Estonia beat hosts Finland 3-2 in Tampere: Finland denied Pool C top spot

Olivia Kunnari walked to the centre of the Nokia Arena floor to sing Finland's national anthem, and 9,813 people in Tampere rose to their feet. She is the niece of Finland head coach Olli Kunnari, a detail volleytimes.com recorded before the first serve. Three hours later, almost none of them were still seated. Estonia left the court with a 3-2 victory (22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 20-25, 15-11), denying the hosts a share of the Pool C crown at the 2026 European Men's Volleyball Championship, according to WorldofVolley.

I watched this match twice. The first time to count points, the second to understand how a team that had just recorded its first win of the tournament could beat the host nation inside Nokia Arena.

A night that decided the top of Pool C

Before the first serve in Tampere, Belgium had already finished its work. They swept Serbia 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-16) in the earlier match that day, reaching 13 points and locking up first place in the group. That news reached Finland before set one began — the particular pressure of group play, when you know exactly what you need and know you have no room left for error.

Finland entered the match on 10 points. Under the standard CEV scoring system, a 3-0 or 3-1 win is worth three points, a 3-2 win is worth two, and a 2-3 loss still earns one. Estonia stood on the other side: three points already banked from a 3-1 win over the Netherlands days earlier, and nothing left to lose.

The group stage of the 24-team tournament closed with this match. The round of 16 begins this weekend in Sofia and Turin.

What actually happened across five sets

The opening set went to Finland, 25-22. The Marttila brothers and Joonas Jokela — playing his 100th match for the national team — kept finding openings against the Estonian defence, according to volleytimes.com. It was the kind of set the hosts controlled through wing attack and serves difficult enough to stop Estonia from organising quick counterattacks.

Set two swung. Opposite Timo Andre Lohmus opened a 16-11 lead and Estonia closed it out 25-21. What mattered was less the score than the way Estonia changed its serving targets: they accepted more risk, pushed Finland out of its ideal setter position, and turned high balls into contests at the net.

Set three was the best of the match. Luka Marttila ripped off three straight aces to level at 19-19, and Nokia Arena erupted. Estonia did not fold. Lohmus delivered a decisive block for a 22-20 lead, and the visitors took it 25-22, according to volleyweek.bg. At the elite level, a block at 22-20 is worth more than three straight aces, because it takes away more than a point: it takes away the opponent's confidence at the exact moment they had just found their rhythm.

Finland refused to fold. The coach sent on Niko Suihkonen for Nooa Marttila, and the substitute scored seven points to help the hosts take set four 25-20 and force a tie-break. A substitution carries a promise: that someone has been seen and trusted. Suihkonen answered with exactly the points Finland needed.

The tie-break ended 15-11 for Estonia. There was no spectacular comeback here, only calm: Estonia kept its serving percentage steady, blocked Finland's wing attacks at the key moments, and closed the match before Nokia Arena could turn into real pressure.

The individual scoreline: two versions of the same match

This is the detail that stopped me longest. Volleytimes.com credits Lohmus with 24 points and Teppan with 16. WorldofVolley credits Teppan with 24 and Lohmus with 16. Two summaries from two reputable outlets, the same match, the same day, and two different heroes.

For readers, this is a dull technicality. For people in the trade, it is an expensive reminder: most of the stories we tell about a volleyball match are built on a score sheet, and a score sheet can be wrong. Write this piece on WorldofVolley and Teppan is the hero. Write it on volleytimes.com and Lohmus is. What neither score sheet can deny: Estonia won with a system, not with an individual.

From the stands at Nokia Arena, I learned that a team nobody rates can still write history.

The contrarian angle: a win that changed nothing in the standings

The final Pool C standings: Belgium 13 points, Finland 11, Serbia 7, Denmark 7, Estonia 5, the Netherlands 2.

Estonia finished fifth. They beat the Netherlands 3-1, beat hosts Finland 3-2 in front of nearly ten thousand people, and still went home. The win in Tampere did not open the door to the round of 16, brought no wildcard, and changed nothing in the table beyond moving them from three points to five.

So what was that match worth?

I think the answer lies elsewhere: the value of a volleyball match is not fully contained in a points system. Estonia arrived in Tampere as the lowest-rated team in the group and left with two wins — including one against the host nation, against a coach building a new generation, against a player who had just reached 100 caps. For a small volleyball nation, that is a kind of capital that never appears in the standings but decides whether sponsorship arrives, and whether a 16-year-old in Tallinn keeps training through the winter.

It is also why I follow women's volleyball in Southeast Asia with the same attention. There, many beautiful wins come without medals, and many teams are judged only by their final placing. How we measure a match determines how we tell it, and how we tell it determines who gets seen.

After the whistle: Finland advance, Estonia go home

I once thought the failure in Tokyo was a full stop. It turned out to be a comma in a longer story.

Finland lost this match but still reached the round of 16 as group runners-up. They face Greece in Turin. Belgium meet Czechia; both matches take place on September 20 and 21 in Turin, according to WorldofVolley. In Sofia, Poland play Latvia and Germany face Bulgaria on September 19; Ukraine meet Romania and France face Portugal there on September 20. Slovenia play Serbia in Turin on September 21, and Italy face Denmark the same weekend. The semifinals and medal matches will be held in Milan.

Finland captain Antti Ronkainen said afterwards that Estonia played well and wanted the fifth set, that his team fought hard to the end and now turns to its next opponent, according to volleytimes.com. Lohmus said Estonia badly wanted to win again in front of the crowd, that the team gave everything it had, and that he was proud of the group.

People say volleyball is a matter of names on a score sheet. I say they have not been patient enough to listen to the pulse of the stands.

If a win does not carry you forward, is it still a win? For the 9,813 people in Tampere on Thursday, the answer was already clear. For Estonia, it may take years to answer — and that is exactly why this match deserves to be remembered.