Italy squanders its chances, tries to make a comeback but falls short at the very end: a shocking elimination follows

The men’s national volleyball team will not finish among the top four in Europe for the third consecutive time. Qualification for the semifinals of the 2026 European Championships goes to Finland, which responded as well as it possibly could in Turin to the Azzurri’s strong start, inflicting a stunning elimination on them in front of the Italian crowd with a 3-2 victory.

21-25, 28-26, 25-16, 20-25, 15-13 were the set scores in favor of the team coached by Olli Kunnari, with Joonas Jokela (28 points) and Luka Marttila (22) stood out in offensive play. For the Azzurri, the offensive numbers from Yuri Romanò, Giovanni Sanguinetti, and Mattia Bottolo—who scored 20, 14, and 13 points, respectively—were not enough. For Finland, this marks their second semifinal appearance in the history of the European Championships, following their 2007 run in Moscow, a tournament in which they finished in fourth place.

Finland will face France in the semifinals; France defeated Romania in Sofia without much trouble, winning three sets to none (25-16, 25-19, 25-19). The match will be played at the Assago Forum on Friday, September 25—the same venue and date as the other semifinal between Slovenia and Poland: Slovenia defeated Belgium 3-1 in the quarterfinals (25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 25-13), while the latter defeated Germany 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-17).

Italy thus misses out on its third consecutive continental podium finish, following its victory in the 2021 edition and its silver medal in 2023. The Azzurri have won the European Championships seven times: in 1989, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2021. The national team is also the reigning world champion, having won the title in 2022 and 2025. However, the disappointment of failing to achieve their goal on home soil is profound: in Assago on Sunday, it will certainly be another national team lifting the trophy.