Finland defeated Croatia and United States in the group stage in September to qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time and then upset defending champion Canada on Wednesday (AEDT).

Backed by thousands of fans in Malaga thanks to a sizeable local population of ex-pats, it hoped to continue the fairytale but found Australia too strong.

Otto Virtanen, ranked No.171, had been the unlikely star of its run but he was beaten 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 by Alexei Popyrin, a late call-up to the Australia team and picked ahead of Jordan Thompson, in the opening match.

It was a first victory in a live rubber for the 24-year-old, who said: “It’s nerves that I have never experienced before in my life.”

The Finns were boosted by the return of their No.1 Emil Ruusuvuori from a shoulder injury but he was unable to capitalise on a good start against world No.12 Alex De Minaur and went down 6-4 6-3.

Australia will now try to go one better than last year’s 2-0 loss to Canada when it takes on either Serbia or Italy in the final.

It is a 49th Davis Cup final for Australia but it has not lifted the trophy since 2003.