Larsson outshines Markkanen as Sweden edge Finland in World Cup qualifiers

[p]Over 12,400 were in attendance in Helsinki to see both sides' opening match in Group L, and the away side were under the greater pressure to get a win, as they carried three wins and three losses over from the previous round, compared to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/finland/hrkQcWHb/"]Finland[/a]'s four victories and two losses.[/p][p]And [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sweden/fuqXiPgO/"]Sweden[/a] dealt with the pressure when it mattered most, sinking a three-pointer at the end of the first quarter to go 23-20 ahead. The box score showed the second and third quarters finished level, but that didn't tell the full story, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/larsson-pelle/tWlj30Aq/"]Larsson[/a] woke up from a pointless first 10 minutes to keep the Swedes alive with nine straight points in the second, before the away side battled back from a five-point deficit to lead by seven in the third.[/p][p][i]Blagult [/i]kept the Wolfpack at arms length in the fourth to take [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/basketball/finland-hrkQcWHb/sweden-fuqXiPgO/?mid=27j8QW87"]the 86-81 win[/a], in which [b]Larsson top scored with 31 points[/b]. His nearest challenger, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nkamhoua-olivier/fRm11RrM/"]Olivier Nkamhoua[/a], scored 19 for Finland.[/p][embed guid="3a0664fa-436e-4ac8-850f-f8125e751090" url="https://x.com/FIBAWC/status/2093032222991303088" social-type="twitter" /][p]The bigger story, arguably, was that of [b]Markkanen, who scored just four points in the first half before ending the game on 11[/b]. Sweden had done their homework on the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/utah-jazz/hGuCX5Su/"]Utah[/a] man, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/andersson-denzel/fBQEzD21/"]Denzel Andersson[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gaddefors-viktor/08BkPfCo/"]Viktor Gaddefors[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/klintman-bobi/nHnqbReL/"]Bobi Klintman[/a] responsible for keeping him quiet.[/p][p][b]"Denzel, Viktor and Bobi defended him really strongly. He wasn't able to do much up front, and that's entirely their fault,"[/b] said Larsson, who was clear about the team's aim of beating the Finns: [b]"Our goal was to win at least one of the matches against Finland. This puts us in a great position going forward."[/b][/p][p]The win puts the two sides level on 11 points, but crucially Sweden have gone above Finland into the third and final qualifying place in the six-team group, behind [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/france/dS5MsX25/"]France[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/hungary/UDBtdAnB/"]Hungary[/a], but with a long way still to go in the group.[/p][p]Sweden welcome group leaders France to Stockholm on 30th August, the same day Finland make the short trip to Tallinn to face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/estonia/nsrT0eeP/"]Estonia[/a].[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/basketball/world/world-cup/"]Follow the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]