Finland back on track in World Cup qualifiers after easing to win in Estonia

[p]Having carried over a record of four wins and two defeats from the previous round, a win and a loss in Group L means [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/finland/hrkQcWHb/"]Finland[/a] now have a 5-3 record that takes them back into the top three, above [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sweden/fuqXiPgO/"]Sweden[/a], who fell to defeat against leaders [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/france/dS5MsX25/"]France[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/estonia/nsrT0eeP/"]Estonia[/a] were well beaten in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/hungary/UDBtdAnB/"]Hungary[/a] earlier this week, but started quickly back at home, taking a 6-0 lead and doing well to keep [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/markkanen-lauri/G2tXBSSt/"]Lauri Markkanen[/a] quiet, just as Sweden did. However, that only created space for [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/maxhuni-edon/Cr5Kvt03/"]Edon Maxhuni[/a], who had success at the three-point line to ensure the first quarter ended level, 21-21[/b], then hit another three to start the second quarter, giving Finland their first lead.[/p][p]But the home side soon re-established the lead against some poor Finnish defending, only for [b]Markkanen to finally show his true colours late in the half[/b], scoring from either side of the three-point line to help the Finns to a 38-35 lead at half-time.[/p][embed guid="d7d9b119-65f0-4dac-aae7-99663ea17953" url="https://x.com/FIBAWC/status/2094105118366990639" social-type="twitter" /][p]In the third quarter, the Wolfpack completely dominated their hosts, as [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/little-miro/f5lGEo9N/"]Miro Little[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/madsen-alexander/OKytMN2d/"]Alexander Madsen[/a] and Markkanen helped Finland take a double-digit lead[/b] which they only kept growing, and two free throws from Little ensured after 30 minutes, the visitors led by 20, at 66-46.[/p][p]With that, the game was won, and the fourth quarter only saw Finland punish Estonia further, as Little and Maxhuni took the lead to a game-high 34 points, before the final buzzer sounded with Finland taking [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/basketball/estonia-nsrT0eeP/finland-hrkQcWHb/?mid=C0SXthgl"]a 96-67 victory[/a].[/p][p]The Utah Jazz's [b]Markkanen finished as top scorer with 21 points[/b], three clear of Maxhuni and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nkamhoua-olivier/fRm11RrM/"]Olivier Nkamhoua[/a], while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kullamae-kristian/O6AwJZq0/"]Kristian Kullamae[/a] was Estonia's highest scorer with 15 points. Markkanen also led the game in rebounds, with 10, silencing his critics after struggling against Sweden.[/p][p]Finland will be back in action at the end of November, when they travel to Slovenia before hosting Estonia. The top three in the six-team group will reach next year's World Cup in Qatar.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/basketball/world/world-cup/"]Follow all the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]