 It was four years before Selänne returned to international play; he appeared in the 1996 World Championship and the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and averaged over one point per game in both tournaments as Finland finished fifth each time. At the 1998 Winter Olympics, Selänne finished with ten points in five games. He was the tournament's leading scorer on a Finnish team that he described in 2003 as the best he ever played on and the best in the tournament, but lost the semifinal, 7 – 4 to Russia. He suffered an abdominal muscle injury that prevented him from playing in the third place game, which Finland won 3 – 2 over Canada; Selänne and his teammates ended the tournament as the bronze medal winners.
