Radio | News week in plain Finnish | Sunday 24.8.2025

European Basketball Championship

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The topic of the news week this time is the European Basketball Championship. The European Basketball Championship starts next week. Finland is also participating in the championship. Finland will play the first group matches in Tampere.

Now let’s talk more about the European Basketball Championship.

The European Basketball Championship begins

Lauri Markkanen and Miikka Muurinen in The Wolf Gang.

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Photo: PRESS PHOTO / HEIKKI SAUKKOMAA

The European Basketball Championship begins next Wednesday. The tournament will be played in Finland, Latvia, Poland and Cyprus.

The European Basketball Championship features 24 countries, playing in 4 different preliminary groups. The top 4 countries from each preliminary group advance to the next round. The final match of the championship will be played on September 14 in Riga, Latvia.

Finland plays in Tampere

![Captain Sasu of the wolf gang Salin.](https://images.cdn.yle.fi/image/upload/c_crop,h_2880,w_5120,x_0,y_73/ar_1.7777777777777777 ,c_fill,g_faces,h_431,w_767/dpr_1.0/q_auto:eco/f_auto/fl_lossy/v1755696012/39-151006168a5cb6cb409e)

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Photo: PRESS PHOTO / JUSSI NUKARI

Finland will play its first group games in Tampere. Finland’s first game is on Wednesday against Sweden. Finland’s first group also includes Germany, Great Britain, Lithuania and Montenegro.

The star player of the Finnish team is Lauri Markkanen. He plays basketball in the NBA series in the USA. The captain of Finland is Sasu Salin. The team also includes, for example, 18-year-old Miikka Muurinen.

The head coach of the Finnish team is Lassi Tuovi.

At the European Championship in 2022, Finland reached the top 8. That was the first time Finland won a match in the playoffs. Finland defeated the Croatian team.

The nickname of the Finnish basketball team is Susijengi. Susijengi games are attended by many Finnish people also abroad. Susijengi fans are often praised for the good atmosphere at the Finnish team’s games.

Serbia and Germany are the favorites

Lithuanian players celebrate.

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Photo: Getty Images

Basketball is a big sport in many countries. The favorites for the European Championship include Serbia, Germany and France.

Spain won the European Championship in 2022. France came in 2nd place and Germany was 3rd.

Germany won the 2023 FIBA World Championship and Serbia won silver.

Repetition

The topic of the week was the European Basketball Championship. The competition starts next Wednesday. The Finnish team will play the first round in Tampere. NBA star Lauri Markkanen plays for the Finnish team. The final match of the competition will be played in Latvia on September 14th.

This was a news week in plain Finnish. See you again, let’s hear from you!