Finland national football team

Finland
Nickname(s) Huuhkajat
(The Eagle-owls)[1]
Association Football Association of Finland
(Suomen Palloliitto)
(Finlands Bollförbund)
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Hans Backe
Captain Niklas Moisander
Most caps Jari Litmanen (137)
Top scorer Jari Litmanen (32)
Home stadium Helsinki Olympic Stadium
FIFA code FIN
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 93 Increase 8 (24 November 2016)
Highest 33 (March 2007)
Lowest 101 (October 2016)
Elo ranking
Current 69 (29 June 2016)
Highest 30[2] (March 2002)
Lowest 125[2] (1962-3)
First international
Russian Empire Finland 2–5 Sweden 
(Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire; 22 October 1911)
Biggest win
 Finland 10–2 Estonia 
(Helsinki, Finland; 11 August 1922)
 Finland 8–0 San Marino 
(Helsinki, Finland; 17 November 2010)
Biggest defeat
 Germany 13–0 Finland 
(Leipzig, Germany; 1 September 1940)
National team against Denmark in 1933.

The Finland national football team (Finnish: Suomen jalkapallomaajoukkue, Swedish: Finland fotbollslandslag) represents Finland in international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland.

Although the Finnish national team has never qualified for a finals tournament of the World Cup or the European Championships, the Nordic nation made remarkable progression in the 2000s, reaching a peak of 30th on the Elo Rankings, under coach of Roy Hodgson they achieved notable results against much more established European teams.

Early history

The Football Association of Finland was founded as early as 1907 and became a member of FIFA in 1908, although at that time Finland was still an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian Empire and did not gain independence until 1917. Finland played its first international match on October 22, 1911, losing to neighboring Sweden 2–5 in Helsinki.

Finland also took part in European Championship qualifying since the 1968 event, but had to wait for its first win until 1978. The 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki saw the Finnish hosts lose to Austria in the first round. Finland did, however, win the unofficial Nordic championship in 1964 and 1966.[3]

Later 20th century

The results of the team improved somewhat in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Finland missed out on qualification for Euro 1980 by just a point and for the 1986 World Cup by two points. Finland was invited to take part in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow after many Western countries announced they would boycott the games, but failed to progress from its group.

By the mid-1990s Finland started to have more players in high-profile European leagues, led by the Ajax superstar Jari Litmanen. In 1996 Danish Euro 1992 winning coach Richard Møller Nielsen was hired to take Finland to the 1998 World Cup. The team enjoyed mixed fortunes in the campaign, high points of which were a draw and a win away to Norway and Switzerland respectively. Going into the last match, Finland would have needed a win at home to Hungary to earn a place in the play-offs. They led the game 1–0 going into injury time, but scored an own goal, and once again the dreams of qualification were over. Møller Nielsen also tried to lead Finland to Euro 2000. In this campaign the Finns recorded a sensational win away to Turkey, but couldn't compete with Germany and Turkey in the long run.

Antti Muurinen succeeded Møller Nielsen as coach in 2000. He had arguably the most talented group of Finnish players ever at his disposal, including players such as Antti Niemi, Sami Hyypiä, Teemu Tainio and Mikael Forssell in addition to the legendary Litmanen. The team also performed quite well under him in qualification for the 2002 World Cup despite a difficult draw, earning two draws against Germany and a home draw with England as well as beating Greece 5–1 in Helsinki. In the end, however, England and Germany proved too strong, and the Finns finished third in the group, but were the only team in that group not to lose at home. Hopes were high going into qualification for Euro 2004 after the promising last campaign and friendly wins over the likes of Norway, Belgium and Portugal (which seen the Finns jump from 40th–30th in the Elo ranking[2]). However, Finland started the campaign by losing to Wales and Yugoslavia (later Serbia and Montenegro, now two separate nations). These losses were followed by two defeats by Italy, and a 3–0 home win over Serbia and Montenegro was little consolation, as the Finns finished fourth in the group. In qualification for the 2006 World Cup Finland failed to score a single point in six matches against the top three teams in their group, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Romania. Muurinen was sacked in June 2005, and he was replaced by caretaker Jyrki Heliskoski, but results didn't improve.

In August 2005, it was announced that Roy Hodgson would become the new Finland coach in 2006, and he started in the job in January of that year. Hodgson stepped down as manager after they failed to qualify for Euro 2008.[4] His replacement was a Scotsman, Stuart Baxter, who signed a contract until the end of the 2012 European Championship qualification campaign.[5]

Recent history

At the time when Finland was competing in Euro 2008 qualifying for a place in the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament, Finland was at the point of their "golden generation", with a team consisting of players such as Jari Litmanen, Sami Hyypiä, Mikael Forssell, Hannu Tihinen, Petri Pasanen, Joonas Kolkka, Mika Väyrynen and Teemu Tainio. With this squad Finland was closer to reach the tournament stage than ever before. Finland would only have needed three more points (one more win) from the Euro 2008 qualifying to reach the Euro 2008 competition. Finland was placed in Group A together with Portugal, Poland, Serbia, Belgium, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The team started the campaign very well, beating Poland 3–1 away and earning a 1–1 draw with Portugal at home. The Finns then gained four points from their difficult away ties against Armenia and Kazakhstan, drawing 0–0 with the former and beating the latter 2–0. On 15 November 2006, Finland beat Armenia 1–0 at home, thus remaining undefeated in the qualifying. In Finland's first match of 2007, they were in poor form when they lost against Azerbaijan 1–0. On early June they lost to Serbia 2–0 at home. But the next match was against Belgium and team Finland gained the trust of their fans back by winning 2–0 at home. This was followed by a series of wins including a 2–1 win against Azerbaijan, with the team needing to win the last game, the away game against Portugal, to be able to qualify. However, the match ended 0–0 meaning the team missed out on qualification to the tournament, with Finland ending the group stage with 24 points and Portugal with 27 points. However, the performance in qualifying led to the Finns gaining their best-ever FIFA world ranking to date at the position of 33rd.

In 2010 World cup qualification campaign Finland fared little better, with the team under new head coach Stuart Baxter not winning matches as consistently like they did under Roy Hodgson. However the team were within touching distance of a win over Euro 2008 finalists Germany, but had to settle for a 3–3 draw. The team again finished third in their group with five wins, three draws and two defeats. They were the only team in qualifying not to lose to eventual 3rd-place finishers Germany, but came close to a win in the second meeting only to concede an equaliser in stoppage time.

Qualification for the European 2012 European Championship has so far been underwhelming, with three straight defeats against Moldova (2–0), the Netherlands and Hungary (both 2–1), before closing 2010 with an 8–0 success against minnows San Marino which saw Mikael Forssell the first player of the group to score a hat trick. Before their first win of the campaign, the team slipped to 87th in the FIFA World Rankings, despite still staying in the top 100 and therefore keeping up their consistency in the top half of the monthly table, this was however their lowest-ever position in their history since the rankings were established in 1993. The team then moved up to 76th place after a disappointing 1–0 win over San Marino, that team's best result in their group having lost every game with no goals scored. This was then followed up by a 5–0 mauling by their neighbours Sweden, giving them their fourth defeat in the group.

For the Qualification for the 2014 World Cup, Finland has seen significant improvement despite up and down results. Being ranked the weakest team in the group, they started the qualification with little success with a 1–0 loss to France, and a disappointing 1–1 home draw with Georgia in Helsinki. They then achieved a historic 1–1 draw against number 1 ranked Spain who are reigning European and World Cup champions in Gijon, with Teemu Pukki scoring the equalizing goal in the 79th minute. They followed that up with a 1–0 win over Belarus. These two results propelled Finland right back into the conversation for a potential playoff spot. However they were held to a 1–1 draw at Belarus 4 days later. Next up Finland hosted Spain in Helsinki, hoping to achieve another upset result that would have increased their chances for a playoff spot greatly, however they lost 2–0 with goals coming from Jordi Alba and Álvaro Negredo with Teemu Tainio giving Finland's only real threat to score but his shot was well saved by Iker Casillas. Despite the loss, Finland still had a slight chance to finish second, but they need to win against Georgia in Tbilisi, and France to lose against Belarus in Minsk. Finland achieved their task of defeating Georgia 1–0 thanks to a Roman Eremenko penalty kick. However France ended up coming back to defeat Belarus 4–2, despite trailing 2–0 at halftime. Because of the French victory, Finland were eliminated from a playoff spot. They finished the campaign third in their group after losing 3–0 against France in the final game in Paris.

Stadia

Most of Finland's important home matches are played at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in the capital Helsinki. It has been Finland's principal home stadium ever since its construction was completed in 1938. Before that Pallokenttä in Helsinki was mainly used.

Today, some qualifying matches against lower profile opponents and some friendlies are hosted at the Ratina Stadion in Tampere. Helsinki's Sonera Stadium, which has artificial turf, is also used for some friendlies and qualifiers. During reconstruction of Helsinki Olympic Stadium in 2016–19 Ratina Stadion serves as the main stadium for qualifying games.

Competitive record

All–time record against all nations

This list is Finland national team complete records, both friendlies and competitive matches.[6] As of 5 September 2016

Against Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA GD % Won
 Albania 7 4 1 2 8 6 +2 57%
 Algeria 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2 0%
 Andorra 2 1 1 0 3 0 +3 50%
 Armenia 4 3 1 0 6 1 +5 75%
 Austria 10 1 1 8 10 23 −13 10%
 Azerbaijan 8 7 0 1 15 5 +10 88%
 Bahrain 5 4 1 0 9 1 +8 80%
 Barbados 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0%
 Belarus 4 1 3 0 5 4 +1 25%
 Belgium 11 4 4 3 19 20 −1 36%
 Bermuda 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 100%
 Bolivia 2 0 1 1 2 5 −3 0%
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 0%
 Brazil 3 0 0 3 3 9 −6 0%
 Bulgaria 8 0 1 7 3 19 −16 0%
 Canada 1 1 0 0 3 2 0 100%
 Chile 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2 0%
 China PR 4 1 0 3 7 6 −1 25%
 Colombia 1 0 0 1 1 3 −2 0%
 Costa Rica 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1 0%
 Cyprus 4 2 1 1 7 4 +3 50%
 Czech Republic 11 3 3 5 14 22 −8 27%
 Denmark 59 11 10 38 60 151 −91 19%
 East Germany 7 2 1 4 8 21 −13 29%
 Ecuador 1 0 0 1 1 3 −2 0%
 Egypt 2 0 0 2 2 4 −2 0%
 England 13 0 2 11 7 44 −37 0%
 Estonia 31 14 10 7 71 40 +31 44%
 Faroe Islands 5 5 0 0 15 1 +13 100%
 France 8 0 0 8 3 18 −15 0%
 Georgia 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 50%
 Germany 23 1 6 16 19 82 −63 4%
 Greece 14 4 3 7 18 25 −7 29%
 Honduras 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 100%
 Hungary 17 3 3 11 15 48 −32 18%
 Iceland 11 6 2 3 17 11 +6 55%
 India 2 1 1 0 2 0 +2 50%
 Indonesia 1 0 0 1 1 3 −2 0%
 Iraq 2 2 0 0 3 0 +3 100%
 Ireland 5 0 2 3 2 11 −9 0%
 Israel 5 2 1 2 6 6 0 40%
 Italy 13 1 1 11 7 32 −25 8%
 Japan 2 0 0 2 1 7 −6 0%
 Kazakhstan 3 2 1 0 4 1 +6 67%
 Kosovo 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0%
 Kuwait 7 3 2 2 6 5 +1 43%
 Latvia 17 10 3 4 32 18 +14 59%
 Liechtenstein 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1 50%
 Lithuania 5 3 0 2 15 5 +10 60%
 Luxembourg 5 4 0 1 12 4 +8 80%
 Macedonia 4 3 0 1 11 2 +9 75%
 Malaysia 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1 0%
 Malta 7 4 2 1 9 5 +4 57%
 Mexico 4 0 1 3 2 7 −5 0%
 Moldova 4 2 1 1 7 5 +2 50%
 Morocco 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0%
 Netherlands 14 1 2 11 14 43 −29 7%
 North Korea 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 100%
 Northern Ireland 9 3 2 4 13 12 +1 37%
 Norway 62 9 13 38 73 168 −95 15%
 Oman 6 3 3 0 7 2 +5 50%
 Peru 1 0 0 1 3 7 −4 0%
 Poland 29 3 8 18 25 67 −42 10%
 Portugal 10 1 4 5 6 14 −8 10%
 Qatar 4 1 3 0 4 3 +1 25%
 Romania 11 0 4 7 5 27 −22 0%
 Russia 20 1 5 14 13 66 −53 5%
 San Marino 4 4 0 0 15 0 +15 100%
 Saudi Arabia 4 2 1 1 7 4 +3 50%
 Scotland 8 0 2 6 5 18 −13 0%
 Serbia 9 2 2 5 10 30 −20 40%
 Slovakia 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3 0%
 Slovenia 2 1 1 0 3 1 +2 50%
 South Korea 3 0 0 3 0 5 −5 0%
 Spain 8 1 2 5 5 16 −11 13%
 Sweden 88 11 11 66 96 292 −196 12%
  Switzerland 5 2 0 3 5 7 −2 40%
 Thailand 5 5 0 0 12 6 +6 100%
 Trinidad and Tobago 5 3 1 1 8 7 +1 60%
 Tunisia 3 2 1 0 6 2 +4 67%
 Turkey 13 6 3 4 20 20 0 46%
 United Arab Emirates 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0%
 United States 2 0 0 2 1 3 −2 0%
 Uruguay 2 0 0 2 1 8 −7 0%
 Wales 12 4 4 4 12 17 −5 33%
 Yemen 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0%

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did Not Enter
Italy 1934
France 1938 Did Not Qualify 3 0 0 3 0 7
Brazil 1950 Withdrew during qualifying
Switzerland 1954 Did Not Qualify 4 0 2 2 7 13
Sweden 1958 4 0 0 4 2 19
Chile 1962 4 0 0 4 3 12
England 1966 6 1 0 5 5 20
Mexico 1970 6 1 0 5 6 28
West Germany 1974 6 1 1 4 3 21
Argentina 1978 6 2 0 4 11 16
Spain 1982 8 1 0 7 4 27
Mexico 1986 8 3 2 3 7 12
Italy 1990 6 1 1 4 4 16
United States 1994 10 2 1 7 9 18
France 1998 8 3 2 3 11 12
South KoreaJapan 2002 8 3 3 2 12 7
Germany 2006 12 5 1 6 21 19
South Africa 2010 10 5 3 2 14 14
Brazil 2014 8 2 3 3 5 9
Russia 2018 To be determined
Qatar 2022
Total 0/20 117 30 19 68 124 270

European Championship record

UEFA European Championship record UEFA Euro Championship Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
France 1960 Did Not Enter
Spain 1964
Italy 1968 Did Not Qualify 6 0 2 4 5 12
Belgium 1972 6 0 1 5 1 16
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 6 0 1 5 3 13
Italy 1980 6 2 2 2 10 15
France 1984 6 0 1 5 3 14
West Germany 1988 6 1 1 4 4 10
Sweden 1992 8 1 4 3 5 8
England 1996 10 5 0 5 18 18
Belgium Netherlands 2000 8 3 1 4 13 13
Portugal 2004 8 3 1 4 9 10
Austria Switzerland 2008 14 6 6 2 13 7
Poland Ukraine 2012 10 3 1 6 16 16
France 2016 10 3 3 4 9 10
European Union 2020 To be determined
Total 0/15 104 27 24 53 109 162

Summer Olympics

Olympics record
Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
Sweden 1912Fourth Place4th4202516
Nazi Germany 1936Round of 1614th100137
Finland 1952Round of 169th100134
Soviet Union 1980Group stage9th311132
Total4/230 Titles93151429

UEFA Euro 2016

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Northern Ireland Romania Hungary Finland Faroe Islands Greece
1  Northern Ireland 10 6 3 1 16 8 +8 21 Qualify for final tournament — 0–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 3–1
2  Romania 10 5 5 0 11 2 +9 20 2–0 — 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–0
3  Hungary 10 4 4 2 11 9 +2 16 Advance to play-offs 1–2 0–0 — 1–0 2–1 0–0
4  Finland 10 3 3 4 9 10 −1 12 1–1 0–2 0–1 — 1–0 1–1
5  Faroe Islands 10 2 0 8 6 17 −11 6 1–3 0–3 0–1 1–3 — 2–1
6  Greece 10 1 3 6 7 14 −7 6 0–2 0–1 4–3 0–1 0–1 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

7 September 2014
20:45
(19:45 UTC+1)
Faroe Islands  1–3  Finland
Holst  41' Report Riski  53', 78'
R. Eremenko  82'
Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn
Attendance: 3,330
Referee: Simon Lee Evans (Wales)

11 October 2014
20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)
Finland  1–1  Greece
Hurme  55' Report Karelis  24'

14 October 2014
20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)
Finland  0–2  Romania
Ring Yellow cardYellow cardRed card 56' Report Stancu  54'  84'
Olympiastadion, Helsinki
Attendance: 19,408
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (Italy)

14 November 2014
20:45
(20:45 UTC+1)
Hungary  1–0  Finland
Gera  84' Report
Groupama Arena, Budapest
Attendance: 19,500
Referee: Clément Turpin (France)

29 March 2015
18:00
(17:00 UTC+1)
Northern Ireland  2–1  Finland
Lafferty  33', 38' Report Sadik  90+1'
Windsor Park, Belfast
Attendance: 10,264
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

13 June 2015
18:00
(19:00 UTC+3)
Finland  0–1  Hungary
Report Stieber  82'

4 September 2015
20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)
Greece  0–1  Finland
Report Pohjanpalo  75'

7 September 2015
20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)
Finland  1–0  Faroe Islands
Pohjanpalo  23' Report
Olympiastadion, Helsinki
Attendance: 9,477[7]
Referee: Marcin Borski (Poland)

8 October 2015
20:45
(21:45 UTC+3)
Romania  1–1  Finland
Hoban  90+1' Report Pohjanpalo  66'

11 October 2015 (2015-10-11)
18:00
(19:00 UTC+3)
Finland  1–1  Northern Ireland
Arajuuri  87' Report Cathcart  31'
Olympiastadion, Helsinki
Attendance: 14,550[9]
Referee: Sergei Karasev (Russia)

Friendlies

21 May 2014
Finland  2–2  Czech Republic
Pukki  18', 20' Vydra  19'
Hušbauer  36'
Olympiastadion, Helsinki
Attendance: 6,547
Referee: Oliver Drachta (Austria)

31 May 2014
Finland  2–0  Estonia
Hetemaj  49'
Moren  87'
Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions, Ventspils
(2014 Baltic Cup)
Attendance: 830
Referee: Aleksandrs Anufrijevs (Latvia)

18 November 2014
Slovakia  2–1  Finland
Hološko  1'
Hamšík  7'		 Hubočan  45' (o.g.)

19 January 2015
Sweden  0–1  Finland
Ro. Riski  63'
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Attendance: 100
Referee: Omar Mohamed Al Ali (United Arab Emirates)

22 January 2015
Finland  0–0  Yemen

9 June 2015
Finland  0–2  Estonia
Purje  28', 57'

13 January 2016
Finland  0–1  Iceland
Traustason  16'
Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Attendance: 50
Referee: Adel Al Naqbi (UAE)

26 March 2016
Poland  5–0  Finland
Grosicki  18', 85'
Wszołek  20', 66'
Starzyński  32'
Municipal Stadium, Wrocław
Attendance: 42,068
Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)

1 June 2016
Belgium  1–1  Finland
Lukaku  89' Hämäläinen  53'
Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels
Referee: Hugo Miguel (Portugal)

6 June 2016
Italy  2–0  Finland
Candreva  27' (pen)
De Rossi  71'

31 August 2016
Germany  2–0  Finland
Meyer  55'
Arajuuri  77' (o.g.)

Current squad

The following players have been called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against  Ukraine on 12 November 2016.[10][11][12]

Caps and goals as of 12 November 2016 after the game against Ukraine.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Lukas Hradecky (1989-11-24) 24 November 1989 33 0 Germany Eintracht Frankfurt
1GK Jesse Joronen (1993-03-21) 21 March 1993 2 0 England Fulham
1GK Walter Viitala (1992-01-09) 9 January 1992 0 0 Finland IFK Mariehamn
2DF Kari Arkivuo (1983-06-23) 23 June 1983 49 1 Sweden Häcken
2DF Joona Toivio (1988-03-10) 10 March 1988 39 2 Norway Molde
2DF Jukka Raitala (1988-09-15) 15 September 1988 35 0 Norway Sogndal
2DF Markus Halsti (1984-03-19) 19 March 1984 31 0 Denmark Midtjylland
2DF Paulus Arajuuri (1988-06-15) 15 June 1988 19 1 Poland Lech Poznań
2DF Juhani Ojala (1989-06-19) 19 June 1989 16 0 Finland SJK
2DF Janne Saksela (1993-03-14) 14 March 1993 6 0 Netherlands Sparta Rotterdam
2DF Sauli Väisänen (1994-06-05) 5 June 1994 3 0 Sweden AIK
2DF Albin Granlund (1989-09-01) 1 September 1989 0 0 Finland IFK Mariehamn
3MF Alexander Ring (1991-04-09) 9 April 1991 41 1 Germany 1. FC Kaiserslautern
3MF Robin Lod (1993-04-17) 17 April 1993 11 1 Greece Panathinaikos
3MF Sakari Mattila (1989-07-14) 14 July 1989 10 0 Denmark SønderjyskE
3MF Thomas Lam (1993-12-18) 18 December 1993 8 0 England Nottingham Forest
3MF Joni Kauko (1990-07-12) 12 July 1990 7 0 Denmark Randers
3MF Simon Skrabb (1995-01-19) 19 January 1995 1 0 Sweden Gefle
4FW Teemu Pukki (1990-03-29) 29 March 1990 53 9 Denmark Brøndby
4FW Eero Markkanen (1991-07-03) 3 July 1991 7 0 Sweden AIK
4FW Roope Riski (1991-08-16) 16 August 1991 5 1 Finland SJK

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team in the last twelve months. Only players available for call-up, not retired players.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Niki Mäenpää (1985-01-23) 23 January 1985 26 0 England Brighton & Hove Albion v.  Ukraine, 12 November 2016 INJ
GK Henrik Moisander (1985-09-29) 29 September 1985 2 0 Finland Inter Turku v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016
GK Mika Hilander (1983-08-17) 17 August 1983 1 0 Finland Ilves v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016
GK Markus Uusitalo (1997-05-15) 15 May 1997 0 0 Finland HJK v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016
DF Niklas Moisander (Captain) (1985-09-29) 29 September 1985 54 2 Germany Werder Bremen v.  Croatia, 9 October 2016
DF Jere Uronen (1994-07-13) 13 July 1994 20 0 Belgium Genk v.  Croatia, 9 October 2016 INJ
DF Valtteri Moren (1991-06-15) 15 June 1991 4 1 Belgium Waasland-Beveren v.  Kosovo, 5 September 2016
DF Ville Jalasto (1986-04-19) 19 April 1986 8 0 Finland HJK v.  Italy, 6 June 2016
DF Jarkko Hurme (1986-06-04) 4 June 1986 12 1 Finland SJK v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016
DF Hannu Patronen (1984-05-23) 23 May 1984 6 0 Norway Sogndal v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016
DF Tapio Heikkilä (1990-04-09) 9 April 1990 3 0 Norway Start v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016
DF Daniel O'Shaughnessy (1994-09-10) 10 September 1994 2 0 England Cheltenham Town v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016
DF Timo Tahvanainen (1986-06-26) 26 June 1986 2 0 Finland SJK v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016
MF Përparim Hetemaj (1986-12-12) 12 December 1986 44 4 Italy Chievo v.  Ukraine, 12 November 2016 INJ
MF Rasmus Schüller (1991-06-18) 18 June 1991 20 0 Sweden Häcken v.  Ukraine, 12 November 2016 INJ
MF Roman Eremenko (1987-03-19) 19 March 1987 73 5 Russia CSKA Moscow v.  Croatia, 9 October 2016
MF Kasper Hämäläinen (1986-08-08) 8 August 1986 54 8 Poland Legia Warsaw v.  Croatia, 9 October 2016
MF Tim Sparv (1987-02-20) 20 February 1987 54 1 Denmark Midtjylland v.  Italy, 6 June 2016
MF Mika Ojala (1988-06-21) 21 June 1988 8 0 Germany Aalen v.  Italy, 6 June 2016
MF Petteri Forsell (1990-10-16) 16 October 1990 6 1 Poland Miedź Legnica v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016
MF Mehmet Hetemaj (1987-12-08) 8 December 1987 5 0 Finland SJK v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016
MF Johannes Laaksonen (1990-12-13) 13 December 1990 3 0 Finland SJK v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016
MF Juha Pirinen (1991-10-22) 22 October 1991 2 0 Finland RoPS v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016
MF Matej Hradecky (1995-04-17) 17 April 1995 1 0 Finland SJK v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016
MF Riku Riski (1989-08-16) 16 August 1989 26 4 Norway Odds v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016 INJ
MF Glen Kamara (1995-10-28) 28 October 1995 0 0 England Colchester United v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016 INJ
FW Joel Pohjanpalo (1994-09-13) 13 September 1994 21 4 Germany Bayer Leverkusen v.  Croatia, 9 October 2016 INJ
FW Tim Väyrynen (1993-03-29) 29 March 1993 6 0 Germany Dynamo Dresden v.  Italy, 6 June 2016
FW Akseli Pelvas (1989-02-08) 8 February 1989 3 0 Finland HJK v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016
FW Aleksandr Kokko (1987-06-04) 4 June 1987 1 0 Australia Newcastle Jets v.  Iceland, 13 January 2016

Coaching staff

[13]

Position Name
Head coach Sweden Hans Backe
Assistant coach Finland Markku Kanerva
Assistant coach Finland Jukka Ikäläinen
Goalkeeping coach Finland Antti Niemi
Scout Sweden Thomas Lyth
Video analyst Sweden John Wall

Player records

Most capped players

Rank Name Career Caps Goals
1Jari Litmanen1989–201013732
2Sami Hyypiä1992–20101055
Jonatan Johansson1996–201010522
4Ari Hjelm1983–199610020
5Joonas Kolkka1994–20109811
6Mikael Forssell1999–20148729
7Erkka Petäjä1983–1994840
8Arto Tolsa1964–19817710
9Hannu Tihinen1997–2010765
Petri Pasanen2000–2013761
10Toni Kuivasto1997–2009751

Top goalscorers

Rank Name Career Goals Caps
1Jari Litmanen1989–201032137
2Mikael Forssell1999–20142987
3Jonatan Johansson1996–201022105
4Ari Hjelm1983–199620100
5Mika-Matti Paatelainen1986–20001870
6Verner Eklöf1919–19271732
7Aulis Koponen1924–19351639
Gunnar Åström1923–19371644
9Alexei Eremenko2003–20131457
10Jorma Vaihela1947–19541333
William Kanerva1922–19381351
Kai Pahlman1954–19681356

Managers

Last updated: 13 Oct 2015.

Tenure Nat Coach Record
G W D L Win %
1911–21None 17 6 2 9 35.29
1922 Finland Jarl Öhman 4 1 0 3 25.00
1923–35None 77 22 12 43 28.57
1936–37 Germany Ferdinand Fabra 8 1 1 6 12.50
1937–38None 9 3 0 6 33.33
1939 Hungary Gábor Obitz 6 1 0 5 16.67
1939–43None 7 0 1 6 00.00
1945 Sweden Axel Mårtensson 2 0 0 2 00.00
1946 Finland Niilo Tammisalo 3 0 0 3 00.00
1947–55 Finland Aatos Lehtonen 51 7 9 35 13.73
1955–58 Germany Kurt Weinreich 23 3 1 19 13.04
1959–61 Finland Aatos Lehtonen 19 3 0 16 15.79
1962–74 Finland Olavi Laaksonen 91 16 21 54 17.58
1975 Finland Martti Kosma 2 0 1 1 00.00
1975–78 Finland Aulis Rytkönen 30 8 4 18 26.67
1979–81 Finland Esko Malm 27 4 6 17 14.81
1982–87 Finland Martti Kuusela 53 9 11 33 16.98
1988–92 Finland Jukka Vakkila 48 7 21 20 14.58
1993–94 Finland Tommy Lindholm 25 5 7 13 20.00
1994–96 Finland Jukka Ikäläinen 21 7 4 10 33.33
1996–99 Denmark Richard Møller Nielsen 34 9 12 13 26.47
2000–05 Finland Antti Muurinen 72 34 12 26 47.22
2005 Finland Jyrki Heliskoski (caretaker) 6 2 2 2 33.33
2006–07 England Roy Hodgson 22 6 11 5 27.27
2008–10 England Stuart Baxter 31 8 6 17 25.81
2010 Finland Olli Huttunen (caretaker) 1 1 0 0 100.000
2011 Finland Markku Kanerva (caretaker) 2 0 1 1 00.00
2011–2015 Finland Mixu Paatelainen 43 17 11 15 39.53
2015 Finland Markku Kanerva (caretaker) 5 3 2 0 60.00
2016– Sweden Hans Backe 4 0 1 3 00.00
Total 742 182 159 401 24.53

Kit supplier

Finland's kit are currently supplied by American brand Nike, Inc. They replaced German company Adidas who supplied Finland's kits between 1979 and 2014.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Palkittu Bubi käväisi yllättäen palkitsemistilaisuudessa HS.fi – Kaupunki
  2. 1 2 3 "World Football Elo Ratings: Finland". World Football Elo Ratings. Retrieved 2011-09-22.
  3. ↑ rsssf Nordic championship 1964–66.
  4. ↑ Hodgson to return for Inter role BBC Sport, 1 December 2007
  5. ↑ Suomen Palloliitto – Etusivu (Finnish)
  6. ↑ http://www.fifa.com/fifa-tournaments/teams/compare.html
  7. ↑ "Finald-Faroe Islands". Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  8. ↑ Au fost 47.987 de fani!
  9. ↑ http://www.stadion.fi/
  10. ↑ Huuhkajat nimetty Ukrainaa vastaan
  11. ↑ Viitala korvaa Mäenpään Huuhkajissa
  12. ↑ Hetemaj ja Schüller sivuun Huuhkajista
  13. ↑ http://www.palloliitto.fi/uutiset/maajoukkueet/hans-backe-valitsi-huuhkajien-valmennusryhman
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