Finland men's national basketball team

The Finland men's national basketball team (Finnish: Suomen koripallomaajoukkue, Swedish: Finlands herrlandslag i basket) represents Finland in international basketball competition. The national team is governed by Basketball Finland.

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Finland women's national basketball team.

Finland
FIBA ranking20 Increase 5 (15 September 2023)[1]
Joined FIBA1939
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationBasketball Finland
CoachLassi Tuovi
Nickname(s)Susijengi
(The Wolf Pack)
Olympic Games
Appearances2
MedalsNone
FIBA World Cup
Appearances2
MedalsNone
EuroBasket
Appearances17
MedalsNone
First international
 France 76–11 Finland 
(Kaunas, Lithuania; 22 May 1939)
Biggest win
 Luxembourg 53–111 Finland 
(Luxembourg City; 16 September 2006)
Biggest defeat
 Lithuania 112–9 Finland 
(Kaunas, Lithuania; 27 May 1939)

Finland has played in 17 EuroBasket tournaments, with their best finish coming in sixth place at EuroBasket 1967, on home soil. Finland has appeared at the Olympic Games twice, in 1952 as hosts, and 1964. Finland has also qualified for the FIBA World Cup twice, in 2014 and 2023.

Since 2011, Finland has had the highest FIBA World Ranking among Nordic countries.

History
Finnish national team during the EuroBasket 1939 in Lithuania.
Finland playing against Mexico at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
Finnish national basketball team in 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Jyrki Immonen (left) and national teammate Teijo Finneman in 1967.

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
Finland after defeating France at EuroBasket 2017.

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 they 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.

Competitive record

Results and fixtures

  Win   Loss

2023
24 February 2023 Israel  95–970(OT)  Finland Tel Aviv, Israel
14:30 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 28–13, 18–22, 24–25, 13–23, Overtime: 12–14
Pts: Timor 27
Rebs: Zalmanson 11
Asts: Timor, Zalmanson 6		 Boxscore Pts: Salin 18
Rebs: Murphy 9
Asts: Maxhuni 6		 Arena: Drive in Arena
Attendance: 1,590
Referees: Georgios Poursanidis (GRE), Vladimir Jevtović (SRB), Anastasios Kardaras (GRE)
27 February 2023 Finland  81–87  Germany Espoo, Finland
18:30 EET (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 22–17, 21–29, 19–23, 19–18
Pts: Jantunen 20
Rebs: Jantunen 6
Asts: Maxhuni 6		 Boxscore Pts: Voigtmann 23
Rebs: Voigtmann 9
Asts: Hollatz 14		 Arena: Espoo Metro Areena
Attendance: 6,504
Referees: Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Aleksandar Glišić (SRB), Viola Györgyi (NOR)
25 August 2023 Finland  72–98  Australia Okinawa City, Japan
17:00 (UTC+9) Scoring by quarter: 21–17, 19–28, 14–25, 18–28
Pts: Markkanen 19
Rebs: Markkanen 8
Asts: Little, Markkanen 4		 Boxscore Pts: Mills 25
Rebs: Giddey 9
Asts: Giddey 8		 Arena: Okinawa Arena
Attendance: 5,729
Referees: Jorge Vázquez (PUR), Wojciech Liszka (POL), Blanca Burns (USA)
27 August 2023 Japan  98–88  Finland Okinawa City, Japan
21:10 (UTC+9) Scoring by quarter: 22–15, 14–31, 27–27, 35–15
Pts: Hawkinson 28
Rebs: Hawkinson 19
Asts: Kawamura 9		 Boxscore Pts: Markkanen 27
Rebs: Markkanen 12
Asts: four players 5		 Arena: Okinawa Arena
Attendance: 7,374
Referees: Ademir Zurapović (BIH), Amy Bonner (USA), Ahmed Al-Shuwaili (IRQ)
29 August 2023 Germany  101–75  Finland Okinawa City, Japan
16:30 (UTC+9) Scoring by quarter: 19–22, 28–17, 29–16, 25–20
Pts: Bonga, Schröder 15
Rebs: Hollatz, Voigtmann 4
Asts: Lô 5		 Boxscore Pts: Nkamhoua 14
Rebs: Jantunen 5
Asts: Maxhuni 6		 Arena: Okinawa Arena
Attendance: 6,037
Referees: Matthew Kallio (CAN), Martin Horozov (BUL), Wael Mostafa (EGY)
31 August 2023 Cape Verde  77–100  Finland Okinawa City, Japan
16:30 (UTC+9) Scoring by quarter: 16–28, 23–26, 17–23, 21–23
Pts: I. Almeida 17
Rebs: E. Tavares 12
Asts: Mendes 5		 Boxscore Pts: Markkanen 34
Rebs: Markkanen 9
Asts: Jantunen, Salin 6		 Arena: Okinawa Arena
Attendance: 5,960
Referees: Jorge Vázquez (PUR), Wojciech Liszka (POL), Ahmed Al-Shuwaili (IRQ)
2 September 2023 Finland  90–75  Venezuela Okinawa City, Japan
16:30 (UTC+9) Scoring by quarter: 13–17, 35–18, 19–27, 23–13
Pts: Markkanen 32
Rebs: Markkanen 9
Asts: Little 9		 Boxscore Pts: Chourio 17
Rebs: Graterol 6
Asts: Guillent 7		 Arena: Okinawa Arena
Attendance: 6,216
Referees: Martin Horozov (BUL), Wojciech Liszka (POL), Ahmed Al-Shuwaili (IRQ)

2024
23 February 2024 Serbia  vs.  Finland Serbia
Boxscore
26 February 2024 Finland  vs.  Denmark Finland
Boxscore
21 November 2024 Finland  vs.  Georgia Finland
Boxscore
24 November 2024 Georgia  vs.  Finland Georgia
Boxscore

2025
21 February 2025 Finland  vs.  Serbia Finland
Boxscore
24 February 2025 Denmark  vs.  Finland Denmark
Boxscore

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.[3][4]

Finland men's national basketball team – 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameAge – Date of birthHeightClubCtr.
G 1 Miro Little 19 – (2004-05-30)30 May 2004 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Baylor Bears United States
F 5 Alex Murphy 30 – (1993-06-03)3 June 1993 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Estudiantes Spain
SG 9 Sasu Salin (C) 32 – (1991-06-11)11 June 1991 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Tenerife Spain
PF 13 Olivier Nkamhoua 23 – (2000-05-02)2 May 2000 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Michigan Wolverines United States
SF 14 Henri Kantonen 26 – (1997-08-20)20 August 1997 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Mažeikiai Lithuania
F 18 Mikael Jantunen 23 – (2000-04-20)20 April 2000 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Paris France
SF 19 Elias Valtonen 24 – (1999-06-11)11 June 1999 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Bàsquet Manresa Spain
C 20 Alexander Madsen 28 – (1995-01-26)26 January 1995 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) VEF Rīga Latvia
PG 21 Edon Maxhuni 25 – (1998-03-21)21 March 1998 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) ESSM Le Portel France
PF 23 Lauri Markkanen 26 – (1997-05-22)22 May 1997 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Utah Jazz United States
SG 34 Jacob Grandison 25 – (1998-04-02)2 April 1998 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) KK Cibona Croatia
G 35 Ilari Seppälä 30 – (1993-03-23)23 March 1993 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Saint-Chamond France
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 25 August 2023

Depth chart
Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Olivier Nkamhoua Alexander Madsen
PF Lauri Markkanen Alex Murphy
SF Mikael Jantunen Elias Valtonen Jacob Grandison
SG Sasu Salin Henri Kantonen
PG Edon Maxhuni Miro Little Ilari Seppälä

Head coach position
  • Estonia Alois Suurna – (1939)
  • Finland Keijo Viianen – (1950)
  • Finland Eino Ojanen – (1951–1952)
  • Finland Matti Simola – (1952)
  • Finland Eino Ojanen – (1953–1955)
  • Finland Kalevi Tuominen – (1955–1969)
  • United States/Finland Robert Petersen – (1969–1972)
  • Finland Kauko Jämsén – (1972–1973)
  • United States/Finland Robert Petersen – (1977)
  • Finland Kari Liimo – (1982–1984)
  • Finland Eero Saarinen – (1984–1991)
  • Finland Henrik Dettmann – (1992–1997)
  • United States Aaron McCarthy – (1997–2001)
  • Finland Ari Tammivaara – (2001–2003)
  • Finland Tomi Kaminen – (2005)
  • Finland Pekka Salminen – (2008)
  • Finland Henrik Dettmann – (2004–2022)
  • Finland Lassi Tuovi – (2022–present)

Past rosters

1939 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 8 teams

3 Martti Salminen, 4 Kalevi Ihalainen, 5 Ilkka Törrönen, 6 Erkki Saurala, 8 Pentti Vuollekoski, 9 Pauli Sarkkula, 10 Heinonen, 11 Erkki Lindén, 12 Vladi Marmo, 13 Reino Valtonen, 14 Alo Suurna (Coach: Alois Suurna)

1951 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 17 teams

3 Oiva Virtanen, 4 Raimo Lindholm, 5 Juhani Kyöstilä, 6 Timo Suviranta, 7 Pentti Laaksonen, 8 Raine Nuutinen, 9 Kalevi Sylander, 11 Arto Koivisto, 12 Pertti Mutru, 13 Kalevi Heinänen, 14 Kaj Gustafsson, 15 Olli Arppe, 16 Allan Pietarinen, 17 Tapio Pöyhönen (Coach: Eino Ojanen)

1952 Olympic Games: finished 15th among 23 teams

3 Juhani Kyöstilä, 4 Raine Nuutinen, 5 Raimo Lindholm, 6 Timo Suviranta, 7 Kalevi Heinänen, 8 Pentti Laaksonen, 9 Oiva Virtanen, 10 Esko Karhunen, 11 Eero Salonen, 12 Pertti Mutru, 13 Tapio Pöyhönen (Coach: Matti Simola)

1953 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 17 teams

3 Timo Lampen, 4 Raine Nuutinen, 5 Raimo Lindholm, 6 Timo Suviranta, 7 Keijo Hynninen, 8 Kalevi Heinänen, 9 Pentti Laaksonen, 10 Oiva Virtanen, 11 Eero Salonen, 12 Kaj Gustafsson, 13 Pertti Mutru, 14 Allan Pietarinen (Coach: Eino Ojanen)

1955 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 18 teams

3 Timo Lampén, 4 Raine Nuutinen, 5 Raimo Lindholm, 6 Timo Suviranta, 7 Kalevi Heinänen, 8 Oiva Virtanen, 9 Eero Salonen, 10 Kalevi Sylander, 11 Taisto Ravantti, 12 Seppo Kuusela, 13 Asko Jokinen, 14 Pertti Mutru, 15 Kalevi Tuominen (Coach: Eino Ojanen)

1957 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 16 teams

3 Timo Lampén, 4 Raine Nuutinen, 5 Raimo Lindholm, 6 Timo Suviranta, 7 Arvo Jantunen, 8 Paavo Suhonen, 9 Juhani Kala, 10 Seppo Kuusela, 11 Kalevi Sylander, 12 Eero Salonen, 13 Pertti Mutru, 14 Arto Koivisto (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1959 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 17 teams

3 Matti Köli, 4 Timo Lampén, 5 Pentti Palkoaho, 6 Matti Nenonen, 7 Raine Nuutinen, 8 Raimo Lindholm, 9 Arvo Jantunen, 10 Kyösti Rousti, 11 Juhani Kala, 12 Seppo Kuusela, 13 Eero Salonen, 14 Raimo Vartia (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1961 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 19 teams

4 Uolevi Manninen, 5 Kari Liimo, 6 Timo Lampén, 7 Pertti Laanti, 8 Lauri Nurma, 9 Martti Liimo, 10 Tony Bärlund, 11 Raimo Lindholm, 12 Rauno Ailus, 13 Arvo Jantunen, 14 Seppo Kuusela, 15 Raimo Vartia (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1963 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 16 teams

4 Uolevi Manninen, 5 Kari Liimo, 6 Timo Lampén, 7 Pertti Laanti, 8 Martti Liimo, 9 Juha Harjula, 10 Antero Siljola, 11 Rauno Ailus, 12 Kauko Kauppinen, 13 Jorma Pilkevaara, 14 Seppo Kuusela, 15 Raimo Vartia (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1964 Olympic Games: finished 11th among 16 teams

4 Uolevi Manninen, 5 Kari Liimo, 6 Timo Lampén, 7 Pertti Laanti, 8 Martti Liimo, 9 Raimo Lindholm, 10 Juha Harjula, 11 Risto Kala, 12 Kauko Kauppinen, 13 Jorma Pilkevaara, 14 Teijo Finneman, 15 Raimo Vartia (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1965 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 16 teams

4 Uolevi Manninen, 5 Kari Liimo, 6 Timo Lampén, 7 Pertti Laanti, 8 Martti Liimo, 9 Kari Lahti, 10 Hannu Paananen, 11 Jorma Pilkevaara, 12 Kari Rönnholm, 13 Lars Karell, 14 Teijo Finneman, 15 Jyrki Immonen (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1967 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 16 teams

4 Veikko Vainio, 5 Kari Liimo, 6 Uolevi Manninen, 7 Pertti Laanti, 8 Martti Liimo, 9 Kari Lahti, 10 Kari Rönnholm, 11 Lars Karell, 12 Jorma Pilkevaara, 13 Olavi Ahonen, 14 Teijo Finneman, 15 Jyrki Immonen (Coach: Kalevi Tuominen)

1977 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 12 teams

4 Kalevi Sarkalahti 5 Heikki Kasko, 6 Tapio Sten, 7 Heikki Taponen, 8 Antti Zitting, 9 Risto Lignell, 10 Raimo Mäntynen, 11 Anssi Rauramo, 12 Mikko Koskinen, 13 Klaus Mahlamäki, 14 Jarmo Laitinen, 15 Erkki Saaristo (Coach: Robert Petersen)

1995 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 14 teams

4 Martti Kuisma, 5 Hanno Möttölä, 6 Pekka Markkanen, 7 Sakari Pehkonen, 8 Jarkko Tuomala, 9 Markku Larkio, 10 Riku Marttinen, 11 Mika-Matti Tahvanainen, 12 Juha Luhtanen, 13 Jyri Lehtonen, 14 Kari-Pekka Klinga, 15 Petri-Mikael Niiranen (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

2011 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 24 teams

4 Mikko Koivisto, 5 Antti Nikkilä, 6 Kimmo Muurinen, 7 Shawn Huff, 8 Gerald Lee, 9 Sasu Salin, 10 Tuukka Kotti, 11 Petteri Koponen,
12 Vesa Mäkäläinen, 13 Hanno Möttölä (C), 14 Petri Virtanen, 15 Teemu Rannikko (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

2013 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 24 teams

4 Mikko Koivisto, 5 Antti Nikkilä, 6 Kimmo Muurinen, 7 Shawn Huff, 8 Gerald Lee, 9 Sasu Salin, 10 Tuukka Kotti, 11 Petteri Koponen,
12 Samuel Haanpää, 13 Hanno Möttölä (C), 14 Roope Ahonen, 15 Teemu Rannikko (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

2014 FIBA World Cup: finished 22nd among 24 teams[5]

4 Mikko Koivisto, 5 Erik Murphy, 6 Kimmo Muurinen, 7 Shawn Huff, 8 Gerald Lee, 9 Sasu Salin, 10 Tuukka Kotti, 11 Petteri Koponen,
12 Matti Nuutinen, 13 Hanno Möttölä (C), 14 Antero Lehto, 15 Teemu Rannikko (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

2015 EuroBasket: finished 16th among 24 teams

4 Mikko Koivisto, 7 Shawn Huff (C), 8 Gerald Lee, 9 Sasu Salin, 10 Tuukka Kotti, 11 Petteri Koponen, 12 Matti Nuutinen,
21 Ville Kaunisto, 24 Joonas Cavén, 30 Roope Ahonen, 31 Jamar Wilson, 33 Erik Murphy (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

2017 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 24 teams[6]

4 Mikko Koivisto, 7 Shawn Huff (C), 8 Gerald Lee, 9 Sasu Salin, 10 Tuukka Kotti, 11 Petteri Koponen, 12 Matti Nuutinen,
15 Teemu Rannikko, 22 Carl Lindbom, 23 Lauri Markkanen, 31 Jamar Wilson, 33 Erik Murphy (Coach: Henrik Dettmann)

2022 EuroBasket: finished 7th among 24 teams[7]

1 Miro Little, 7 Shawn Huff (C), 9 Sasu Salin, 11 Petteri Koponen, 14 Henri Kantonen, 18 Mikael Jantunen, 19 Elias Valtonen,
20 Alexander Madsen, 21 Edon Maxhuni, 23 Lauri Markkanen, 35 Ilari Seppälä, 41 Topias Palmi (Coach: Lassi Tuovi)

2023 FIBA World Cup: finished 21st among 32 teams[8]

1 Miro Little, 5 Alex Murphy, 9 Sasu Salin (C), 13 Olivier Nkamhoua, 14 Henri Kantonen, 18 Mikael Jantunen, 19 Elias Valtonen,
20 Alexander Madsen, 21 Edon Maxhuni, 23 Lauri Markkanen, 34 Jacob Grandison, 35 Ilari Seppälä (Coach: Lassi Tuovi)

Kit

Manufacturer

See also

References
  1. "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 15 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  2. "Basketball at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's Basketball Round One". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  3. "Susijengi Aasian MM-kisoihin on nimetty" (in Finnish). basket.fi. 18 August 2023.
  4. "Team roster: Finland" (PDF). FIBA. 25 August 2023.
  5. "Finland at the 2014 FIBA World Cup". Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  6. "Finland at the EuroBasket 2017". Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  7. "Finland at the EuroBasket 2022". Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  8. "Finland at the 2023 FIBA World Cup". Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  9. Finland | EuroBasket 2015 Archived 28 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, FIBA.com. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
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