France Beats Finland to Reach EuroVolley Final Against Poland
France beats Finland 3-1 to reach its first EuroVolley final since 2015, setting up a gold medal match against defending champions Poland.
France reached the men's EuroVolley final for the first time since winning the title in 2015, beating surprise package Finland 3-1 in the semifinal in Milan. France had lost both of its previous semifinal appearances, in 2019 and 2023, but this time Théo Faure, Mathis Henno, and their teammates were flawless, ending Finland's run. With the win, French coach Andrea Giani will contest his third European Championship final with a third different national team, having previously reached the final with Slovenia in 2015 and Germany in 2017. France will face defending champions Poland for the gold medal and a place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Finland, still chasing its first EuroVolley medal, will play Slovenia for bronze on Saturday.
France, playing with a squad largely renewed from its Olympic gold-medal-winning team, faced a Finland side that had stunned the volleyball world earlier in the week by beating defending world champions Italy in Turin. France took control of the first set behind Faure and Henno, who scored six points each, closing it out 25-17 with three blocks and three aces. Finland lost setter Ivanov to an ankle injury during warmup.
Finland trailed 1-3 early in the second set before leveling at 4-4, then grew in confidence, forcing timeouts from Giani as they built a lead. Finland closed out the set 25-17, capped by a spike from Luka Marttila after seven points from Joonas Jokela.
France regained control early in the third set, jumping to a 13-5 lead behind strong serving. Finland rallied briefly after substituting in Veikka Lindqvist for Jokela, but France pulled away again behind Faure, who scored 10 points in the set, closing it 25-18.
Finland put up more resistance early in the fourth set, but a string of French blocks pushed the score to 9-6, a lead France would not relinquish, closing out the match 25-15.
Henno and Faure led all scorers with 21 and 20 points respectively. For Finland, Nooa Marttila scored 13 and Jokela added 12.
