On August 29th, in the opening match of the European Championship in Tampere, the home team Finland won the victory after a hard fight with a score of 93 to 90 over Sweden.

The game was a tit-for -tat affair, with the score swapping as many as 20 times. Finland briefly led 21-13 in the first quarter , but Sweden quickly caught up. In the final quarter, Sweden surged ahead, 75-72 , thanks to a series of scoring attempts. In a crucial moment, 18 - year-old Murinen scored two consecutive goals to stabilize the game.

Later, Mikael Jantunen hit a key three-pointer to give Finland an 86-81 lead with 3 minutes and 31 seconds left in the game . Although Sweden narrowed the gap to 1 point several times, Finland relied on solid free throws to have the last laugh .

Lauri Markkanen was the best player of the game , scoring 28 points. He primarily drew fouls in the first half, but a powerful dunk at the start of the second half ignited the team's morale. Regardless of Sweden's pressure, Markkanen remained the team's focal point. Eden Maksuni contributed 15 points, and Sasu Sarin chipped in 11 points and dished out 7 assists.

Sweden's defeat was a triumphant one, with core player Ludvig Håkansson scoring 28 points and hitting six three-pointers, repeatedly keeping the team alive. However, their poor performance at the free throw line, where they made only 9 of 17 free throws , proved crucial to their defeat.