6,146 Referees: Antonio Conde (ESP), Sergii Zashchuk (UKR), Dariusz Zapolski (POL)

Denmark  v  Finland

24 February 2025 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Denmark	77–83	Finland	Copenhagen, Denmark
20:00 CET (UTC+1)	Scoring by quarter: 25–24, 22–17, 23–18, 7–24
	Pts: Larsen 22 Rebs: Larsen 11 Asts: Lundberg 6	Boxscore	Pts: Nkamhoua 26 Rebs: Nkamhoua 8 Asts: Salin 6	Arena: Farum Arena Attendance: 2,391 Referees: Ariadna Chueca (ESP), Igor Mitrovski (MKD), Péter Praksch (HUN)

Finland  v  Belgium

8 August 2025 Friendly	Finland	105–62	Belgium	Jyväskylä, Finland
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 25–17, 28–17, 26–16, 26–12
	Pts: Markkanen 48 Rebs: Markkanen 9 Asts: Little 8	Boxscore	Pts: Van Vliet 12 Rebs: Bako 12 Asts: Coleman 3	Arena: LähiTapiola Areena Attendance: 4,294

Finland  v  Belgium

11 August 2025 Friendly	Finland	92–74	Belgium	Espoo, Finland
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 23–22, 28–19, 23–23, 18–10
	Pts: Markkanen 31 Rebs: Nkamhoua 8 Asts: Maxhuni 4	Boxscore	Pts: Vanwijn 15 Rebs: Bako 9 Asts: four players 4	Arena: Metro Areena

Poland  v  Finland

17 August 2025 Friendly	Poland	88–97	Finland	Sosnowiec, Poland
14:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Scoring by quarter: 15–20, 26–25, 21–28, 26–24
	Pts: Balcerowski 17 Rebs: Olejniczak 6 Asts: Pluta 6	Boxscore	Pts: Markkanen 42 Rebs: Markkanen 12 Asts: Maxhuni 5	Arena: Arena Sosnowiec

Finland  v  Poland

21 August 2025 Friendly	Finland	106–87	Poland	Espoo, Finland
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 27–19, 35–24, 22–24, 22–20
	Pts: Nkamhoua 18 Rebs: Markkanen 7 Asts: Little 7	Boxscore	Pts: Loyd 17 Rebs: Żołnierewicz 5 Asts: Pluta 7	Arena: Metro Areena

Sweden  v  Finland

27 August 2025 EuroBasket 2025 – Group stage	Sweden	90–93	Finland	Tampere, Finland
20:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 21–26, 27–23, 24–23, 18–21
	Pts: Håkanson 28 Rebs: Birgander 7 Asts: Gaddefors 6	Boxscore	Pts: Markkanen 28 Rebs: Markkanen 6 Asts: Salin 7	Arena: Nokia Arena Attendance: 11,865 Referees: Georgios Poursanidis (GRE), Boris Krejić (SVN), Martin Horozov (BUL)

Finland  v  Great Britain

29 August 2025 EuroBasket 2025 – Group stage	Finland	109–79	Great Britain	Tampere, Finland
20:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 30–21, 28–21, 23–14, 28–23
	Pts: Markkanen 43 Rebs: Nkamhoua 7 Asts: three players 5	Boxscore	Pts: Nelson 13 Rebs: Yeboah 8 Asts: Phillip 5	Arena: Nokia Arena Attendance: 12,900 Referees: Boris Krejić (SVN), Martin Horozov (BUL), Zdenko Tomašovič (SVK)

Montenegro  v  Finland

30 August 2025 EuroBasket 2025 – Group stage	Montenegro	65–85	Finland	Tampere, Finland
20:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 23–23, 14–24, 15–20, 13–18
	Pts: Slavković 15 Rebs: Vučević 12 Asts: Allman, Simonović 5	Boxscore	Pts: Markkanen 26 Rebs: Markkanen 13 Asts: Maxhuni 6	Arena: Nokia Arena Attendance: 12,900 Referees: Ariadna Chueca (ESP), Martin Horozov (BUL), Michał Proc (POL)

Finland  v  Lithuania

1 September 2025 EuroBasket 2025 – Group stage	Finland	78–81	Lithuania	Tampere, Finland
20:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 21–20, 15–25, 12–12, 30–24
	Pts: Jantunen, Markkanen 19 Rebs: Markkanen 11 Asts: Markkanen 6	Boxscore	Pts: Jokubaitis 16 Rebs: Tubelis 11 Asts: Jokubaitis 9	Arena: Nokia Arena Attendance: 12,900 Referees: Ademir Zurapović (BIH), Luis Castillo (ESP), Boris Krejić (SVN)

Finland  v  Germany

3 September 2025 EuroBasket 2025 – Group stage	Finland	61–91	Germany	Tampere, Finland
20:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 19–21, 17–29, 13–19, 12–22
	Pts: Nkamhoua 16 Rebs: Nkamhoua 11 Asts: Grandison, Little 3	Boxscore	Pts: F. Wagner 23 Rebs: three players 7 Asts: Schröder 9	Arena: Nokia Arena Attendance: 12,900 Referees: Ademir Zurapović (BIH), Boris Krejić (SVN), Luis Castillo (ESP)

Serbia  v  Finland

6 September 2025 EuroBasket 2025 – Round of 16	Serbia	86–92	Finland	Riga, Latvia
21:45 EEST (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 24–28, 24–16, 18–24, 20–24
	Pts: Jokić 33 Rebs: Jokić 8 Asts: three players 4	Boxscore	Pts: Markkanen 29 Rebs: Little, Markkanen 8 Asts: Little 6	Arena: Xiaomi Arena Attendance: 4,006 Referees: Jorge Vázquez (PUR), Takaki Kato (JPN), Luis Castillo (ESP)

Finland  v  Georgia

10 September 2025 EuroBasket 2025 – Quarter-finals	Finland	93–79	Georgia	Riga, Latvia
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 28–15, 29–25, 14–22, 22–17
	Pts: Jantunen 19 Rebs: Salin 7 Asts: Little 9	Boxscore	Pts: Mamukelashvili 22 Rebs: Bitadze 6 Asts: Shengelia 5	Arena: Xiaomi Arena Attendance: 6,025 Referees: Yohan Rosso (FRA), Julio Anaya (PAN), Gatis Saliņš (LAT)

Germany  v  Finland

12 September 2025 EuroBasket 2025 – Semi-finals	Germany	98–86	Finland	Riga, Latvia
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 30–26, 31–21, 20–26, 17–13
	Pts: Schröder 26 Rebs: Theis 11 Asts: Schröder 12	Boxscore	Pts: Nkamhoua 21 Rebs: Markkanen, Nkamhoua 8 Asts: Little 5	Arena: Xiaomi Arena Attendance: 10,047 Referees: Yohan Rosso (FRA), Antonio Conde (ESP), Boris Krejić (SVN)

Greece  v  Finland

14 September 2025 EuroBasket 2025 – Third place game	Greece	92–89	Finland	Riga, Latvia
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 24–15, 24–19, 21–22, 23–33
	Pts: G. Antetokounmpo 30 Rebs: G. Antetokounmpo 17 Asts: G. Antetokounmpo, Papanikolaou 6	Boxscore	Pts: Markkanen 19 Rebs: Markkanen 10 Asts: Jantunen 7	Arena: Xiaomi Arena Attendance: 11,000 Referees: Jorge Vázquez (PUR), Antonio Conde (ESP), Julio Anaya (PAN)

Hungary  v  Finland

28 November 2025 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – 1st round	Hungary	89–82	Finland	Szombathely, Hungary
18:00 CET (UTC+1)	Scoring by quarter: 31–17, 29–22, 15–22, 14–21
	Pts: Perl 25 Rebs: Reuvers 6 Asts: Somogyi 6	Boxscore	Pts: Salin 16 Rebs: Muurinen 8 Asts: Jantunen, Salin 4	Arena: Arena Savaria Attendance: 2,700 Referees: Martin Vulić (CRO), Yener Yılmaz (TUR), Ioannis Agrafiotis (GRE)

Finland  v  France

1 December 2025 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – 1st round	Finland	83–76	France	Espoo, Finland
18:30 EET (UTC+2)	Scoring by quarter: 20–19, 17–26, 19–16, 27–15
	Pts: Maxhuni 22 Rebs: Jantunen 9 Asts: Jantunen 6	Boxscore	Pts: Strazel 11 Rebs: Gaudoux 7 Asts: Sene, Strazel 3	Arena: Espoo Metro Areena Attendance: 6,683 Referees: Ademir Zurapović (BIH), Fernando Calatrava (ESP), Juozas Barkauskas (LTU)

2026

Belgium  v  Finland

26 February 2026 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – 1st round	Belgium	66–71	Finland	Charleroi, Belgium
20:30 CET (UTC+1)	Scoring by quarter: 24–12, 13–20, 19–16, 10–23
	Pts: Lecomte 20 Rebs: Bolavie 6 Asts: Lecomte 6	Boxscore	Pts: Nkamhoua 23 Rebs: Nkamhoua 12 Asts: Maxhuni 6	Arena: Dôme Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Petar Pešić (SRB), Blaž Zupančič (SVN), Elvis Binders-Čoders (LAT)

Finland  v  Belgium

1 March 2026 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – 1st round	Finland	78–75	Belgium	Espoo, Finland
18:30 EET (UTC+2)	Scoring by quarter: 17–22, 17–15, 22–15, 22–23
	Pts: Nkamhoua 23 Rebs: Madsen 11 Asts: four players 2	Boxscore	Pts: Schwartz 19 Rebs: Bratanovic, N. De Ridder 6 Asts: Lecomte 7	Arena: Espoo Metro Areena Attendance: 6,822 Referees: Wojciech Liszka (POL), Carsten Straube (GER), Ritvars Helmšteins (LAT)

Finland  v  Hungary

3 July 2026 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – 1st round	Finland	vs.	Hungary	Finland
--:-- EEST (UTC+3)
		Boxscore

France  v  Finland

6 July 2026 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifiers – 1st round	France	vs.	Finland	France
--:-- CEST (UTC+2)
		Boxscore

Current roster

Roster for the 2027 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers matches on 27 February and 1 March 2026 against Belgium.^[3]

Finland men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. SG 9 Sasu Salin (C) 34 – (1991-06-11)11 June 1991 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Estudiantes PF 13 Olivier Nkamhoua 25 – (2000-05-02)2 May 2000 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Varese SG 14 Henri Kantonen 28 – (1997-08-20)20 August 1997 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Kataja G/F 16 Perttu Blomgren 24 – (2001-09-13)13 September 2001 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Mitteldeutscher PF 18 Mikael Jantunen 25 – (2000-04-20)20 April 2000 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Fenerbahçe C 20 Alexander Madsen 31 – (1995-01-26)26 January 1995 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Karditsas PG 21 Edon Maxhuni 27 – (1998-03-21)21 March 1998 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) BCM Gravelines SG 22 Samu Adler 18 – (2007-08-10)10 August 2007 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Salon Vilpas SF 24 Miikka Muurinen 18 – (2007-03-04)4 March 2007 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Partizan SF 25 Mustapha Amzil 24 – (2001-09-12)12 September 2001 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Trepça SG 30 Andre Gustavson 26 – (1999-05-07)7 May 1999 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Oostende PG 35 Ilari Seppälä 32 – (1993-03-27)27 March 1993 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Kecskeméti	Head coach Lassi Tuovi Assistant coach(es) Joonas Iisalo Teemu Rannikko Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 27 February 2026

Depth chart

Notable players

Current notable players who have played for the national team:

Current notable players roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. C Mikael Aalto 31 – (1994-09-12)12 September 1994 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Korihait SF Max Besselink 23 – (2002-04-04)4 April 2002 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Kataja C Daniel Dolenc 32 – (1993-08-10)10 August 1993 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) HKK Široki G Aaron Ekwere 19 – (2006-12-30)30 December 2006 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Drive Black Academy C Federiko Federiko 24 – (2001-05-09)9 May 2001 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Texas Tech Red Raiders SG Jacob Grandison 27 – (1998-04-02)2 April 1998 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Boulazac SF Shawn Hopkins 30 – (1995-05-09)9 May 1995 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Álftanes SG Okko Järvi 30 – (1996-01-12)12 January 1996 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Kecskeméti PG Severi Kaukiainen 27 – (1998-05-11)11 May 1998 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Kalev PG Aatu Kivimäki 28 – (1997-06-08)8 June 1997 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Patrioti Levice PG Miro Little 21 – (2004-05-30)30 May 2004 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) UC Santa Barbara PF Lauri Markkanen 28 – (1997-05-22)22 May 1997 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Utah Jazz F Alex Murphy 32 – (1993-06-03)3 June 1993 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Fuenlabrada SF Topias Palmi 31 – (1994-08-26)26 August 1994 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Tampereen Pyrintö C Hannes Pöllä 27 – (1998-03-09)9 March 1998 2.12 m (6 ft 11 in) Kataja F Remu Raitanen 28 – (1997-08-21)21 August 1997 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) KTP Basket F Thomas Tumba 24 – (2001-04-15)15 April 2001 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Kataja SF Elias Valtonen 26 – (1999-06-11)11 June 1999 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Granada	Legend Club – describes current club Age – describes age on 27 February 2026

Most games played

• Stat totals as of 9 September 2024.
•   Indicates a player that is still actively playing with the senior Finland national team.

Top scorers

• Stat totals as of 9 September 2024.
•   Indicates a player that is still actively playing with the senior Finland national team.

Manufacturer

• Spalding
• Li-ning^[13]
• Adidas
• Avia
• Craft

Sponsor

• Finnair
• Nokia
• Pirkka
• Vantaan Energia
• Microsoft^[13]
• PostNord

Videos

• Finland – Tournament Highlights – 2014 FIBA World Cup Youtube.com video