Finland vs Georgia - Game Preview and How to watch

• → Game to take place at Arena Riga, Riga on Wednesday, September 10, 2025 at 17:00 Local Time (EEST)
• → Form check: Finland stunned Serbia 92–66 behind Lauri Markkanen’s two-way masterclass; Jvarosnebi knocked out France 80–70 with Toko Shengelia and Kamar Baldwin closing in style
• → Context: Two underdogs who refused the script now share the same stage—Susijengi’s space-and-pace vs a Georgian team that plays with an old-soul toughness

The upset artists’ summit

Nobody pencilled this quarterfinal in August. It’s here because Finland and Georgia both told giants, convincingly, “not today.” 

Finland’s blueprint is simple to describe and brutal to solve: Markkanen at the center of everything, five-out spacing, and a parade of screen angles that force the help to choose between a star’s rhythm or an open shooter. When Markkanen catches on the move—pick-and-pop above the break, empty-corner ghost screens, drag screens in secondary—Finland bend the floor. Sasu Salin’s gravity widens the lanes; Edon Maxhuni and Miro Little change speeds just enough to make the tagger late. The defense has sharpened too: they kept Serbia uncomfortable by shrinking the paint early and fanning out on the kick.

The risk is on the glass and in foul management. If Markkanen is dragged into wrestles at the rim, Finland’s spacing engine can sputter; if the threes don’t fall for a stretch, they need transition to keep the math friendly. But their confidence—hardened by that Serbia win—travels.

Georgia arrive with scar tissue and answers. Shengelia is the tone-setter: elbows, mid-post, and those slow-to-fast footwork clips that turn a shoulder into a passing angle. With Goga Bitadze lurking as a lob and put-back threat, weak-side defenders get stuck between bodies; Baldwin supplies the late-clock creation and edge. This is a team comfortable living in the seams—Spain pick-and-roll into a deep seal, slice cuts that punish ball-watching, and a defensive shape that walls the lane without over-helping.

They’ll happily make this a possession game: fight on the boards, take a charge, win the turnover battle by one or two. If Bitadze can bother drivers and Georgia keep the corner threes merely “respectable,” their physicality starts to tax Finland’s legs and rhythm.

Susijengi vs Jvarosnebi - who goes through?

A semifinal would be program-defining for either side. For Finland, it would cement the Markkanen era as more than romance—it would be hardware-adjacent reality. For Georgia, it would cap a tournament where belief kept outrunning the bracket, the night they stopped being a great story and became a contender.

How to watch Finland vs Georgia

Stream Finland vs Georgia live on Courtside 1891 and pick the Max Event Pass for this event window or go Max Annual for year-round access to EuroBasket and other FIBA competitions. Regional availability and blackouts may apply.