Mikko Esko from Finland’s WC group: Not really a very surprising group | Sports in a nutshell

Mikko Esko, who is the general manager of the Finnish national volleyball team, tells how he sees the men’s volleyball World Cup groups drawn on Saturday for Finland.

The Finnish men’s national volleyball team was drawn into the same group as France, Argentina and South Korea. The group draw was held today in the Philippines. France won Olympic gold in both Tokyo and Paris.

Finland qualified for the World Cup final tournament to be played in the Philippines in September 2025 through the ranking. Through the ranking, 15 countries made it to the Games. There are a total of 32 teams in the games.

The preliminary series is played in eight groups of four teams. The top two from each group advance to the playoffs.

Acting as general manager of the Finnish national volleyball team Mikko Esko ponders that it is not possible to say that Finland has had bad or good lottery luck.

– Well, not really a terribly surprising block. It was known that everything is hard. When I looked at the other blocks, what is really descriptive is that there are two very hard countries in each block – just like in our block, commented Esko.

France is currently the best volleyball country in the world as the reigning Olympic champion.

– Argentina is also ninth in the world ranking and a very tough country. Against South Korea, I think we will start straight, but against France and Argentina, the setup is quite clear. At least you don’t have to take the pre-favorite position in them, Esko advises.

Finland is participating in the men’s WC final tournament for the ninth time. The last time Finnish men played in the World Championships was in 2018, when they were held in Italy and Bulgaria.