Finland stuns Nikola Jokic’s Serbia in EuroBasket

Sep 7, 2025 2:00 AM

Finland delivered one of the biggest surprises of EuroBasket 2025, stunning Serbia 92-86 in the Round of 16 to knock out one of the pre-tournament favorites.

The Susijengi’s victory marks their second straight Quarter-Final appearance and their first win over Serbia since 2009, while for Serbia it was a bitter repeat – another early exit after falling at the same stage in 2022.

The game could not have started better for Finland. They raced to an 11-1 lead, extended it to 16-5, and set the tone for a battle that Serbia never truly controlled.

Although Serbia fought back to tie the game at 28-28, Finland stayed resilient, keeping the deficit to just 48-44 at halftime. The Finns’ energy carried into the second half, and they even entered the final quarter leading 68-66.

Serbia briefly regained the advantage with a 6-0 run to go up 77-75, but Finland refused to buckle. Elias Valtonen became the hero of the night, draining three huge baskets in the closing minutes for 8 late points that pushed Finland ahead 87-81 with under a minute left.

Valtonen, who finished with 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists, was named TCL Player of the Game.

His late-game composure and clutch shooting were, in his own words, all about belief: “Amazing night. What can I say. We just believed in each other today and just made it happen. You have to shoot the ball when you are open. A couple of looks came to me, they left me open, so I just stepped up and shot with confidence.”

Lauri Markkanen once again led the way with 29 points and 7 rebounds, while Mikael Jantunen added 15 points and Miro Little turned in his best game of the tournament with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals.

Despite Serbia’s star Nikola Jokic scoring 33 points and Nikola Jovic adding 20, their team faltered in critical areas. Serbia was outmuscled on the glass as Finland grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, and they connected on just 29 percent of their three-point attempts.

Head coach Svetislav Pesic admitted his side had no answers: “They were one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the tournament and they had 20 offensive rebounds. We couldn’t find solutions for their offensive rebounds. And those offensive rebounds gave all the players more offensive rebounds.”

Jovic was equally blunt in his assessment: “They played a great game. From the start we didn’t come ready. I just wasn’t ready from the jump. Their 20 offensive rebounds were just unacceptable. We knew what they were doing, we prepared well, we watched film, still they managed to just be better and more physical than us.”

For Finland, the victory was not just historic but emotional. Veteran guard Sasu Salin captured the spirit of the night: “I am a guy who doesn’t really think in the past, I try to think in the present. There have been some great moments in the past of course, but I am just the happiest guy in the world because we advanced.”

Finland snapped an eight-game losing streak to Serbia and moved into uncharted territory with consecutive top-eight finishes at EuroBasket for the first time.

Their next test will be against the winner of France vs. Georgia. For Serbia, however, another early elimination leaves more questions than answers.